Differences in user group permissions in the WordPress system

WordPress defaults to having 5 user roles: Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, and Subscriber. So what are the differences in their permissions? This article explains.Differences in user group permissions in the WordPress system。

Capability	Super Admin (only exists in Multisite)	Administrator	Editor	Author	Contributor	Subscriber
Read Posts	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Post Comments	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Delete, Edit Posts	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	–
Create, Delete Drafts	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	–
Delete Published Posts	✔	✔	✔	✔	–	–
Publish, Edit Posts	✔	✔	✔	✔	–	–
Edit Pages	✔	✔	✔	–	–	–
Add, Delete Pages	✔	✔	✔	–	–	–
Add, Delete Plugins	✔	✔	–	–	–	–
Add, Delete Themes	✔	✔	–	–	–	–
Create, Delete, Edit Users	✔	✔	–	–	–	–
Edit Dashboard	✔	✔	–	–	–	–
Setup, Manage, Upgrade Network	✔	–	–	–	–	–
Manage Sites	✔	–	–	–	–	–
Create, Delete Sites	✔	–	–	–	–	–

From the table above, you can see the differences between each user role. A detailed explanation of the permissions for these roles is as follows:Super AdminThis role only exists when Multisite mode is enabled. Its permissions are as follows:

• Create and delete sites from a WordPress Multisite network.
• Manage access for all users on all sites across the network.
• Set up, manage, and upgrade WordPress for the entire network.
• Add, delete, and manage plugins.
• Upload themes for all websites.
• Add, delete, and manage users across the entire network.

Administrator, webuild my own websiteThe newly created administrator account has full permissions for the website and is responsible for tasks such asInstall WordPress，WordPress Theme, WordPress plugins, installing SSL certificates, etc. Some functions of the Admin are as follows:

• Add, delete, edit, and create content.
• Create and delete users.
• Add and delete plugins.
• Add and delete themes.
• Change existing user information, such as passwords.
• Edit the Dashboard.
• Customize and delete sites.
• Import and export content.

Edit, with permissions second only to the administrator, editors cannot perform operations related to website themes, installing plugins, etc. However, editors can perform any operations on content. Editors can perform the following actions:

• Delete and edit pages.
• Publish pages.
• Delete and edit private pages.
• Delete pages created by others.
• Edit and delete posts.
• Delete published pages.
• Delete posts created by others.
• Publish posts.
• Delete published posts.
• Manage categories and links.

Author, with slightly less permission than editors, users who can create, edit, delete, and publish their own content.

• Authors can edit their own posts.
• Publish their own posts.
• Edit their own published posts.
• Delete their own posts.
• Delete their own published posts.
• Upload files.

Contributor, similar to writers for a website, they can edit posts but cannot publish them on their own; they require administrator review before publication.

• View all posts from other users.
• Create and edit their own posts.
• Delete their own posts.

Subscriber, are ordinary visitors who have their own account on your website but possess no substantial permissions.

• Subscribers can only read posts.

In addition to the default user groups provided by the system, you can also create custom user groups. If you wish to define custom user groups, you can utilizethis pluginto achieve it. Setting different user groups can be helpful during website operation. Naibabiji also shares some plugins related to user permissions; you can check if there is a need.

• Method for making a WordPress website accessible only to registered members who have logged in
• Plugin for recording WordPress user login history: User Login History