How to Create a WooCommerce Product Editor

This week, a PublishPress customer asked us about an interesting configuration for their WordPress eCommerce site. The customer wanted to create a WooCommerce Product Editor role. Any users in this role would be responsible for editing all the WooCommerce products, but would not have access to other areas of the site.

Here's our guide to building a WooCommerce Product Editor role. Normally there are two roles in WooCommerce called “Shop Manager” and “Customer“. We'll be expanding that list in this guide.

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Step #1. Install the recommended plugins

• Install WooCommerce.
• Install the PublishPress Capabilities plugin.

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Step #2. Create the “Product Editor” role

This is the key step in the process. We're going to create and configure the user role for our editors.

• Go to “Capabilities” then “Roles” in your admin menu.
• Click “Copy” under the “Subscriber” role.
• In the “Role Name” box enter “Product Editor”.
• Click “Create Role”.

• Go to “Capabilities” in your admin menu.
• Choose “Product Editor” from the dropdown menu.
• Give your user role the capabilities in this image below. To see all the necessary options, you will need to enable the box for “Product categories” in the “Detailed Taxonomy Capabilities” area.

• In the right sidebar, add the “view_admin_dashboard” capability. This requirement is explained in another guide.
• Save your new settings.

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Step #3. Test the new user role

You can now test the user role that you have created. This is possible with the User Testing feature in PublishPress Capabilities. When you log in as a Product Editor, this screenshot shows what you will see:

When you visit the “Products” screen, you will be able to see and edit products.

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WooCommerce Product Editor Summary

WooCommerce and the PublishPress plugins are a powerful combination. You can configure the permissions on your eCommerce store to meet your exact needs.

Other examples include controlling who can manage WooCommerce coupons, creating users who can only manage WooCommerce orders, and adding users who can only manage reports.