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WP Default Author

by Birgir Erlendsson (birgire) · Uncategorized

Also makes 1 other plugin · 300+ installs across the portfolio →

Free audit wp.org ↗

Changes the default author either gobally or for individual users.

⚠ Stale⚠ Likely abandoned⚠ Few reviews
How scoring works →
47 Health · D
Maintenance 3/100
Rating quality 80/100
Support 70/100

47 health vs 56 average across 16,375 Uncategorized plugins

100+

Active installs

≈140 estimated

5.0K

Total downloads

since 2013

4.17★

Rating (adjusted)

5.0★ raw · 4 reviews

+68%

52

Downloads · 30d

category median +17%

High removal-risk signals

63/100

Maintenance 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.

29 / 100

Under-optimized

Biggest win: Update recency

Update recency 0/100
WP compatibility 2/100
Rating quality 55/100
Listing tuning 68/100

To rank higher: Last updated 4715 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 · 1,426 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive

+68% vs prior 30d
0Downloads · Aug 26

30-day downloads

Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges

52

now · peak 75

5230d downloads · Aug 26

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

WP Default Author · #12850 you Edit Author Slug · #361 WP Meta and Date Rem · #498 Hide/Remove Metadata · #1229

Update activity

How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.

520per 1k installs · Aug 26

Release cadence

No release in a year
from wp.org release tags

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

0

releases in the last 12 months

12.9y ago

latest release · v1.0.6

1

tagged releases on record

Recent releases

1.0.6 · 12.9y ago

What its installed base runs

via wordpress.org

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin · 100% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

v1.0 100%

Estimated active installs

The public count shows “100+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.

tracked estimate
100–200 ≈140

Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.

Install history · since 2015-10-19 · 1,386 observations

100Installs · Aug 26

Estimated value

What this plugin might earn a year, and what it might sell for. Modeled from public signals; we don't see anyone's books.

Est. annual revenue

N/A

Est. acquisition value

N/A

No paid tier is visible, so we don't put a figure on revenue or sale value: that would be guessing. The install base is a real asset to an acquirer, just not one public data lets us price. A small install base leaves thin data to model from.

Ratings · 4 reviews

Read on wp.org ↗
5★
4 4★
0 3★
0 2★
0 1★
0

Details

Version
1.0.6
Last updated
12.9y ago
Added
2013-10-03 · 12 yrs old
Requires WP
3.0.1
Tested up to
3.6.1
Requires PHP
—
Changelog ↗Support forum ↗Reviews ↗Advanced stats ↗

Recent reviews

All reviews on wp.org ↗
  1. ★★★★★ cadbloke
    11.0y ago

    Because posting as posting as “admin” is nearly as dumb as calling your admin user “admin”. This plugin solves that problem perfectly.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  2. ★★★★★ tobiasly
    11.5y ago

    nice & simple

    Read on wp.org ↗
  3. ★★★★★ Noahj
    11.8y ago

    Thanks for this!

    Read on wp.org ↗
  4. ★★★★★ Clifford Paulick
    12.9y ago

    Works just as desired: – set global default author at Settings->Writing – set user-specific default author at each author’s profile Perfect for working on client sites or organization-specific blogs with multiple users writing as one author. Thanks for this plugin!!!

    Read on wp.org ↗

Behavioral tests

via WP Hive

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3

✓ Low memory footprint
✓ Low page-speed impact
✕ Runs on latest PHP + WP
✕ No PHP errors
✓ No JS errors
✓ Activates cleanly
✓ No resource errors
✓ No external HTTP errors
✓ Optimized database use
✕ Frequently updated

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

  1. 2026-08-07 200+ → 100+ down after 616 days in tier
  2. 2024-11-29 300+ → 200+ down after 226 days in tier
  3. 2024-04-17 400+ → 300+ down after 306 days in tier
  4. 2023-06-16 500+ → 400+ down after 1 days in tier
  5. 2023-06-15 400+ → 500+ up after 2 days in tier
  6. 2023-06-13 500+ → 400+ down after 196 days in tier
  7. 2022-11-29 600+ → 500+ down

Competes with

The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).

Compare head to head →

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Preview card ↗

WP Default Author: 100+ active installs, 5.0★ (4 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/wp-default-author