Whether your WordPress site is a one person shop or a large site that requires a team effort, one single person cannot handle everything. Furthermore, as one of WordPress best practices, Super Admin or Admin roles should not be for everyday tasks. They are reserved for essential administrative tasks such managing users, installing updates and plugins, and editing settings. If these two roles are compromised, the attacker can gain full control over your site, resulting in data breaches or malware infections.
Ideally, we want each person on a WordPress site to have their own unique account and permissions, especially for sites with multiple contributors. By assigning specific roles such as Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, and Subscriber, you can manage who has access to which portions of your site and what actions they can perform. For example, Editors can manage and publish content written by others, whereas Authors can only publish their own posts. Contributors can write content but must get approval before it goes online, resulting in a structured review process. This structured approach not only maintains site security by restricting access to sensitive areas but also streamlines collaboration, allowing teams to work efficiently within their defined tasks and roles.
WordPress includes 6 predefined user roles, and each role is allowed to perform a set of tasks called capabilities. They are Super Admin, Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, and Subscriber. Understanding roles and permissions is the key if you want to protect your site and ensure your team of editors, content creators work more effectively and efficiently.
Super Admin is a unique role that has complete control over the entire network. This role is only for WordPress Multisite network, in which several websites share a single WordPress installation. The Super Admin role has complete authority over the network, including creating and deleting individual sites, managing themes, plugins, options, and users. Furthermore, any upgrade and/or setup network for WordPress Multisite has to be done with Super Admin.
The Super Admin role does not exist in a standard single-site WordPress installation. Essentially, Administrator is Super Admin for a single-site setup. It provides comprehensive control over all areas of the WordPress site, making it necessary for managing content, users, settings and overall site administration. Usually, this role is assigned to site owners, senior developers who need full access to maintenance of the site. And because of the considerable powers associated with this role, it is critical to limit the number of Administrators to reduce the possibility of accidental or malicious activities compromising the site.
The Editor role in WordPress is intended for users who are in charge of content creation and administration. Editors can create, modify, publish, and delete both their own posts and those published by other users. They can manage categories, tags, and comments, providing them extensive influence over the site’s content. However, they are unable to edit the site’s settings, install plugins, or modify themes – that role is reserved for the Administrator. Ideally, the Editor role is for content managers, editorial leads, and anyone in charge of a WordPress site’s publication process, and maintain the overall consistency and quality of content.
The WordPress Author role is intended exclusively for content creators. Their role is to create, modify, publish, and remove their own posts and contents, along with the ability to upload media such as images and videos. While Authors have substantial control over their own content, they are often unable to modify or delete posts and content produced by other users. This focused function is ideal for content and freelance writers, and anyone whose sole responsibility is to create and manage their own content on the site. Furthermore, it allows Authors to focus on generating high-quality content while editors handle the final review and publishing.
The Contributor role in WordPress is ideal for users who need to develop content but do not need to publish it themselves. Contributors can create and update their own posts, but they cannot publish or upload media files such as images and videos. This role is frequently employed by guest writers, junior content creators, and freelancers, as it allows them to focus on writing content while the Editor reviews and publishes it. The Contributor role helps to maintain editorial oversight, ensuring that only approved and reviewed content is published while yet allowing content creators to make important contributions to the site.
The WordPress Subscriber role is the most basic level of access on a WordPress site. Subscribers are primarily readers and engagers who can access published content, and respond to it by writing comments and reply comments. They are unable to create, update, or administer any content on the site. This role is generally offered to users who want to keep up with the website’s content and participate in the discussions. Despite their restricted capabilities, subscribers are crucial to the development of the community and engagement that surround the site’s content.
In conclusion, managing user roles and permissions in WordPress is an essential part of your website’s security effectiveness against hackers.. Likewise, by following the least privilege principle and giving users only the access they need to complete their responsibilities, you’re greatly lower the chance of your site being compromised. Roles and permissions in WordPress are a powerful tool that you can use to create a safe and collaborative environment, where everyone contributes to the success of the site.
Source:
https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/roles-and-capabilities/
