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Using “Admin” as your WordPress username? Here’s how to fix it.

Heartbleed

In the grand scheme of things, the Heartbleed bug was pretty bad… but it certainly wasn’t any worse than some of the silly stuff some folks try to get away with every day in terms of security. Like using “Admin” as your WordPress username.

Using “Admin” as a username is ridiculously stupid. Not only is it easily hacked, it’s also easily spoofed, as in: someone sends you a fake error message from “your site” that looks official because you recognize the admin username.

Believe it or not, some hosting providers give you a one-click install option that requires “admin” as the default username. It’s like they don’t even care if your site gets hacked.

Changing your WordPress username is a little complicated if you don’t use or have SQL database access – but it’s actually one of the “easier” procedures you can do if you’re not super-techie. Here’s how.

One caveat: Read all the instructions carefully before you begin. Doing any of these things incorrectly or out of order may result in all your content being lost:

  1. Backup your content by going to tools -> export (select “All Content” and select “Download Export File”)
  2. Go to Users -> Add New and create a new administrator-level account with a username that isn’t “admin”with a backup email you can access, fill in the name, etc.
  3. Log out.
  4. Log back in with your new administrator-level account.
  5. Go to Users -> All Users and click “Delete” on your OLD user account (“Admin”)
  6. On the next screen, you’ll be asked if you want to delete that user’s content or attribute it to someone else. Select the radio button to attribute it, and select your NEW admin-level account in the drop-down menu.
  7. Double-check you have the radio button selected which “attributes” your old content to the correct, new admin-level account.
  8. Click on “Confirm Deletion”.
  9. Verify that all your content is still there.
  10. Write down your new username and password somewhere safe. Or better, use OnePassword.
  11. You can now update your user settings to your original email if you want (rather than your backup one).
  12. Bonus: make sure that the “Display name” is set to your name or nickname, not the username itself. This makes it harder for random jerks to guess your username.

If something went wrong, use the “export file” you downloaded in step 1, and go to Tools -> Import, and upload the old export file.

Did it work for you? Did I miss something? Let me know in the comments.

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What our clients say:

"Nick has an eye for creative and fun ways to step a business up a notch. He’s passionate, experienced, and knowledgeable about marketing and web development. He helped redesign our website for easier management and created campaigns for our social media outreach for a reasonable cost. Nick is a great person to have on board any business team."

- Chelsey Walker, Ridekick
2014-01-01T14:05:33-07:00
"Nick has an eye for creative and fun ways to step a business up a notch. He’s passionate, experienced, and knowledgeable about marketing and web development. He helped redesign our website for easier management and created campaigns for our social media outreach for a reasonable cost. Nick is a great person to have on board any business team." - Chelsey Walker, Ridekick
https://pixelatedonpurpose.com/testimonials/chelsey-walker-ridekick/
"We enjoyed working with Nick, he was fun, very responsive, and has great ideas. We like the look of our new website, functionality, and how it tells our message of what Greenpoint Landscaping really is. He also set us up on a blogging plan to help drive traffic to our website."

- Peter Roberts, Greenpoint Landscaping
2014-09-10T15:47:51-06:00
"We enjoyed working with Nick, he was fun, very responsive, and has great ideas. We like the look of our new website, functionality, and how it tells our message of what Greenpoint Landscaping really is. He also set us up on a blogging plan to help drive traffic to our website." - Peter Roberts, Greenpoint Landscaping
https://pixelatedonpurpose.com/testimonials/peter-roberts-greenpoint-landscaping/
"There are very few individuals in this day-and-age that commit themselves so passionately into their profession and Nick Armstrong is one. I would recommend him to anyone, especially to those who don’t completely understand the backside of setting up a business website. He was great!"

- Linda Griego, Java Raiz
2014-01-01T12:06:09-07:00
"There are very few individuals in this day-and-age that commit themselves so passionately into their profession and Nick Armstrong is one. I would recommend him to anyone, especially to those who don’t completely understand the backside of setting up a business website. He was great!" - Linda Griego, Java Raiz
https://pixelatedonpurpose.com/testimonials/linda-griego-java-raiz/
"Nick has done an awesome job firstly recreating my program's website, then improved on it, and followed up with great training materials and a promise to be there when we will expand the website."

- Linda Hodgson, ChangeLabs
2013-12-27T21:53:40-07:00
"Nick has done an awesome job firstly recreating my program's website, then improved on it, and followed up with great training materials and a promise to be there when we will expand the website." - Linda Hodgson, ChangeLabs
https://pixelatedonpurpose.com/testimonials/linda-hodgson-changelabs/
"Nick Armstrong is brilliant and made us feel cared for. He is talented and his work is of the highest quality. Nick respects his work and his cost is reasonable and he delivers on time."

- Ed and Deb Shapiro, Be The Change
2014-01-01T14:06:05-07:00
"Nick Armstrong is brilliant and made us feel cared for. He is talented and his work is of the highest quality. Nick respects his work and his cost is reasonable and he delivers on time." - Ed and Deb Shapiro, Be The Change
https://pixelatedonpurpose.com/testimonials/ed-and-deb-shapiro-be-the-change/
"Nick is the Yoda of the programming and marketing world: he is wise and powerful in the ways of the code; he wields his mouse with great speed and agility; he continually ponders the mysteries of marketing; and he is an excellent and effective instructor with a mischievous sense of humor :-)"

- Megan Henderson, Henderson + Company
2014-01-01T11:57:28-07:00
"Nick is the Yoda of the programming and marketing world: he is wise and powerful in the ways of the code; he wields his mouse with great speed and agility; he continually ponders the mysteries of marketing; and he is an excellent and effective instructor with a mischievous sense of humor :-)" - Megan Henderson, Henderson + Company
https://pixelatedonpurpose.com/testimonials/megan-henderson-henderson-company/
“Nick has been a great asset on the project we worked on together. His knowledge and expertise made the process go smoothly. I would hire him for future projects when the opportunity presents itself.“

-  Sam Haltom, Another Color, Inc
2014-01-01T11:49:09-07:00
“Nick has been a great asset on the project we worked on together. His knowledge and expertise made the process go smoothly. I would hire him for future projects when the opportunity presents itself.“ -  Sam Haltom, Another Color, Inc
https://pixelatedonpurpose.com/testimonials/sam-haltom-another-color-inc/
"As an expert web developer, Nick can do almost anything you ask him to! He really does need to wear a cape to work. Nick is very generous with his time, and he genuinely loves to help people solve problems. I am looking forward to working with Nick on many more exciting projects."

- Molly McCowan, InkBot Editing
2014-01-01T12:03:37-07:00
"As an expert web developer, Nick can do almost anything you ask him to! He really does need to wear a cape to work. Nick is very generous with his time, and he genuinely loves to help people solve problems. I am looking forward to working with Nick on many more exciting projects." - Molly McCowan, InkBot Editing
https://pixelatedonpurpose.com/testimonials/molly-mccowan-inkbot-editing/
“Nick and his team delivered a great new website for my company. I am happy with the results and the feedback from our clients and friends was super positive.”

- Betsy Craig, MenuTrinfo
2014-01-01T11:49:52-07:00
“Nick and his team delivered a great new website for my company. I am happy with the results and the feedback from our clients and friends was super positive.” - Betsy Craig, MenuTrinfo
https://pixelatedonpurpose.com/testimonials/betsy-craig-menutrinfo/
"Nick Armstrong has been a wonderful WordPress consultant for my business. His tutoring expertise was extremely helpful. Nick is a tremendous WordPress resource and expert."

- Catherine Rogers, Coldwell Banker
2013-12-28T13:28:40-07:00
"Nick Armstrong has been a wonderful WordPress consultant for my business. His tutoring expertise was extremely helpful. Nick is a tremendous WordPress resource and expert." - Catherine Rogers, Coldwell Banker
https://pixelatedonpurpose.com/testimonials/catherine-rogers-coldwell-banker/
"We worked along side Nick for a year and half and would recommend his talent and creativeness to anyone willing to take a look at the “standard” way of doing things a little differently that still achieve lasting results."

- Jan Peters, Fort Collins Brewery
2014-01-01T11:58:52-07:00
"We worked along side Nick for a year and half and would recommend his talent and creativeness to anyone willing to take a look at the “standard” way of doing things a little differently that still achieve lasting results." - Jan Peters, Fort Collins Brewery
https://pixelatedonpurpose.com/testimonials/jan-peters-fort-collins-brewery/

A division of WTF MarketingPixelated on Purpose is a small business web design company in Fort Collins, Colorado and a division of WTF Marketing.

Pixelated on Purpose
#177 2614 S. Timberline Road Ste 109
Fort Collins, CO 80525
Pixelated On Purpose - Web Design by Pixelated On Purpose