WP Default Author
by Birgir Erlendsson (birgire) · Uncategorized
Changes the default author either gobally or for individual users.
47 health vs 58 average across 7,710 Uncategorized plugins
High removal-risk signals
63/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Long abandoned. No update in 12+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 3.6.1, well behind 6.8.
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Under-optimized
Biggest win: Update recency
To rank higher: Last updated 4670 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Daily downloads
Since 2022-10-05 · 1,381 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges
25
now · peak 75
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Downloads per 1k installs · 30d
Engagement proxy · release spikes are signal, a long slide is an aging base
Estimated active installs
wp.org reports only “200+”. The real number sits in this band.
Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.
Install history · since 2022-10-04 · 1,379 observations
Details
Growth timeline
Install-band crossings we have observed, and how long each band took to outgrow
- 2024-11-29 300+ → 200+ down after 226 days in band
- 2024-04-17 400+ → 300+ down after 306 days in band
- 2023-06-16 500+ → 400+ down after 1 days in band
- 2023-06-15 400+ → 500+ up after 2 days in band
- 2023-06-13 500+ → 400+ down after 196 days in band
- 2022-11-29 600+ → 500+ down
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach — closest match first
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Edit Author Slug 100K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag B - W WP Meta and Date Remover 90K+ installs · 4.2★ · 1 shared tag A
-
Hide/Remove Metadata 20K+ installs · 3.7★ · 1 shared tag B - D Disable Author Archives 10K+ installs · 4.1★ · 1 shared tag B
-
Meks Smart Author Widget 10K+ installs · 4.1★ · 1 shared tag C -
VK Post Author Display 10K+ installs · 4.1★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
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<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/wp-default-author" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="WP Default Author — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> WP Default Author: 200+ active installs, 5.0★ (4 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-07-17. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/wp-default-author