What are the default WordPress roles and which role should you apply to specific accounts? Is it possible to change the default roles and add more roles? All of this and more will be covered in this article, so keep reading to find out!
WordPress comes pre-configured with five default roles: Subscriber, Contributor, Author, Editor, Administrator.
Subscriber is the default setting and it's for the basic user that can log-in and read content. They cannot post or access the WordPress dashboard, but they can post comments if comments are disabled for non-logged in users.
Contributors are the next level up. They are granted access to the post editor and can submit content to the site/blog for review. Contributors cannot by default publish their own content or upload any media files to the site.
Authors can do everything a contributor can do but they are given the freedom to publish their own content and upload media to their own posts. They have the ability to add content without anyone checking it and they can edit their own content after it has been published. They cannot, however, edit or modify any content that they did not create.
Editors can do everything that authors can do but they are also given the ability to make modifications to content made by other users on the site this allows them to correct errors or remove content altogether when other users create them.
Administrators have complete control over everything on the site such as themes, installing plugins, user account creation, and editing.
Learn how to edit and create new users »
These five roles are usually sufficient for normal business purposes, but you can also add new roles and edit existing ones with this free plugin: Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin (this is not an affiliate or paid promotion, it's just a good plugin).
