WordPress comes with a built-in user management system. This lets you add users with different roles and permission levels.
In our 16+ years of experience managing a successful WordPress blog, we’ve added multiple new users and authors. The process has now become very simple, and WordPress offers many options for customizing your profile.
In this article, we will show you how to add new users and authors to your WordPress website.
Adding a New User or Author to Your WordPress Website
There are three ways to add new users to your WordPress website. You can add users manually, let users register themselves for free, or create a paid membership site where users pay to register.
Here is what we are going to cover in this article. Simply click on the quick links to jump straight to the section you need:
Video Tutorial
If you prefer written instructions, then just keep reading.
Manually Adding a New User or Author to Your Website
If you want to add a small number of people to your website, then this is easy to do with WordPress’s built-in user management system.
This method is ideal for:
- Small businesses with several different employees managing their websites.
- Organizations, such as churches and nonprofits, with volunteers updating their websites.
- WordPress blogs with multiple authors, such as a fashion blog that you are writing with some friends.
- Online stores with several people managing inventory, shipping items, etc.
You simply need to go to the Users » Add New page in your WordPress admin area.
Next, simply fill out the form to create a new user.
On the form, you first need to enter a username. The user can use this or their email address to log in.
Note: The WordPress username can’t be easily changed later, but all the other details can.
Next, enter the user’s email address. Double-check that you are using the correct email address. Users will need this in order to reset their password and receive email notifications.
After that, you can enter the first name, last name, and website URL. Since these are optional fields, you can also leave them blank. Users can edit their own profiles to complete these fields later.
In the next step, you will need to choose a password. We recommend using an online strong password generator for this purpose.
We suggest using the ‘Generate password’ button to automatically create a strong password.
Below the password field, you will see a checkbox to send the user an email. If you check this, the user will receive an email letting them know how to log in. This will also have a link so they can set a different password if they want.
The last option on the page is to choose a WordPress user role from the dropdown list.
Each user role comes with a different set of capabilities. Subscriber is the least powerful role, and Administrator is the most powerful role. You need to choose a role depending on which tasks a user will be performing on your website.
You may already know what role you want to give your user. If so, select the role, then click the ‘Add New User’ button at the bottom of the screen.
If you are unsure about the role, then don’t worry. We have a detailed explanation of the roles in the next section of this article.
Remember, some plugins create additional user roles.
For instance, WooCommerce adds ‘Customer’ and ‘Shop Manager’ roles. All in One SEO adds the ‘SEO Manager’ and ‘SEO Editor’ roles.
Simply check the plugin’s documentation to find out about any additional roles that you see in this list.
Understanding User Roles in WordPress
WordPress comes with these default user roles:
- Administrator
- Editor
- Author
- Contributor
- Subscriber
If you have a multisite installation of WordPress, there is also a ‘Super Admin’ role. These users can manage all of the websites, whereas regular Administrators manage just one site.
Administrator
An administrator can perform all tasks on your WordPress site.
You should only assign this role to users whom you fully trust. You should also feel confident about their technical skills.
With the administrator user role, a user can install WordPress plugins, change themes, delete content, and even delete other users. This includes other administrators.
You can learn more about the Administrator role here.
Editor
An editor can add, edit, publish, and delete their own WordPress posts. They can also do all of these actions for posts by all other users.
They cannot access website settings, plugins, themes, and other admin features.
This role is useful if you have an editor for your site who manages a team of authors and publishes content on a regular basis.
You can learn more about the Editor role here.
Author
Authors can add, edit, and publish their own posts. They can upload files, too.
They can’t edit or publish other people’s posts or access features like plugins, themes, settings, and tools.
You may want to use a plugin to restrict authors so they can only write in a specific category.
You could also let authors revise their published posts. Again, you will need to use a plugin to extend the Author user role.
You can learn more about the Author role here.
Contributor
A contributor can add and edit their own posts but cannot publish them.
Additionally, they cannot edit other users’ posts or access features like plugins, themes, settings, and tools.
It is important to note that contributors cannot upload media files, such as images. The easiest way to get around this is to get contributors to upload their post’s image(s) through a file upload form.
That way, the image(s) can be saved straight to the WordPress media library. This makes it easy for an editor or administrator to add them to the post.
You can learn more about the Contributor role here.
Subscriber
The subscriber role does not let users add or edit posts in any way.
With the default settings, subscribers can create a profile and save their details. This lets them enter them more quickly when leaving comments.
You can also use a membership plugin or LMS plugin to create members-only content that is available to subscribers. We will come onto that later in this article.
You can learn more about the Subscriber role here.
To find out more about all the different user roles in WordPress and how they relate to one another, you can check out our beginner’s guide to WordPress user roles and permissions.
Managing Users in WordPress
As an administrator, you can add and remove users from your WordPress site at any time. After you have added a user, you can edit their profile and change any information, including passwords.
Simply click on the Users tab in your WordPress admin to go to the user page. You can edit or delete a user at any time.
You can edit the user’s profile to change their password, their role, and more. You can also bulk edit users to change their roles if you want to upgrade or downgrade several users’ roles at the same time.
Users can also edit their own profile by going to Users » Profile in the WordPress dashboard. They can add a profile picture and change most of their details, but they cannot change their role.
Open Your WordPress Site for Anyone to Register for Free
What if you want to let users register on your site for free?
It would be a lot of work to manually add each user. Instead, you can let them create their own account.
First, you need to go to Settings » General in your WordPress admin and check the ‘Anyone can register’ box.
By default, new users will be given the Subscriber role. Go ahead and change this to any role you want using the dropdown.
Warning: We recommend only letting users register as ‘Subscribers’ or ‘Contributors.’ If you let users register as ‘Authors,’ they could publish a post without approval. Never use ‘Administrator’ as the default setting.
Don’t forget to click the ‘Save Changes’ button at the bottom of the page to store your changes.
You also need to add a login form to your site. The best way to do this is with the WPForms plugin. Just follow our guide on how to allow user registration on your WordPress site for help with this.
Tip: You can also disable the WordPress admin bar for subscribers or other user roles.
Creating a Paid Membership Program on Your Website
Another way to add new users to your site is to create a paid membership program that users sign up for.
This allows you to sell members-only content, add premium content behind a paywall, sell online courses, and more.
To do this, you need a WordPress membership plugin.
We recommend using MemberPress. It’s the best membership and course creation plugin with all the functionality and flexibility you need.
MemberPress lets you lock specific posts and pages on your site so that only registered, paying users can access them. Many sites offer premium content like this as a way to make money online.
With MemberPress, it’s easy to create different access levels.
For instance, you might offer a Bronze, Silver, and Gold plan. Each of these plans would have its own user role. You could create separate courses that only users with certain roles could sign up for.
You also get access to powerful tools such as MemberPress’s reports to see your average member lifetime value, how many members you have in total, and more.
MemberPress allows you to add drip content to create an evergreen membership site, and you can even sell group memberships in WordPress.
For a step-by-step tutorial on setting up MemberPress on your site, check out our ultimate guide to creating a WordPress membership site.
We hope this article helped you learn how to add new users and authors to your WordPress website. You may also want to see our guide on how to allow user registration in WordPress and how to add a login form in your WordPress sidebar.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Jiří Vaněk
I recently started using a website with multiple authors, and the MemberPress plugin has worked exceptionally well for me. Managing users, authors, and paid memberships with it is really enjoyable, and it’s a truly powerful plugin for these purposes. Thanks for the great tutorial on user management in standard WordPress as well, without using this plugin. These tips are always useful for low-budget websites.
Dayo Olobayo
Thanks for this but I have a question. Please how can I give credit to guest post authors by mentioning their name without having to grant them access to my website?
WPBeginner Comments
For a simple method, you could create a user subscriber and choose to not share the login info with the guest author. You could then assign them the credit when adding their posts.
Dayo Olobayo
Thanks for the helpful solution. I appreciate the simplicity and effectiveness of this approach.
Mrteesurez
Nice post.
Why is it that a subscriber also see the admin bar when he is not having any function to do with it ?
Concerning the username, it’s possible to change it, I have read that from on of your post. thanks.
WPBeginner Support
It depends on the site, some add tools for users in the admin area while others don’t want users in the admin area.
Admin
Anik
quite helpful. Thanks for posting.
WPBeginner Support
You’re welcome, glad it was helpful
Admin
oro
nice article , thanks for sharing
WPBeginner Support
Glad you found our article helpful
Admin
waseem
Is there a way to categorize self registered users and admin registered users using a plugin or manually?
WPBeginner Support
For doing that, you could create different user roles for admin added and have the standard signup be registered as a different role.
Admin
A Mueed
I’ve assigned an author and am using User Role editor. My author has no access to elementor builder, how can I enable that for him? I would be grateful if you could resolve this issue, Thanks.
WPBeginner Support
You would want to check your Elementor settings to ensure that you are not preventing access in the plugin’s settings.
Admin
Sushant Singhal
Earlier, I could go to my site’s dashboard, add user, assign role for him / her and that was it.
Now, as per new interface, I can only invite a person to become user / author / editor etc. Even when a invited person accepts invitation by confirming through his email box, he / she is not accepted as user.
When he / she logs into the wordpress.com, he is prompted to create a new website instead of taking him to the website for which he has been added as a user. Although I know that the invitation has been accepted by the invitee, he/she continues to be shown as ‘pending invitation’. Why so?
Is there some bug? Can’t I get that earlier system where I could add Authors to my website by entering their details and assigning them a user name and password?
WPBeginner Support
You would sadly need to reach out to WordPress.com for this question, our tutorials are for WordPress.org sites: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/self-hosted-wordpress-org-vs-free-wordpress-com-infograph/
Admin
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however, you sound like you know what you’re talking about!
Thanks
WPBeginner Support
Glad our article could be helpful
Admin
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WPBeginner Support
Thank you, glad our content can be helpful
Admin
Steven
Where do the users I add go to log in once I’ve added them?
WPBeginner Support
You can see the users under Users>All Users in your wp-admin area
Admin
Merrill Whipple
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you shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us informed like this.
Thank you for sharing.
WPBeginner Support
Glad you liked it and found it helpful
Admin
Sasha
Is there a way to send a bulk email to all the Users with Author or Admin access containing their login details?
WPBeginner Support
Not one we would recommend at the moment
Admin
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WPBeginner Support
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WPBeginner Support
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WPBeginner Support
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Admin
Mostafa
after I added a new user
automatically WordPress send email to this user to tell his
but I want Wordpress doesn’t it
How can I do that?
Jeffry Rentoul
Whats սp this is kind of of off topic but I waѕ wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors oг if you hɑѵe to manually
code with HTML. I’m starting а blog soon but have no coding experience so I wаnted to get
guidance fгom someone ԝith experience. Αny help ѡould Ьe enormously appreciated!
WPBeginner Support
Hi Jeffry,
Yes they have WYSIWYG editor to write your content. You don’t need to add HTML unless you want to.
Admin
Tesla
but how can i edit a user dashboard without affecting the whole page and other users dashboard
Miroslav
Respect. How to add a user who will be able to see what I (as administrator) is a complete control panel but without the ability to add, change or delete – but just review what I did. This is what I need to keep a look at the layout of the site and point to the possibility of solving the problem I have. Thank you!
WPBeginner Support
Hi Miroslav,
Users will only be able to see the areas where they can make changes. For example, if you want them to be able to see theme settings, then they will also be able to modify them.
Admin
Okpala Precious
Hi, I just employed someone to my blog and added him as a user. I don’t want him to have access or to be logging in to my site dashboard with the main details. How can I make him have his own log in details or which link would lead him to the dashboard as an Author?
samsta
hello. i have been added to be a user administrator to another wordpress account, however i’m not able to see that website under my profile. i have to go on to the website and login everytime i need to contribute something. is there anyway i am able to see said website under my profile or on my dashboard to access it easily?
richie treadway
How do I add an authors name so I can credit them for guest posts, without actually giving them access to my site?
WPBeginner Support
Hi Richie,
Please see our guide on how to add guest author name with custom fields in WordPress.
Admin
Nicola Hasted
Hi, is it possible to add an existing WP user to a site using their gravatar or WP login? I have been added to a clients site in this way but I don’t know how they achieved it (I received no email or new password etc).
WPBeginner Support
Hi Nicola,
Yes, they can do that. Unfortunately, there is no way to stop this from happening. If they added you without your permission, then you can ask them nicely to stop. If they have used your Gravatar profile to publish content, then you have the option to take legal action. You can send them a cease and desist notice.
Admin
Nicola Hasted
Thanks – it’s not a problem. In fact, I want to know how to do it for my own WP sites! And for future reference with other clients. When I go to “Add User” it wants a password set up. But I was able to access their site with my own WP login info. How is it done, please?
WPBeginner Support
Hi Nicola,
They can add your login email but they cannot add your password. You can go to Add New User page and select the checbox next to ‘Send User Notification’ option. Make sure that you don’t click on show password button. This way users will receive an email notification to set their password and login.
Cameron Tomasini
Hello there! Quick question that’s entirely
off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly?
My weblog looks weird when viewing from my iphone. I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to correct this problem.
If you have any recommendations, please share. With thanks!
WPBeginner Support
Hi Cameron,
Best way to do this is by choosing a mobile friendly WordPress theme. Check out the showcase section on our website for our theme lists. All themes in those lists are mobile responsive.
Admin
Pradeep Singh
Hello This article really helpful for me. I was searching such type of content, now I am able to add new editor, contributor or author in my wordpress website
Thanks
WPBeginner Support
Hi Pradeep,
We are glad you found the article helpful. You may also want to subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials.
Admin
Gerald Fisher
I am part of a blog that has been out of service for a while. The blog owner wants to start back up again. He has invited me as an adminstrator and wants me to invite new member. The only page I can get when I click on “add new” is “add existing user”. I cannot load the ‘add new user’ page that you show towards the top of this article. Can anyone tell me what we (or maybe just I) are doing wrong? Thanks
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WPBeginner Support
Hey Tim,
Please take a look at our guide on how to schedule WordPress posts for social media with Buffer. It allows you to automatically share new posts from your blog to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Admin
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Maddison Gann
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I’m trying to find a template or plugin that might be able to fix this problem.
If you have any suggestions, please share. Thanks!
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WPBeginner Support
Hi Bernard,
Our website is hosted on a dedicated server with HostGator.
Admin
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Fausto Hair
Hi this is kinda of off topic but I was wanting to know
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with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon butt have no coding expertise sso I wanted to
get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would bee greatly appreciated!
WPBeginner Support
Hi Fausto,
WordPress comes with an easy to use WYSIWYG editor called Visual Editor. It also comes with a text editor for more advanced users who want to write plain HTML.
Admin
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Onyango
After adding a user, what password does he use?
Modesta Corbin
Hello! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this website?
I’m getting sick and tired of Wordpress because I’ve had issues with hackers and I’m looking at options for another
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WPBeginner Support
Hi Modesta,
We are using WordPress for this website. We use WordPress for all our websites. As for security, you may want to see our WordPress security guide to protect your website against hackers.
Admin
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Ulrich Dortch
Hi there! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with SEO?
I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good success.
If you know of any please share. Cheers!
WPBeginner Support
Hi Ulrich,
Please check out our WordPress SEO guide for beginners.
Admin