The user roles are an important part of the security features of WordPress. Out of the box, WordPress comes with a set of user roles needed to work with your WordPress website. Each user role enables or hides features that are appropriate for the user role’s purpose.
Additional user roles are normally added with plugins, to support the additional purposes the plugin provides. For example, WooCommerce adds several user roles based on working operating and working with an online store.
Some of the additional user roles are shown on this page, however, it is not a complete list as there many possible user role types.
Standard WordPress User Roles #
The standard set of user roles reflect the roots of WordPress as a blogging platform. Excluding the Administrator role, the purpose of the roles are around creating and reading content.
Administrator – access to all of the administration features within the website
Editor – can write, publish, and manage posts, including posts of other users
Author – can write, publish, and manage only their own posts
Contributor – can write and manage their own posts but cannot publish them
Subscriber – can read posts, including posts for only logged in users
WooCommerce User Roles #
The WooCommerce plugin enables online shopping features in your website. The roles are more complex than those of writing and publishing content, with additional tasks to perform, such as fulfilling orders after they have been made.
Shop Manager – run the operations side of WooCommerce store, including WooCommerce settings, manage orders, issue refunds, view reports, view and update products
Customer – manage their own account details and view order information, including past orders
Tiered Pricing Table #
Tiered Pricing Table is an add-on feature Moreton Bay Websites uses to support wholesale customer and quantity-based pricing for products in WooCommerce. User roles can be used to separate a different type of customer, such as offering wholesale pricing to trade customers.
Wholesale Customer – same features as a customer user role in WooCommerce
