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Guest Author

By WebFactory

Content Management / Blog & Article Publishing

Guest Author Review - In-Depth Analysis

Easily add guest authors to your posts without user registration. Customize avatars and link to guest author pages.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.82/10

User Rating

4.2/5 (based on 14+ reviews)

Active Installations

5,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

1 / 10 (Very Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

Add a guest author to any post without needing to register the guest author as a user on your site.

This plugin behaves as if guest authors were regular authors. You can upload your own avatar image instead of using Gravatar. Additionally, you can link to a custom page for the guest author, making it perfect for guest posts.

If you are looking for nicer author boxes with more options, check out our free Simple Author Box plugin.

Comparing to Alternatives

Guest Author is a straightforward plugin designed to manage guest authors on WordPress sites. While it serves its purpose well, it is important to consider how it stacks up against similar tools.

Top alternatives

Guest Author

Strengths

Integrates guest author data into standard WordPress fields, ensuring compatibility with themes.
Simple and easy to use with clear input requirements.
Allows adding guest author details like name, URL, description, and avatar.

Weaknesses

Limited compatibility testing with premium themes.
Lacks advanced features such as URL nofollow options.
No pro version or premium features available.

User Sentiment Analysis

User feedback highlights both the plugin's simplicity and some limitations experienced in various setups.

Positive highlights

"Works well and integrates with theme to pull image, URL, and description." - inspired888
"Simple and handy plugin as advertised." - Nima Shayanfar
"Close to perfection in functionality." - gunawan004

Common complaints

Limited theme compatibility, especially with premium themes.
Guest author data not saved persistently, requiring repeated input.
Personal URLs sometimes do not display correctly.
Lack of advanced features like nofollow for URLs.

Weaknesses

Plugin disables fields until author name is entered, which some users find confusing.
Support and updates appear limited, with no significant changes over years.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a simple, no-frills solution to add guest authors to their WordPress site without needing advanced features.

Not ideal for

Those who require robust theme compatibility, persistent guest author data storage, or advanced link management options.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers basic guest author management including adding names, URLs, descriptions, and avatars integrated into WordPress standard fields.

Final Verdict

Guest Author is a functional and straightforward plugin that effectively manages guest author information within WordPress. It integrates well with themes that use standard WordPress author fields, making it a practical choice for simple guest author needs.

However, it lacks advanced features and has limited compatibility testing with premium themes. Users requiring persistent data storage or enhanced link options may find it insufficient. Overall, it is best suited for users looking for a basic, free guest author solution.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Guest Author plugin.

Guest author

Guest post

Post author

Screenshots

FAQ

Just use standard Plugin overview page in WordPress admin section and deactivate it or rename plugin folder /wp-content/plugins/guest-author over FTP access.