WP Google Authorship
This plugin helps you add Google authorship markup to your WordPress site, allowing your Google Plus profile picture to appear in Google Search results.
Use with caution
WP Google Authorship works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 200+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 11 months ago, and scores 48/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (200+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- Only tested up to WordPress 6.8 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where WP Google Authorship stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| author | #77 |
| authorship | #2 |
| >100 | |
| google plus | #37 |
| seo | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
About WP Google Authorship
From the official readme · v2.1Description
This plugin helps you add Google authorship markup to your WordPress site, allowing your Google Plus profile picture to appear in Google Search results.
Features:
* Easy 4-step setup process
* Multiple author support
* Multisite compatible
* Shortcode support
Installation
- Upload the plugin files to
/wp-content/plugins/google-plus-author/ - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
- Go to Users > Your Profile
- Enter your Google Plus Profile URL
- Use the shortcode [googleplusauthor] or the PHP function
Frequently asked questions
How do I use this plugin?
Simply add your Google Plus profile URL in your user profile settings, then use the shortcode [googleplusauthor] in your posts or the PHP function google_plus_author() in your theme.
Changelog
Security update: Fixes vulnerabilities and updates deprecated functions. Please update immediately.
2.1
- Security: Added nonce verification for form submissions
- Security: Added input sanitization with esc_url_raw() and sanitize_text_field()
- Security: Added proper output escaping
- Improved: Replaced deprecated get_currentuserinfo() with wp_get_current_user()
- Improved: Replaced deprecated update_usermeta() with update_user_meta()
- Improved: Added text domain for translations
- Improved: WordPress 6.8 compatibility
- Fixed: Updated license to GPLv2 or later
2.0
- Previous version
Screenshots
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best WP Google Authorship alternatives
All author plugins →
FAQ
WP Google Authorship: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 5, 2026
Is WP Google Authorship free?
Yes. WP Google Authorship is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is WP Google Authorship safe to use in 2026?
WP Google Authorship works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 200+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 11 months ago, and scores 48/100 on our health check.
How many websites use WP Google Authorship?
WP Google Authorship is active on 200+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 22,527 times since it launched in February 2012. It was downloaded 181 times in the last 30 days.
Does WP Google Authorship work with WordPress 7.1?
WP Google Authorship is officially tested up to WordPress 6.8.10, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was WP Google Authorship last updated?
The latest version, 2.1, was released on November 8, 2025 (11 months ago).
Who makes WP Google Authorship?
WP Google Authorship is developed and maintained by Mervin Praison.
What are the best alternatives to WP Google Authorship?
The most popular alternatives to WP Google Authorship are Edit Author Slug (100K+ installs), WP Meta and Date Remover (90K+ installs) and Hide/Remove Metadata (20K+ installs).
Powered by PageForge
Want thousands of pages that rank like these? Build them in an afternoon.
This directory runs on the same engine as PageForge. Turn any spreadsheet, CSV or API into thousands of fast, SEO-ready WordPress pages — with schema, internal links and AI-written copy baked in.
- CSV, Google Sheets & API data sources
- AI content, schema & internal links per page
- Works with Elementor, Gutenberg, Yoast & Rank Math
- Free on WordPress.org — no credit card
