WordPress, which is famous for its stability and flexibility, functions as a content management system (CMS) for users globally. WordPress was initially developed in 2003 as a blogging platform, but it has evolved significantly over the years and it can be used as a CMS for different types of websites, from simple blogs to complex business sites or online stores.

We will explore how to change the author of a WordPress post. No matter whether you work with the Block Editor or the Classic Editor, or if you have to change the author for several articles all at once, we have various ways to help you do this as smoothly as possible. Before you can change the author of a post in WordPress, you need to ensure that the desired new author is added as a user to your WordPress site.

Steps to add a new user and assign them the appropriate role

Step 1: Log in to WordPress Admin Panel

Navigate to your WordPress site’s login page (yourdomain.com/wp-admin) and enter your username and password to log in.

Log in to WordPress Admin Pane

Step2: Navigate to the Users Section

Click on “Users” in the left-hand menu, then click on “Add New” to open the Add New User page.

Step3: Fill Out the User Information

Enter a unique username in the “Username” field, the user’s email address in the “Email” field, and optionally enter the user’s first and last name in the respective fields. Generate or enter a custom password, and check the box to send an email notification to the new user.

Step4: Assign a Role

Select an appropriate role from the “Role” dropdown (e.g., Subscriber, Contributor, Author, Editor, Administrator).

Step5: Send Invitation

Click the “Send Invitation” button to create the user.

Methods to Change the Author in WordPress

Method 1: Changing the Author in the Block Editor

• Start by going to your WordPress dashboard. On the left-hand side, click “Posts” and then “All Posts” to see a list of your content.
• Find the post you want to update the author for and click “Edit” under the title. This will open it up in the Block Editor.
• Scroll down a bit until you find the “Status and Visibility” section. Look for the “Author” dropdown menu within this section.
• Click on the “Author” dropdown and choose the new author from the list of users.
• Once you’ve selected the new author, don’t forget to click “Update” to save your changes.

Change Author in the Block Editor

Method 2: Changing the Author in the Classic Editor

• Open the post you want to edit by clicking “Edit” next to its title.
• In the top right corner, you’ll see a button called “Screen Options.” Click on it.

Screen Options

• A box will appear with options to show or hide different elements. Find the checkbox next to “Author” and make sure it’s checked. This will make the author option visible.
• Scroll down below the post content until you see a section with an “Author” dropdown menu.
• Click the dropdown menu and choose the new author from the list of existing users on your site.

• Finally, click the “Update” button to save your changes.

Method 3: Using Quick Edit to Change the Author

• Go to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to “Posts” and then “All Posts” to see your content list.
• Find the post you want to update and hover your mouse over it. You’ll see a “Quick Edit” option appear. Click on that.

Quick Edit to Change the Author

• A small window will pop up showing some basic post information. Click on the current author’s name.
• A dropdown menu will appear with a list of users. Choose the new author from this list.
• Finally, click “Update” to save the change.

Update

Method 4: Changing the Author of Bulk WordPress Posts

• Head over to your WordPress dashboard and go to “Posts” then “All Posts” to see your list of content.
• By default, WordPress displays 20 posts per page. To show more posts, you must select Screen Options and adjust the number of posts you wish to display.

• There will be checkboxes next to each post title. Select the boxes for the posts you want to update the author for.
• Once you’ve chosen your posts, look above them for a dropdown menu labeled “Bulk Actions.” Click on that menu and select “Edit.”

Select the boxes

• This will open a bulk edit screen with all your chosen posts. Look for the section labeled “Author” and it will have a dropdown menu.
• Choose the new author you want for all the selected posts from this dropdown menu.

Choose the new author and update

• Finally, click the “Update” button to save the changes and WordPress will update the author for all those posts.