The Basics of WordPress User Roles and Permissions

Are you looking to learn more about user roles and permissions in WordPress? You’ve come to the right place. Whether you are expanding your staff and wondering what the proper role for each member is, or you’re looking to increase your WordPress site’s security, having proper roles and permissions is a great place to start.

In this guide, I will go into more detail about each WordPress user role, what permissions that role has, and how to edit user roles in general.

What are WordPress User Roles and Permissions

There are five default user roles in WordPress:

1. Administrator Role
2. Editor Role
3. Author Role
4. Contributor Role
5. Subscriber Role

Administrator

The Administrator, also known as an Admin, has full power and access to all sections of the WordPress administration dashboard.

• They can create, edit, publish, and delete any content on the site.
• Administrators can install, activate, deactivate, and delete plugins and themes.
• They have access to all settings and options in the WordPress dashboard, including user management.

Editor Role

• Editors can publish, edit, or delete any post or page on the site, including those written by other users.
• They have access to moderate comments.
• Editors can manage categories and tags but cannot install plugins or themes or modify site settings.

Author Role

• Authors can write, edit, publish, and delete their own posts.
• They cannot edit or delete posts written by other users unless they’re granted permission.
• Authors can upload media files to their own posts.

Contributor Role

• Contributors can write and edit their posts but cannot publish them.
• They can submit posts for review by an editor or administrator.
• Contributors cannot upload media files; they can only add text.

Subscriber Role

• Subscribers can only manage their profiles.
• They can update their user profiles, change passwords, and view the dashboard.
• Subscribers cannot create, publish, or edit any content on the site.

How to Edit User Roles and Permissions

Users with the Administrator role can easily edit other user’s roles in the WordPress dashboard.

1. Click the “Users” tab to view the list of all registered users on your site.
2. You can select the user you wish to edit by clicking on their name or hovering over their name and clicking the “Edit” button.
3. Locate the “Role” dropdown menu on the user’s profile page. Click on the dropdown and select the role you wish to assign to the user.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Update User.”
5. You’re done! You’ve properly updated a user’s role in WordPress.

Creating Custom User Roles

While the 5 default user roles give most users the permissions and restrictions needed to keep their WordPress website safe, you can customize user roles and even create new ones if you need them to be more specific. This can be done relatively quickly through a plugin such as User Role Editor. If you need help setting up a custom user role, we recommend reading the instructions for the User Role Editor plugin on their plugin page. We will be working on an article in the future that goes into more detail on setting up custom user roles using a plugin.