July 25, 2022

Simply Change Author URL Plugin

Changes wordpress user slug for security, it prevents access to the usernames of registered users on your site.

The plugin Changes wordpress user slug for security reasons, it prevents access to the usernames of registered users on your site.

By using “Simply Change Author URL” The WordPress default users(authors) Slug and URL addresses will be changed automatically.

By Default Author URL is: example.com/author/[username]/
after install this plugin URLs will be changed to: example.com/user/[user_id]/

This will protects the usernames from being easily accessible by cyber attackers.

This plugin also:
1. Removes wordpress api user endpoints. (they contain information about users)
1. Changes canonical links generated by yoast.

Installation

INSTALL Simply Change Author URL FROM WITHIN WORDPRESS

Visit the plugins page within your dashboard and select Add New;
Search for 'Simply Change Author URL';
Activate 'Simply Change Author URL' from your Plugins page;

INSTALL Simply Change Author URL MANUALLY

Upload the 'simply-change-author-url' folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory;
Activate the 'Simply Change Author URL' plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress;

FAQ

How to change “author_base” From “user” to something else

You can do this using a hook named 'simply_change_author_url_author_base' just return your desired Slug.
Remember to call <?php flush_rewrite_rules(); ?>, or manually flush rewrite rules by going to 'Setting' => 'Permalinks' and 'save' the settings.

Example Code:

add_filter('simply_change_author_url_author_base', 'changeAuthorSlug'); function changeAuthorSlug(){ return 'example_slug'; }

Changelog

1.1.2

simply_change_author_url_author_base filter works fine now.
username no longer prints in body classes.

1.1.1

fixed a bug where some canonical urls might not get replaced.

1.1.0

compatibility with yoast seo.
remove wordpress json api user endpoints.

1.0.0

Initial plugin release.