How To Add Users To Your WordPress Site

How To Add Users To Your WordPress Site

What Do The Different User Types Mean?

When adding a user to your WordPress site there are a few different roles that can be assigned to them. Picking the right one ensures that they have the access they need.
  1. Administrator: This is the most powerful role available to local party WordPress admins. It allows complete control of all settings enabled by the central party. Anyone with this permission will be able to add, remove and edit users. The first person we set up on a WordPress site will be made an administrator, but this is a powerful role so any subsequent users should be given this permission only when necessary.
  2. Editor: As the name suggests this role gives editing rights to a user. They can add, remove or edit pages and posts- but they won't be able to make changes to the site settings or add or remove other users. 
  3. Author: The Author role is very similar to the Editor role. The key difference is that they can only edit or remove their own content, and not pages or posts created by others. This is a useful permission for anyone who simply needs to add content to your site.
  4. Contributor: This is a very limited role that allows for the creation and editing of posts, but is not able to publish posts or add media. Contributors will need to wait for someone with a higher access level to publish their posts.
  5. Subscriber: This is the most limited of roles. It is for those who wish to keep up to date with your content or wish to comment publicly on posts.
  6. SEO Editor & SEO Manager: These roles are for people working on your WordPress site's SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) using the Yoast plug-in. It's unlikely these roles will be needed for your local party.

Add A New User

1. From your WordPress Dashboard select Users from the menu on the left of the page. If you've collapsed this menu the option you need will be the person icon.

The WordPress dashboard main navigation menu with Users highlighted.

2. From the menu options that appear click on Add New.

A pop-out menu with Add New highlighted.

3. On the page that appears make sure you're completing the form fields that appear under the Add New User heading. Simply give them a username (the format firstnamelastname is standard), add their email address and pick the role you want to assign them from the dropdown menu. 

The add new user form showing fields for Username, Email and Role.

4. Click on the button marked Add New User, and your new user will receive an email inviting them to join your site.

A green Add New User button.

Add A User Who Is Already A WordPress User Elsewhere

To add a user who already has a WordPress login you follow the same steps as above, but during step 3 you add their details to the fields under the Add Existing User heading. You just need to confirm with them which email address is associated with their existing WordPress login. Once you're done click the Add Existing User button and they'll receive an email inviting them to the site.

The add existing user form showing fields for email and role.

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