WordPress users have unique roles they play on the WordPress backend towards the site management.
Every defined user role on WordPress has some sort of clearance level which enables them to perform certain tasks. Tasks that can be performed form WordPress backend include comment moderation, role assignment, post publishing, draft editing among many others.
WordPress User Roles
There are 6 primary WordPress users that own accounts on the backend. They include:
- Super Admin
- Administrator
- Editor
- Author
- Contributor
- Subscriber
This WordPress feature has been found to be very helpful for management of blogs with many authors and contributors. Although WordPress user roles are predefined by default but certain capabilities can be modified at will by the super admin or admin.
6 WordPress Users and Their Roles
The single reason you need WordPress user roles is to ensure that no one wields more capabilities than they should. This helps you to ensure that no one has an access level they don’t need. That also leaves your site very secure and helps you keep track of backend activities of any user.
For example, if you’ve hired a freelance content writer for your content marketing, you don’t want them installing plugins on your backend. So,you give them the author user role which allows them to manage their own posts.
In this post, you’re going to learn about each pre-defined user role on WordPress and what capabilities they wield.
1. Super Admin
A Super Admin is the highest of the WordPress users. He has capabilities to perform all administrative roles within a multi-site installation. He has the highest clearance level to make any changes within the network of connected WordPress sites. Simply put, a Super Admin role is to a multi-site what an Admin role is to a single site.
Even though the Admin role still exists within a multi-site installation, his capabilities are clearly modified to rank a little lower than that of the Super Admin. For example, The Super Admin possesses high level capabilities to create and delete sites, change themes, install plugins or add new user roles. These Fastest Free WordPress Themes could convince you to change your current theme.
In summary, the Admin in a multisite installation has no direct control except under the Super Admin. For example, he can only decide which plugins already installed by the Super Admin to activate.
Below is a bullet point of all the capabilities reserved for the Super Admin within a WordPress multisite network.
- Create sites
- Delete sites
- Manage network
- Manage network options
- Manage network plugins
- Manage network themes
- Manage network users
- Manage individual sites
- Setup a network
- Upgrade network
2. Administrator (Admin)
An Administrator is the default role assigned to the creator of a single WordPress site. The Admin has the highest clearance level within any single site installation. He has sole access to all the functions on the site’s backend.
Below is a bullet point of all the capabilities reserved for the Admin within a WordPress multisite network.
- Activate plugins
- Create reusable blocks
- Customize
- Delete reusable blocks
- Delete site
- Delete others pages
- Delete others posts
- Delete pages
- Delete posts
- Delete private pages
- Delete private posts
- Delete published pages
- Delete published posts
- Edit pages
- Edit reusable blocks
- Edit dashboard
- Edit others pages
- Edit others posts
- Edit posts
- Edit private pages
- Edit private posts
- Edit published pages
- Edit published posts
- Edit theme options
- Export
- Import
- List users
- Manage categories
- Manage links
- Manage options
- Moderate comments
- Promote users
- Publish pages
- Publish posts
- Read
- Read reusable blocks
- Read private pages
- Read private posts
- Remove users
- Switch themes
- Upload files
Below is a bullet point of all the capabilities reserved for the Admin within a WordPress single site installation.
- Add users
- Create users
- Delete plugins
- Delete themes
- Delete users
- Edit files
- Edit plugins
- Edit themes
- Edit users
- Install plugins
- Install themes
- Unfiltered html
- Update core
- Update plugins
- Update themes
3. Editor
An Editor User role on WordPress possesses capabilities to manage contents. His clearance level allows him to create, publish and delete both posts and even pages of other users. Basically, his clearance level permits him to oversee the work of other users directly below his clearance level such as authors, contributors or subscribers.
Below is a bullet point of all the capabilities peculiar to the editor on a WordPress site.
- Create reusable Blocks
- Delete reusable Blocks
- Delete others pages
- Delete others posts
- Delete pages
- Delete posts
- Delete private pages
- Delete private posts
- Delete published pages
- Delete published posts
- Edit Reusable Blocks
- Edit others pages
- Edit others posts
- Edit pages
- Edit posts
- Edit private pages
- Edit private posts
- Edit published pages
- Edit published posts
- Manage categories
- Manage links
- Moderate comments
- Publish pages
- Publish posts
- Read
- Read private pages
- Read private posts
- Unfiltered html (not with Multisite)
- Upload files
4. Author
Authors on a WordPress site are exactly what their names say they are. An author’s clearance level only permits him to create, edit, publish or update his own posts. Authors have no administrative function on the site. By default, they are only charged with managing their own posts.
Below is a bullet point of all the capabilities peculiar to an author on a WordPress site.
- Create reusable blocks
- Delete reusable blocks (own)
- Delete posts
- Delete published posts
- Edit reusable blocks (own)
- Edit posts
- Edit published posts
- Publish posts
- Read
- Read reusable blocks
- Upload files
5. Contributor
A WordPress Contributor is someone who can read all posts, create and manage his own posts but has no permission to publish them. His clearance level is quite limited as he has no permission to publish his own posts. He would need someone with a higher clearance level to publish his posts.
Below is a bullet point of all the capabilities peculiar to a contributor on a WordPress site.
- Delete posts
- Edit posts
- Read
- Read reusable blocks
6. Subscriber
A Subscriber on a WordPress site only has capabilities that enable them to read all posts and manage their own profiles.
The subscriber role comes in handy when you want to enable access to certain contents for members only. Subscriber role is the least WordPress user role.
Conclusion
Upon installing WordPress, the Administrator user role is given to the creator of the account. Subsequent user roles can be set in Administration Screen > Settings > General.
The importance of user roles in site management cannot be overemphasized for a site with multi users. Assigning user roles helps the admin or super admin as the case applies to manage work flow effectively. Did you know WordPress is among the 7 Free Blog Websites for Beginners?
Having defined WordPress users also ensure that no one is given more power than they ought to have on your site. That is very important for the administration and overall security of your site.