So, you’ve got a WordPress site, and you’re thinking “I need more hands on deck”. Maybe you want a mate to knock out some blog posts, or you’ve hired a web wizard and you want to give them the keys to the kingdom – but not YOUR keys, of course! Well, let me tell you, adding a new user to your WordPress site is as easy as pie, and I’m going to show you how. So, grab a brew and let’s get cracking.
Once you’re logged in to the back end of your WordPress site, you want to choose Users from the left-hand menu and then choose the Add New option.
Here you will see all the options for adding a new user to your site. Username, Email, Role, etc. You’ll also notice you have the option of notifying the new user by email that they have been added to the back end.
Your new user is going to need a role assigned to them. Let’s look at what these roles are a little more closely.
Subscriber – Users with this role assigned to their account can log in to your WordPress site, update their user profiles, and change their passwords. They can’t write posts, view comments, or do anything else inside your WordPress admin area. This user role is beneficial if you have a membership site or an online store.
Contributor – Users with the contributor role can add new posts and edit their own posts, but they cannot publish any posts. When writing posts, they can choose from existing categories and create their own tags. The main disadvantage of the contributor role is they cannot upload files, so they can’t add images to their posts. Contributors can also view all website comments but cannot approve or delete them. Finally, they don’t have access to website settings, plugins, or themes, so they cannot change any settings on your site.
Author – Users with the author role can write, edit, and publish their own posts. They can also delete their own posts, even if they are already published. When writing posts, authors cannot create new categories but choose from existing ones. They can also add tags to their posts. Authors can view comments, even those pending review, but they cannot moderate, approve, or delete any comments. They do not have access to site settings, plugins, or themes, so it is a relatively low-risk user role. The only exception is the ability to delete their own published posts.
Editor – Users with the editor role in WordPress have complete control of the content sections of your website. They can add, edit, publish, and delete any posts on the site, including the ones written by others. An editor can moderate, edit, and delete comments as well. Editors cannot change your site settings, install plugins and themes, or add new users.
Administrator – The administrator role is the most powerful user role. This role is reserved for site owners and gives you complete control of your WordPress website. Users with this role can add new posts, edit posts by any users, and delete those posts. They can also install, edit, and delete plugins and customise/delete themes. Most importantly, admin users can add and delete users and change information about existing users, including their passwords. This role is helpful if you need to give your web developer full access to your website but don’t want to share your own login details with them.
Once you’ve selected a role for your new user, you must click the Add New User button at the bottom.
That’s it! It is that simple to add a new user in WordPress! You’re all done.