What user roles are there in WordPress (and why they matter)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/list-of-users.png\")
User roles enable you to manage your website team effectively.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nUser roles<\/strong> define what actions each user at your site is allowed to perform. These actions are called capabilities<\/strong>. For example, the ability to publish a WordPress post is one “capability”, while the ability to install a new plugin is another “capability”.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSo at a simple level, user roles are just a collection of different actions (called capabilities<\/em>) that a user with that role is allowed to perform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udc49 User roles are important in WordPress because they:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Help secure your WordPress site by ensuring that users don’t have access to things they shouldn’t have. For example, you don’t want an untrusted user to have the ability to install new plugins on your site.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Can help you define your workflows. For example, WordPress has pre-made user roles that you can apply to authors on your site to give them access to only the functionality they need to write WordPress posts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
The six default WordPress user roles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Out of the box, WordPress includes six different user roles. Understanding each one is key if you want to protect your site and ensure your team works more effectively. Let’s take a look at each of these roles in turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We’ll also show you what the WordPress dashboard looks like from the perspective of each role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n- Administrator<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Editor<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Author<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Contributor<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Subscriber<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Super Admin<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t \t\n\t\t \t\tAn introduction to #WordPress \ud83d\ude4e\u200d\u2642\ufe0f user roles and why they matter<\/a>\n\t\t \t<\/div>\n\t\t \t\n\t\t \tClick To Tweet \n\t\t \t\t<\/span>\n\t\t \t<\/a>\n\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
1. Administrator<\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/administrator-user-role.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nThis is the role assigned to you when you create a website. The WordPress administrator<\/a> is at the very top of the hierarchy (unless you’re running a Multisite installation, which we’ll discuss soon). In most cases, there is only one, and they are able to access all the functions of the WordPress backend<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udc49 Administrators are able to do everything<\/strong>. This user role can, in part:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n- Create, edit, and delete any content<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Manage plugins and themes<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Edit code<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Delete other user accounts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Administrator is the most powerful user role and should rarely be assigned to any other account. If you give someone else this user role, you’re essentially giving them the keys to the castle. So be careful!<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n2. Editor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/editor-user-role.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nAs the name of this user role suggests, an editor is generally responsible for managing content and thus has a high level of access. They can create, edit, delete, and publish both pages and posts – even those belonging to other users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\ud83d\udc49 An editor can also:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Moderate comments<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Manage categories and links<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
However, they cannot make site-wide changes such as adding plugins and themes or installing updates. Instead, they are responsible for overseeing the work of authors and contributors.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Author<\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/author-user-role.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nAn author has far fewer permissions than editors. They cannot edit pages and are unable to alter other users’ content. In addition, they lack any sort of administrative capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What they can<\/em> do is create, edit, delete, and publish their own posts (and upload media files). This makes their role pretty clear – authors are responsible for creating content, and nothing more.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n4. Contributor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/contributor-user-role.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nThe contributor role is essentially a stripped-down version of the author role. A contributor is only able to perform three tasks – reading all posts, as well as deleting and editing their own posts. This role is quite limited since it doesn’t enable users to publish posts or upload media files. However, it’s ideal for one-time and new content creators.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n5. Subscriber<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Subscribers have only one main capability and their WordPress dashboard is usually incredibly bare. They can read all posts on the site (as well as manage their own profiles). Normally, anyone can read posts without being assigned a role, so not all sites will use this option. However, it comes in handy for subscription-based sites, where you want to enable access to content only for certain people<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n6. Super Admin<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the super admin role. This role only applies to Multisite installations<\/a> – networks of connected WordPress sites. The super admin is responsible for the entire network and can make high-level changes such as adding and deleting sites. They can also manage the network’s users, themes, plugins, and more. As such, their dashboard looks similar to a regular Administrator.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen there is a super admin, the regular administrator role is somewhat modified. For example, regular admins on WordPress Multisite networks can no longer install, upload, and delete themes<\/a> and plugins, nor can they modify user information. These capabilities are reserved for the super admin.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs an example of how these roles interact, the super admin can decide what plugins to install on the network, and individual site admins can only choose whether or not to activate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A deeper look at what user roles can do<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
User roles<\/strong> define what actions each user at your site is allowed to perform. These actions are called capabilities<\/strong>. For example, the ability to publish a WordPress post is one “capability”, while the ability to install a new plugin is another “capability”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So at a simple level, user roles are just a collection of different actions (called capabilities<\/em>) that a user with that role is allowed to perform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83d\udc49 User roles are important in WordPress because they:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Out of the box, WordPress includes six different user roles. Understanding each one is key if you want to protect your site and ensure your team works more effectively. Let’s take a look at each of these roles in turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We’ll also show you what the WordPress dashboard looks like from the perspective of each role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the role assigned to you when you create a website. The WordPress administrator<\/a> is at the very top of the hierarchy (unless you’re running a Multisite installation, which we’ll discuss soon). In most cases, there is only one, and they are able to access all the functions of the WordPress backend<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83d\udc49 Administrators are able to do everything<\/strong>. This user role can, in part:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Administrator is the most powerful user role and should rarely be assigned to any other account. If you give someone else this user role, you’re essentially giving them the keys to the castle. So be careful!<\/p>\n\n\n As the name of this user role suggests, an editor is generally responsible for managing content and thus has a high level of access. They can create, edit, delete, and publish both pages and posts – even those belonging to other users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83d\udc49 An editor can also:<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, they cannot make site-wide changes such as adding plugins and themes or installing updates. Instead, they are responsible for overseeing the work of authors and contributors.<\/p>\n\n\n An author has far fewer permissions than editors. They cannot edit pages and are unable to alter other users’ content. In addition, they lack any sort of administrative capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What they can<\/em> do is create, edit, delete, and publish their own posts (and upload media files). This makes their role pretty clear – authors are responsible for creating content, and nothing more.<\/p>\n\n\n The contributor role is essentially a stripped-down version of the author role. A contributor is only able to perform three tasks – reading all posts, as well as deleting and editing their own posts. This role is quite limited since it doesn’t enable users to publish posts or upload media files. However, it’s ideal for one-time and new content creators.<\/p>\n\n\n Subscribers have only one main capability and their WordPress dashboard is usually incredibly bare. They can read all posts on the site (as well as manage their own profiles). Normally, anyone can read posts without being assigned a role, so not all sites will use this option. However, it comes in handy for subscription-based sites, where you want to enable access to content only for certain people<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the super admin role. This role only applies to Multisite installations<\/a> – networks of connected WordPress sites. The super admin is responsible for the entire network and can make high-level changes such as adding and deleting sites. They can also manage the network’s users, themes, plugins, and more. As such, their dashboard looks similar to a regular Administrator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When there is a super admin, the regular administrator role is somewhat modified. For example, regular admins on WordPress Multisite networks can no longer install, upload, and delete themes<\/a> and plugins, nor can they modify user information. These capabilities are reserved for the super admin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an example of how these roles interact, the super admin can decide what plugins to install on the network, and individual site admins can only choose whether or not to activate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
The six default WordPress user roles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
1. Administrator<\/h3>\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
2. Editor<\/h3>\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
3. Author<\/h3>\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n4. Contributor<\/h3>\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n5. Subscriber<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. Super Admin<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A deeper look at what user roles can do<\/h3>\n\n\n\n