Support Author: Field in Plugin readme.txt for Contributor Attribution

[theaminuldev]

Currently, the WordPress.org Plugin Directory only parses the Contributors: field in readme.txt files to associate plugins with user profiles.

However, some plugin developers mistakenly (or intentionally) use the Author: field (e.g., Author: @username), assuming it will have the same effect. This leads to confusion when contributors don’t appear on their profiles or plugin listings.

Examples:

The plugin Secure Custom Fields: ​https://wordpress.org/plugins/secure-custom-fields/ has this in its readme:

Author: @wordpressdotorg
But it does not appear under the wordpressdotorg profile plugins list ​https://profiles.wordpress.org/wordpressdotorg/#content-plugins, even though users expect it to.

Problem:

The Author: field is not parsed or used for any contributor association. This mismatch between expectation and implementation can lead to overlooked contributions and confusion, especially for those newer to plugin development.

Proposal:

1/ Either begin parsing the Author: field for contributor matching (with the same rules as Contributors:), or

2/ Display a clear warning in the Plugin Validator that the Author: field is not used for profile association.

3/ Optionally, update documentation to clearly indicate that only Contributors: should be used, and usernames should not begin with @.

Why It Matters:

This clarification would improve transparency and consistency across the Plugin Directory and developer profiles, and reduce confusion during plugin submission or maintenance.

[Otto42]

The author field is no longer used, instead the ownership of the plugin on wordpress.org is used. This was an intentional change made back in February. ​https://make.wordpress.org/plugins/2025/02/20/plugin-author-now-linked-wp-profiles/

As for your example, secure custom fields does appear on that profile page.