/ Plugin Category

/ Site Structure & Navigation

/ Tags & Classification

/ Edit Author Slug

Edit Author Slug

By Brandon Allen

Site Structure & Navigation / Tags & Classification

Edit Author Slug Review - In-Depth Analysis

Edit Author Slug allows admins to customize user permalinks by changing the author slug and base. Tailor your author URLs for better structure.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.79/10

User Rating

4.8/5 (based on 84+ reviews)

Active Installations

100,000+

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

This plugin allows full control of your user permalinks, allowing you to change both the author base (the '/author/' portion of the author URLs), and the author slug (defaults to the username of the author). You can set the author base globally, or you can set it to be user-specific based on a user's role. You now have the power to craft the perfect URL structure for your Author pages.

WordPress default structure is http://example.com/author/username/. Edit Author Slug allows for http://example.com/ninja/master-ninja/. Using a role-based author base would allow for http://example.com/ida/master-splinter/ (for an Administrator Role), or http://example.com/koga/leonardo/ (for a Subscriber Role).

Development of this plugin takes place on GitHub. Pull requests are always welcome! Translations should be submitted to Translate WordPress.

Comparing to Alternatives

Edit Author Slug is a straightforward plugin designed to customize author URL slugs, with limited direct competitors in this niche.

Top alternatives

Edit Author Slug

Strengths

Simple and easy to use interface.
Effectively hides the default WordPress username in URLs.
Compatible with most themes without additional configuration.

Weaknesses

Limited updates and support for newer WordPress versions.
Known compatibility issues with some SEO plugins like RankMath.
Lacks advanced customization options found in more comprehensive plugins.

User Sentiment Analysis

User feedback highlights both satisfaction with the plugin's core functionality and concerns about compatibility and updates.

Positive highlights

'Just works' - sunnyp81
'Very good' - phuctran28899
'Works' - Tibo
'Finally a way to hide my admin username from across the site, I love this plugin!' - angeljs

Common complaints

Does not work properly with RankMath plugin.
Issues with custom role based URLs on WordPress 6.0.2.
Slug reverts back to default username after profile update.

Weaknesses

Lack of recent updates affects compatibility.
Limited support for advanced user role configurations.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users looking for a simple solution to change author slugs without complex features or paid upgrades.

Not ideal for

Sites requiring advanced author URL customization or compatibility with the latest WordPress versions and SEO plugins.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers basic author slug editing capabilities sufficient for most standard use cases.

Final Verdict

Edit Author Slug is a lightweight and easy-to-use plugin that fulfills its primary purpose of customizing author slugs effectively for many users.

However, its limited updates and compatibility issues with certain plugins and WordPress versions may restrict its usefulness for sites with more complex needs or those using newer software.

Other Notable Features

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

Author

Author Base

Author Slug

Screenshots

FAQ

On standard WordPress installs, it’s the final part of an author permalink.
e.g. – https://example.com/author/author-slug/

In relation to WordPress internals, the author slug is the same as the user_nicename field found in a WP_User object, or the users table in the database.