An essential part of a website built in WordPress is its users. Adding multiple users in WordPress, even if you only need one user on it for business purposes, can be really beneficial in terms of security. This GrowTraffic blog aims to offer everything you need to know about WordPress users in our ultimate guide to adding a new user in WordPress.
What are WordPress User Roles?
Before getting into the specifics regarding how to add new users in WordPress, it’s beneficial for us to have a quick look at what different types of users you can have on your site.
Most CRMs, including WordPress allow a number of different users with varying permissions.
A new WordPress user can have one of six user roles.
- Super Admin* (*if multisite is enabled)
- Administrator
- Editor
- Author
- Contributor
- Subscriber
These different roles have a decreasing amount of access and permissions.
Super Admins are the most powerful user. Although a number of sites don’t have them, those who are using the most recent WordPress will. Super Admins are… you guessed it, admins (but really super!) This user is specifically important for those businesses that are in a multisite network. However, with that being said, the majority of business owners won’t be, and therefore won’t need Super Admins.
Administrators, more commonly known as Admins, are the users that usually hold managerial status within a business. For single-site installations, the Admin is the owner. This is usually the primary account in WordPress, which has permission and access to view and edit every aspect of the site.
Editors play a decisive role in WordPress in terms of blogging and content. They are different to Admins as do not have permission to access site level settings. Editors do however have permission to control the content.
Author accounts are limited. Their permissions are limited to writing, editing and publishing content. This type of user is significantly important however if your site requires several authors posting under their own name – like in a blog for example.
Contributors are like Authors, except with even less access to your site. They can create and edit posts but not publish them. You would perhaps give a Contributor user role to guest post authors on your website for example.
Subscribers are just readers who have an account with your site. They have no access to make any changes.
How to Add a New User to WordPress
Now that we have explored the different users you can add in WordPress, let’s delve into our step by step guide in which we explore how we go about adding a new user, whatever their access permissions may be.
Step One: Log into your WordPress site’s dashboard. Only Admin or Super Admin’s can add a new role, if this isn’t you – pass this guide over to them!
Step Two: Head to the left hand navigation menu where you will find a “Users” dropdown.
Step Three: Click the “Add New” button.
Step Four: Fill out the relevant information for the new account.
For security reasons, we advise you to only give users the permissions that are absolutely necessary for your staff to carry out their job. It is always better to restrict access as a default and change it accordingly.
Helpful Plugins for Managing New Users in WordPress
WordPress has plugins for everything, so of course, they have plugins for managing new users.
User Role Editor – This plugin allows you to add new user roles, edit their permissions, and manage capabilities per user.
WordPress User Login Notifier – A brilliant option if security is on your mind. This plugin notifies the site admin when another user logs in, whether successfully or with failed attempt.
WordPress and GrowTraffic
Working on so many sites built in WordPress – ours included, we really are the experts when it comes to user management!
If you have any further questions regarding what we have explored in this blog, whether it be adding new users, managing user roles, or account security, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team!
You can call us today on 0161 706 0012 or drop us a line at info@growtraffic.co.uk.
