WordPress Customization: Removing the Author and Date from Your Posts

WordPress, the most popular content management system in the world, is used by millions of websites, ranging from personal blogs to large e-commerce sites. Among its many great features is its customizability. However, removing certain elements from a WordPress site, such as the author or date of a post, can be quite perplexing.

Why Remove the Author and Date?

There are several reasons why one might want to remove the author and date from their WordPress posts. For example, if multiple authors contribute to the blog, removing the author’s name can give the impression that the post was written by the website itself. Additionally, removing the date can help make older content appear timeless.

The Steps to Removing the Author and Date

Step 1: Login to Your WordPress Dashboard

The first step is to login to your WordPress dashboard. Simply navigate to yourwebsite.com/wp-admin (replace “yourwebsite.com” with your actual website domain) and enter your login credentials.

Step 2: Open Your Theme’s Files

To remove the author and date from your posts, you’ll need to modify your theme’s files. Navigate to Appearance > Theme Editor in your WordPress dashboard to do so.

Step 3: Find the Correct File

Once you’ve opened your theme’s files, you’ll need to find the correct file to modify. Typically, the file you’ll need to modify is single.php, but this can vary based on your theme.

Step 4: Remove the Author and Date Function

Now that you’ve found the file to modify, you’ll need to find the function that displays the author and date. This is often displayed within a block of code that looks something like:

To remove the author and date from your posts, simply comment out this code or delete it. To comment out code in WordPress, add “/*” at the beginning of the block of code you want to comment out, and “*/” at the end.

Step 5: Preview the Changes

Finally, preview your changes to ensure the author and date have been successfully removed. To do so, go to one of your existing posts and refresh the page. If everything was done correctly, the author and date should no longer be displayed.

While removing the author and date from your WordPress posts is a relatively simple process, editing your theme’s code may be uncomfortable for some users. If that’s the case, consider using a reputable plugin to remove the author and date for you.