(Simply) Guest Author Name
Create a post and override the author name with one or more names or text. You can also create a link for the author name field
Use with caution
(Simply) Guest Author Name works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 2K+ sites, is rated 4.7/5 and was last updated 7 months ago, and scores 59/100 on our health check.
- Loved by users — 4.7/5 from 23 reviews
- Only tested up to WordPress 6.9 (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 (Simply) Guest Author Name stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| author | #16 |
| Guest Author Name | #1 |
| Override Author Name | #1 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 from 23 reviews
About (Simply) Guest Author Name
From the official readme · v4.42Description
Version 4.41
Free
Quickly and easily add a guest author to a post and link to the authors blog
Display guest author name in posts
Link author avatar
Quick Edit
Create a post and override the author name with one or more names or text. You can also create a link for the author name field, add a description and an email address for the gravatar.
Premium
Sorry, we do not have the resources to manage sales and support right now. Our premium plugin should be available again in July 2020.
Additional Features:
1) Re-use & save guest authors
2) Upload guest author image
3) Guest author archives
4) Bulk edit guest authors in posts
5) Add guest authors to custom posts and pages
6) Easy Conversion process from our free version
7) Still supports gravatar and custom urls
8) Author list & Grid shortcodes
9) Supports Custom posts and author in searches
10) Elementor author archives
11) Author box
12) Filter posts by guest author
13) Now with multiple byline authors (coauthors)!
14) Now with shortcodes for author name, author link and author avatar
For quicker support, please visit the plugin page on the Shoofly Solutions web page.
http://www.shooflysolutions.com/software/guest-author-name/
Donations for extended support are appreciated but are never required!
Please be kind and rate this plugin. Everything helps!
Need More?
Need more? Customization is available. Contact sales@shooflysolutions.com for more information.
Installation
Download the Guest Author Name plugin
How to install this plugin
Method 1:
Install this plugin using the built-in plugin installer:
Go to Plugins > Add New.
Under Search, type “Guest Author Name”
Click Install Now.
A popup window will ask you to confirm your wish to install the Plugin.
Click Proceed to continue with the installation. The resulting installation screen will list the installation as successful or note any problems during the install.
If successful, click Activate Plugin to activate it, or Return to Plugin Installer for further actions.
Method 2:
Download the plugin. In the WordPress admin panel, click on Plugins. Select Add New to get to the “Install Plugins” page. Click on browse and choose the downloaded file.
Click on the “Install Now” button to install the plugin. Once the plugin is installed, select “Activate Plugin”.
Method 3: (Advanced Users):
Unzip the file. Using FTP, upload the guest-author folder to the contents/plugins folder in your wordpress directory.
Frequently asked questions
How can I stop Guest Author posts from showing up on my posts feed?
As of 4.0, your guest author posts should no longer show up on your posts feed. If you still have this issue: While the author link ideally should go to the authors web page, your guest author posts will show up as one of your posts. You can get around the list problem by creating a new user called Guest Author. Create your guest author posts under this user or use an author switch plugin to change the registered author. That way, guest author posts will show up under the user “Guest Authors” instead of your account. Please visit the FAQ page on our site at…
This plugin used to substitute Title Name with Author Name when using Jetpack Publicize. How do I get it back?
This was a bug, but if you were using it as a feature, then you can use this code below. add_filter('jetpack_open_graph_tags', function( $og_tags ) { $id = $this->get_post_id(); $author = get_post_meta( $id, 'sfly_guest_author_names', true ); if ( $author && is_singular() ) { $og_tags['og:title'] = $author; // any other tags you want to add here // for more examples see https://gist.github.com/natebot/6323846 } return $og_tags; });
Changelog
4.42
Fix: Security fix broke punctuation
4.41
Fix: Security fix broke unicode characters
4.40
Fix for reported patchstack security issue
Fix empty settings issue
4.36
Declare $comment_list
4.35
Unable to duplicate security issue reported by the hard working volunteers
at wordpress.org, but did find an issue with the guest author description.
This may unavoidably cause issues on some sites.
Added more escaping & sanitizing of fields.
4.34
Remove error loging
Screenshots
For developers
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FAQ
(Simply) Guest Author Name: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 26, 2026
Is (Simply) Guest Author Name free?
Yes. (Simply) Guest Author Name is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is (Simply) Guest Author Name safe to use in 2026?
(Simply) Guest Author Name works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 2K+ sites, is rated 4.7/5 and was last updated 7 months ago, and scores 59/100 on our health check.
How many websites use (Simply) Guest Author Name?
(Simply) Guest Author Name is active on 2K+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 80,804 times since it launched in November 2015. It was downloaded 413 times in the last 30 days.
Does (Simply) Guest Author Name work with WordPress 7.1?
(Simply) Guest Author Name is officially tested up to WordPress 6.9.9, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was (Simply) Guest Author Name last updated?
The latest version, 4.42, was released on February 22, 2026 (7 months ago).
Who makes (Simply) Guest Author Name?
(Simply) Guest Author Name is developed and maintained by A. Jones.
What are the best alternatives to (Simply) Guest Author Name?
The most popular alternatives to (Simply) Guest Author Name are Edit Author Slug (100K+ installs), WP Meta and Date Remover (90K+ installs) and Hide/Remove Metadata (20K+ installs).
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