Smart Custom Display Name
The Smart Custom Display Name Plugin allows you to set your Display Name to anything you like
Consider an alternative
Smart Custom Display Name shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 200+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 2 years ago, and scores 38/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (200+ active installs)
- No update in 2 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 6.3 (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 Smart Custom Display Name stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| author | >100 |
| authors | >100 |
| name | >100 |
| user | >100 |
| users | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 5 from 5 reviews
About Smart Custom Display Name
From the official readme · v5.0.3Description
The Smart Custom Display Name Plugin allows you to set your Display Name to anything you like
Retired Plugin
Development, maintenance and support of this plugin has been retired in october 2023. You can use this plugin as long as is works for you.
There will be no more updates and I won’t answer any support questions. Thanks for your understanding.
Feel free to fork this plugin.
Usage
The “Display Name” is the name shown as post author – e.g. “posted by John Doe”. WordPress only allows you to select from a few given values. This plugin changes the Display Name field to a regular text input field where you can type in anything you like. There are no settings. Just install and activate.
Plugin Privacy Information
- This plugin does not set cookies
- This plugin does not collect or store any data
- This plugin does not send any data to external servers
Changelog
code rewritten, no functional changes
5.0.3 (2024-04-17) URGENT BUGFIX
- Bugfix after Cleanup
5.0.2 (2024-04-16) CLEANUP
- Cleanup
5.0.1 (2022-10-03) FINAL VERSION
- removed all links to webiste
- removed request for rating
5.0.0 (2022-06-01)
- rewritten based on my Plugin Foundation PPF08, no functional changes
4 (2019-03-13)
- UI improvements
- code improvement
3 (2018-04-19)
- minor code- & UI-improvements
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.
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FAQ
Smart Custom Display Name: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 27, 2026
Is Smart Custom Display Name free?
Yes. Smart Custom Display Name is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Smart Custom Display Name safe to use in 2026?
Smart Custom Display Name shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 200+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 2 years ago, and scores 38/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Smart Custom Display Name?
Smart Custom Display Name is active on 200+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 10,711 times since it launched in August 2015. It was downloaded 84 times in the last 30 days.
Does Smart Custom Display Name work with WordPress 7.1?
Smart Custom Display Name is officially tested up to WordPress 6.3.12, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
What PHP version does Smart Custom Display Name need?
Smart Custom Display Name requires PHP 7.0 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.
When was Smart Custom Display Name last updated?
The latest version, 5.0.3, was released on April 17, 2024 (2 years ago).
Who makes Smart Custom Display Name?
Smart Custom Display Name is developed and maintained by Peter Raschendorfer.
What are the best alternatives to Smart Custom Display Name?
The most popular alternatives to Smart Custom Display Name are Edit Author Slug (100K+ installs), WP Meta and Date Remover (90K+ installs) and Hide/Remove Metadata (20K+ installs).
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