Don’t Be An Admin: Part Two

Security / , /

So I recently got a request to expand on my previous post about changing the default user, Admin, into a neutered user to help protect against potential hacks.

OK, so its really just as simple as setting up a new user.

Firstly though we need to change your current user (Admin). Log in to your WordPress Dashboard and go to Users > All Users. Hover over Admin and select Edit.

In the Edit screen change the email address that you entered to something else. I like to use an alternative email address that I don’t often use, although you can use a completely fake email address as well.

Editing the WordPress Admins Email

Once that’s done, go to the Add New section in Users and enter in the details of your new user. This will be the one that you will log in with from now on, so make sure the username and password are easy to remember but secure. Set the Role for this user as Administrator.

Adding a New User to WordPress

After the user is set up, log out of WordPress and then log back in with your new user details.

Go to Users > All Users and Edit Admin. Change the Admin users Role from Administrator to ‘No role for this site’ and update the user.

Editing the Admin Role

There you have it, your Admin user now has no powers within the site and your new user has Admin rights. Whilst this method won’t give a 100% protection to your site, its one of the many little ways of improving WordPress security.