Posts and Plugins

Running the site · 4.3

Users and roles

Last reviewed

The short version

  • A user is a person who can log in to your site.
  • Each user has a role. The role decides what they can do.
  • Give each person the smallest role that lets them do their job.
  • The person who installed WordPress is an Administrator.

Users and roles

Every person who logs in is a user. WordPress uses roles to control what each user can and cannot do.[1]

A role is a set of tasks. The tasks are called capabilities.[1] For example, one capability is to publish posts. Another is to moderate comments.[1]

When you install WordPress, it makes an Administrator account for you.[1]

The usual roles

WordPress has six built-in roles.[1] Five are for a normal site. The sixth, Super Admin, is for networks of sites.[1]

Five roles from most to least able: Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor and Subscriber, each with a short description of what it can do.
The five usual roles, from most able to least.
  • Administrator: has all the admin features for one site.[1]
  • Editor: can publish and manage posts, including other people's posts.[1]
  • Author: can publish and manage their own posts.[1]
  • Contributor: can write and manage their own posts but cannot publish them.[1]
  • Subscriber: can only manage their own profile.[1]

One role is not "senior" to another. Roles describe a person's responsibilities on the site.[1]

Which role should I give?

Pick the smallest role that does the job. Here are some examples.

Four examples of who should get which role. Someone who writes drafts for you: Contributor. A regular writer: Author. Someone who looks after everyone's posts: Editor. Someone who only needs a login: Subscriber.
Pick the smallest role that does the job.

A Contributor can write, but an Editor or Administrator must publish the work. That is a handy check for guest writers.[1]

Add a user

Go to Users, then Add New. You can add users yourself, whether or not people can register on their own.[2]

Four steps to add a user: go to Users then Add New, fill in a user name and email address, choose a role, then click Add New User.
Adding a user in four steps.

Each user needs a user name and an email address. The email address must be unique for each user.[2] You also choose a role from the drop-down list.[2]

See everyone and change roles

The Users screen lists every user and shows the role of each.[3] You can use it to add, change or delete users.[3]

To change roles, tick one or more users. Then use the Change role to box and click Change.[3]

Deleting a user

You cannot delete the user you are logged in as.[3] When you delete someone else, WordPress asks what to do with their posts.[3]

When you delete a user, WordPress asks what to do with their posts. Choice one: delete all their posts and links. Choice two: give their posts and links to another user.
Deleting a user means choosing what happens to their posts.

You can delete all their posts and links, or give them to another user.[3]

Who may sign themselves up?

In Settings, then General, there is a box called Anyone can register. If you tick it, anyone can make an account on your site.[4]

Next to it is New User Default Role. It sets the role that new users get.[4] Keep this on the lowest role, unless you have a good reason.

Where next

The General screen has more to explore. See settings you should know.

Sources

  1. Roles and Capabilities, WordPress.org Documentation (accessed 2026-10-18)
  2. Users Add New screen, WordPress.org Documentation (accessed 2026-10-18)
  3. Users screen, WordPress.org Documentation (accessed 2026-10-18)
  4. Settings General screen, WordPress.org Documentation (accessed 2026-10-18)