WordPress User Permissions: A Complete Guide

WordPress is a powerful platform, and with great power comes great responsibility. As a WordPress administrator, it's important to understand the different user roles and permissions in WordPress. In this blog post, we will discuss each user role in WordPress and explain what permissions are associated with each role. We will also provide tips for setting up effective user permissions in WordPress.

WordPress is a powerful content management system that allows users to create and manage websites easily. One of the key components of WordPress is the user permissions feature, which allows administrators to set different levels of access for different users.

There are several different user roles in WordPress, each with its own set of permissions. The three main WordPress user roles are administrators, editors, and authors. Administrators have the most permissions and control in WordPress, while authors have the least.

WordPress User Roles:

Here’s a quick summary of each role, with more detailed descriptions further down this page:

• Administrator: The highest level of permission. Admins have the power to access almost everything.
• Editor: Has access to all posts, pages, comments, categories, and tags, and can upload to Media.
• Author: Can write, upload Media, edit, and publish their posts.
• Contributor: Has no publishing or uploading capability but can write and edit their posts until they are published.
• Follower (public sites) / Viewer (private sites only): Can read and comment on posts and pages.
• Subscriber (plugin-enabled sites): Similar to the Follower / Viewer role, can read and comment on posts and pages.

Each user role is capable of everything that a less powerful role is capable of. In other words, Editors can do everything Authors can do; Authors can do everything Contributors can do, and so on.

Admins have full access to all WordPress features, including managing posts and pages, changing themes and settings, installing plugins, and adding new users to WordPress. They also have complete control over WordPress security settings, allowing them to enable or disable WordPress features and plugins, block access from specific IP addresses, and manage user roles and permissions.

Editors can manage WordPress posts and pages, add new content, and moderate comments. However, they do not fully control WordPress security settings as admins do. In addition, editors cannot perform certain actions that require additional WordPress plugins, such as managing WordPress themes or installing new WordPress plugins.

Authors have the lowest level of permissions in WordPress. They can create and edit WordPress posts and pages, but they do not have permission to perform other WordPress functions like editing WordPress settings or changing WordPress themes.

Subscribers and followers are WordPress users with limited permissions and no control over WordPress security settings.

If you are a WordPress administrator, it's important to consider the needs and permissions of each WordPress user when setting up WordPress user roles and permissions. One effective strategy is to create WordPress user roles with different access levels so that users only have access to the features they need. Additionally, it's important to stay on top of WordPress security settings and ensure they are set appropriately for your WordPress users. With the right WordPress user permissions setup, you can help ensure that WordPress is a secure and efficient platform for your website or blog.

Terry Rajaram

Terry’s cauldron of knowledge in the digital world is the result of a background in advertising, graphic design, web and multimedia development… 25 years in this business.