User levels in WordPress
Yesterdays post brought up some questions so lets address them today. We will be discussing the various levels of registered users and setting them up properly. Each succeeding level has the rights of the one before it plus whatever is added.
Subscriber – This is needed if you require subscribers to comment. For any of these a person must register and actually get their password to be able to comment. I don’t recommend requiring people to register to comment as it will greatly reduce the amount of interaction on your blog. The only thing that a subscriber can access inside the blog is their profile.
Contributor – This level can add a post to the blog in draft format only. It can only be published by someone else. This is a good way to have people add content that you need to approve to post.
Author – This level allows the person to upload media files and be able to edit anything they add to the blog. Here you can’t control ahead of time what is posted or edited.
Editor – Now the person can edit anything content wise including links, pages, posts and approve or edit comments. Can not change anything within the structure like the theme or plugins.
Administrator – Can do it all. Upload plugins, do upgrades, change settings this is the top level access.
Hope this clears up some of the questions from yesterdays post.
As always your questions and comments are welcomed.
Mike Paetzold
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12 comments
Earl Netwal
Twitter: EarlNetwal
on March 2, 2009 at 10:42 am
Thanks Mike, that helps a lot. Prior to you post yesterday, I don’t think I had ever looked at the settings. Now I have an idea or two of how I may use them in the future.
Earl Netwal´s last blog post..Money Word Matrix- An internet marketing idea you should steal.
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Joel Osborne
Twitter: JoelOsborne
on March 2, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Thanks for clearing that up, as I think many beginner bloggers have no idea that other users can even post on their blog.
In different niches, the different user settings can come in very handy for interactive and bigger blogs.
Joel Osborne´s last blog post..2 Valuable Blogs to Read
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Andre Arnett on March 2, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Thanks Mike, a great explanation as to the levels of WordPress. I know it can be very confusing sometimes and I think this will clear up some issues That people may have.
Andre Arnett´s last blog post..Free PLR Giveaway 6 Is Underway
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Fred Lotgering on March 2, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Thanks Mike,
I think it is clear now for what the intention is of the different levels are for. I think I will remove the register link. Other users can be assigned by the admin if there is a selective need for.
Fred
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BlogHer Geek Lab: Wordpress for Beginners - Resources « SkinnyMinnyMedia on July 24, 2009 at 12:12 am
[...] User Levels [...]
Crystal on October 5, 2009 at 9:45 am
Perfect info, thanks for making it so clear and simple!
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Kai on January 17, 2010 at 5:49 pm
I agree that you should never get people to register in order to comment. I am not a big fan of doing many steps just to post a comment.
-Kai
Kai´s last blog ..Keywords That Sell
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Gil on January 22, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Hi,
Do you have any idea how those levels can be modified?
For instance, I would need to allow a Contributer to insert images in his posts, so I think I would need to allow him to upload files. How could I do that?
Thanks for the help!
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Betty on February 23, 2010 at 1:44 am
I want to switch theme when a subscriber login.
I currently use user level theme plugin, but I want to add a new option to specify the theme for subscriber.
Is there any one can do me a favor?
Best Regards.
Betty
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Jerry on February 27, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Do you know how you can acutally change the user level #? I know that the user levels are from 1-10 and I need to change a few of them. Outside of going into the SQL database I can’t find out where to change it.
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Mike Reply:
February 27th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Not sure I know what you are asking. Are you planning to redefine the levels or just want to change the level someone has?
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Bags on March 2, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Super useful. Thanks for the breakdown. This makes explaining WordPress permissions to my boss so much easier.
Bags´s last blog ..Life can be so cruel
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