How to Create an Inbox for WordPress Authors

This week, we talked with a PublishPress customer who has a busy site with many posts from different authors. They wanted to create an “inbox” effect, where the WordPress “Posts” screen is like a personal email inbox for each author.

In the image below, you can see posts from multiple different authors. This can be confusing for users. Our customer wanted to avoid that situation. They wanted to create an inbox where your authors can only see their own posts.

Busy Site
Busy Site

An inbox is possible with the PublishPress plugins. In this guide, I'll show you how to set up an “Inbox” in WordPress.

  • Install the PublishPress Permissions Pro plugin.
  • Place your users into the “Author” role. It is possible to customize the permissions for other roles, but the Author role is best default option.
Author Role
Author Role
  • Go to the “Posts” screen and assign your authors to posts. This will control permissions for the posts.

By default in WordPress, you can automatically edit a post if you are an author. And the PublishPress Permissions Pro plugin will hide any posts where you don't have editing access. By placing users in the “Author” role and making them “Authors” for posts, you are assigning posts to their personal inboxes.

  • Log in to your WordPress site as one of the new Authors.
  • Your Author account will have limited access inside the WordPress admin area. They will be able see the features in the screenshot below:
Author View
Author View
  • When you visit the “Posts” screen, you will only be able to see posts associated with this account. This is their own personal inbox.
Author Posts
Author Posts

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