What Permissions do Contributors Have in WordPress? #
The “Contributor” role is one of the default user roles in WordPress, alongside “Subscriber”, “Author”, “Editor” and “Administrator”.
Contributors are close to the bottom of the permissions ladder in WordPress. They have very few permissions. This role is designed to allow people to write content for your site, but they do not have permission to publish without approval.
Here's a rundown of what Contributors can do on a default WordPress site:
- Read posts
- Write comments
- Write, edit and delete their own unpublished posts.
That's really about it all Contributors can do! Contributors can log in to the admin area of a WordPress site, and this image shows what they can see.
If Contributors try to access any other admin pages, they'll see this message: “Sorry, you are now allowed to access this page.”
Contributors Permissions for Posts #
Contributors are able to see the “Add New” option for Posts in WordPress:
However, quite a few things will be missing when Contributors try to write a post. As you can see in the image below, they do not have access to the “Publish” button. They can only submit posts to the “Submit for Review” status.
Contributors can edit and delete their own posts while they are in “Submit for Review” status. However, they lose this permission once a post is published. After the post is published, they will not be able to edit or change the post in any way. This image below shows what a Contributor will see on the “Posts” screen:
Contributor Permissions Overview #
This next image shows a chart taken from the WordPress Explained book which shows how Contributors fit in alongside other WordPress user roles.
Can You Change the Contributor Permissions? #
Yes, you can give the Contributor more permissions than they have with a default WordPress installation.
The PublishPress Capabilities plugin is an excellent way to view and change the permissions for each user role.
This next image shows the permissions available to Contributors for Posts and Pages. You can change the Contributor permissions simply by placing a check mark in these boxes:
If you're interested in the technical details, read this guide to where users and permissions are stored in the WordPress database.
How Do PublishPress Plugins Work With Contributors? #
PublishPress has a ton of different features available to improve the experience for WordPress users.
The key to everything for Contributors is PublishPress Capabilities. This allows you to increase the permissions for the Contributors so they are allowed to create content.
- You can create publishing workflows for Authors, including automatic notifications.
- You can set up the PublishPress Checklists plugin so Contributors know exactly what to include in each post.