Managing Multiple User Logins for WordPress
This article will address creating user accounts in WordPress and how to assign them different roles. The following topics will be discussed in-depth:
Why Have Multiple Users?
If you're not familiar with using WordPress, the first question you may ask yourself is why you would create multiple users for your WordPress installation. The most immediate answer is if you wish to have developer access to your WordPress account. You'll need to create additional user accounts to provide this without giving away your admin credentials or even your Customer Portal credentials to access your WordPress account.
How Do I Create a New User?
The following video will provide instructions for how to create a new user in WordPress:
These instructions will walk you through the process as well:
- Log in to your Customer Portal.
- Go to Websites from the left navigation menu.
- Click Edit Site next to the website you want to manage.
- Click Users on the left-hand sidebar.
- Click Add User in the top left corner of the page:
- Enter the following information:
- Username: The username the user will log in with.
- Email: The address they will use to reset their password.
- First Name (optional): The first name of the user.
- Last Name (optional): The last name of the user.
- Website (optional): The user's homepage if the user offers one.
- Password: Select a strong password for the user, so their access is secure.
- Role: Select the role for the user. Read more about roles if you're unsure what role to assign to your user.
- Click Add User.
What Roles Do I Assign Users?
When adding new users, it's important to restrict their access so that they may not do more than they are allowed to inside your WordPress site. For example, you would not want an author who should only be writing and editing articles making changes to your website pages, or an editor who should only be making changes to your page content, installing plugins, or changing your theme.
Restricting this access is what roles are for. Here is a list of roles available on the Add User page:
| Role | Primary Responsibilities | Key Capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| Administrator | Full site management | Has access to all administration features, including plugins, themes, settings, and user management. |
| Editor | Content supervision | Can publish, edit, and delete any posts or pages, including those written by other users. |
| SEO Manager | Strategy & technical SEO | Manages SEO settings, audits content, and optimizes site-wide SEO configurations. |
| SEO Editor | Content optimization | Optimizes SEO for specific posts and pages using SEO-related tools and plugins. Does not manage global SEO settings. |
| Author | Content creation | Can write, edit, publish, and delete their own posts, but cannot modify content created by other users. |
| Contributor | Draft creation | Can write and edit their own posts but cannot publish them. Posts must be reviewed and published by an Editor or Administrator. |
What Do I Do When My Developer is Done?
When you no longer need work from your developer, it is best to remove their administrator privileges for security purposes. The following video will provide instructions for how to change user privileges in WordPress:
These instructions will walk you through the process as well:
- Log in to WordPress.
- Click Users in the left-hand sidebar.
- Place a check mark next to the user you wish to change permissions for.
- Click on the Change role to the dropdown box and select the reduced role you want to use.
- Click Change.