Setting Up For Multiple Users On The Same WordPress Blog

(Reading time: 2 – 4 minutes)

WordPress has 5 built in Roles controlling how various aspects of the blog can be managed. The WordPress Codex has an excellent discussion of Roles and Capabilities, and you should read this very carefully.

Now, reading all this information is time consuming and confusing, and doesn’t really make much sense until you put it into practice. Knowing all the information means nothing without knowing how to use it. And personally I find it easier to learn by doing, so let’s do some learning.

First, make sure the Registration box is checked. Go to Settings >> General, your page will look something like mine in the following screenshot:

Check the box in Settings >> General to allow user registration

Now log out of your WordPress blog, and go to the login page. There will be a “Register” text link to the lower left of the login panel, click it. Register 4 users using your name and each role. For example, I registered “subscriberdave” “contributordave” “authordave” and “editordave.”

Next, log back into your WordPress blog as administrator. For each of these new user names, assign the appropriate role. Since my default role for new users is “Subscriber,” that’s already dealt with. Proceeding, “contributordave” is assigned a “Contributor” role, etc.

Now you have a collection of users with different roles. Ready to test it all out? Sure you are…

Testing is easy, if you use at least two browsers. I regularly use three browsers (Chrome, Firefox and Safari) myself, and with Internet Explorer, I could use 4. Add Opera for a 5th browser. None of these browsers need any fancy features, you just want to be able to log into your blog as each different user… all at the same time!

Once you’re logged in, under each user name, do the following and you will see very clearly which roles get which capabilities:

• Write a blog post.
• Delete a blog post.
• Install a plugin.
• Upload an image or file.
• Reader’s choice… hit the admin menu links and play around!

Once you have spent a leisurely hour or so playing around with roles, go back and reread the documentation on the WordPress Codex Roles and Capabilities. It will all make much more sense the second time around.