How to Use Wordpress User Permissions

How to Use Wordpress User Permissions
Page content

When using WordPress, people who sign up for an account on your website have four different options for control over the website. User roles are not complicated, but if you don’t know how to use WordPress to set them, you may run into some trouble later.

What are User Roles?

Administrator – Administrators have control over everything. You are an administrator. You control the entire site and can do anything that you want with the site. This role should be given only to trusted individuals who will play a part in the website as a whole, and should not be used for any other accounts or for people who do not know how to use WordPress.

Editor – An editor can publish posts. They can also manage and edit other users posts.This is the perfect role for those who do not need control over the entire site, but need control of all the featured content.

Author – The Author role allows someone to publish and manage posts. This role is suitable for those who need to be able to write and publish posts, but should not have the authority to handle any other posts than their own.

Contributor – A contributor can post and manage posts they write, but cannot publish. This role works well for those who need to provide content to the site but should not have the authority to publish due to a variety of issues.

Subscriber – A subscriber can read posts, comment on posts, and receive newsletters that you send out. This role is best for people who do not contribute to the site in any form, but are interested in the content the site provides.

How Do I Change User Permissions?

Login to your Admin Panel of WordPress. Click the Users tab at the top of your window. In the users section, you will see the different names of the users. There are two ways to change the permissions.

You can tick the box beside the name of the user that you want to change permissions for. Then, at the top of the box you will see the Change Role To… box. Drop that box down and assign the role of your choice to that person.

You can also click the name of the user. On the next page, you will see the box that says Role. Drop that box down and select the role that you want to assign. Then click the Update User button at the bottom of the page.

Once you’ve mastered user permissions, it will be simple to build an active community and subscription based website.