Up to version 3.0 of WordPress the main Administrator account was created with the username “admin”. This has since been changed to allow for a more secure username. Hackers who use automated programs to try to brute force the login of a WordPress site will target the username admin then try to guess the password. To make sure your site is secured from these attacks you should get rid of the admin user. The following are the steps you need to take:
How to change the admin username in WordPress:
1. Create a New User with your preferred username – don’t use your Domain name or other easy to guess names. Select Administrator as the Role for this user. Make sure the password for this account is very strong.
2. Log out of the admin account and log in again as the New User you just created.
3. Go to All Users and delete the admin account – you will be presented with the option to assign all posts to another account. Assign all posts to your newly created account and the old admin account will be deleted without losing any of the content created under that account.
4. Congratulate yourself on increasing the security of your WordPress site!
Final Tip: Use a different Display Name to avoid your new Username being used in an automated bot attack.
Originally posted 2014-12-27 12:21:17.
