---
title: Examples of Capabilities for Custom Statuses (Pro)
description: "[PublishPress Statuses](https://publishpress.com/links/statuses) makes it possible to add permissions to custom statuses. In this guide, we'll walk you through some examples of how this works. These examples uses three plugins: - [PublishPress Capabilities Pro](https://publishpress.com/links/capabilities) - [PublishPress Permissions Pro](https://publishpress.com/links/permissions) - [PublishPress Statuses](https://publishpress.com/statuses/)…"
url: "https://publishpress.com/knowledge-base/control-permissions-statuses/"
updated: "2025-11-02"
category: "PublishPress Statuses / Pre-Publication Statuses"
---

# Examples of Capabilities for Custom Statuses (Pro)

[PublishPress Statuses](https://publishpress.com/links/statuses) makes it possible to add permissions to custom statuses.

In this guide, we'll walk you through some examples of how this works. These examples uses three plugins:

- [PublishPress Capabilities Pro](https://publishpress.com/links/capabilities)
- [PublishPress Permissions Pro](https://publishpress.com/links/permissions)
- [PublishPress Statuses](https://publishpress.com/statuses/)

---

## Allow Users to Edit Posts in One Status

Let's see an example of using custom capabilities for one user role and one status.

We're going to give a user in the "Contributor" role access to posts in the "Assigned" status.

Normally, users in the "Contributor" role have very limited access to posts. In this screenshot, I'm using [the User Testing feature](https://publishpress.com/knowledge-base/user-testing/) to check on a Contributor ser. They can not access any posts in the WordPress admin area.

![Contributor access in WordPress admin area](https://publishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/contributor-access-1024x280.png)

In this scenario, there are 10 posts on the site. 6 of these posts are in the "Assigned" status, and 4 are in the "Published" status. Those can be seen by anyone in the Administrator or Editor roles.

![Published and Assigned posts](https://publishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/published-assigned-1024x394.png)

Inside the "Assigned" status and the "Post Access" tab, I will give the "Contributor" role full access to the "Assigned" status. In this screenshot below, you can see all the boxes are checked in the "Contributor" role.

![Contributor status access](https://publishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/assigned-contributor-1024x631.png)

Now when a user in the Contributor role logs in to the site, they will be able to see and edit all the posts in the "Assigned" status.

![Posts in the Assigned statuses](https://publishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/contributor-post-access-1024x393.png)

They will be able to create new posts and assign them either to the "Draft" or "Assigned" status, as in this next screenshot:

![Contributor creating new posts](https://publishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/move-to-assigned-1024x806.png)

---

## Prevent Users from Moving Posts Back in a Workflow

In this example, we're going to prevent a user from moving a post backwards in a workflow. Our goal is this:

- Someone in the "Author" role is able submit a post as a "Pitch".
- Once a pitch has been approved, a user in the "Editor" role will mark it as "Assigned".
- The author should not be allowed to then change it back to a "Pitch".

Here's how to set up a situation like this on your website:

- Go to Capabilities > Settings > Capabilities.
- Enable the "Control selection of custom post statuses" option.
- Enable the "Apply status-specific capabilities for post editing" option.

![Control custom statuses](https://publishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/control-custom-statuses-1024x339.png)

- Go to Capabilities > Capabilities > Custom Statuses.

Please note: If the status you are using does not have checkboxes for "Edit" and "Edit Others" in its row, you will need to [enable "Custom Capabilities" for that statu](https://publishpress.com/knowledge-base/extended-capabilities-statuses/)s.

![Custom Status Capabilities](https://publishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/custom-status-caps-1024x298.png)

- On the Capabilities screen, choose the role you need to adjust access for. In the screenshot below, we gave selected "Author".
- Assign the "Set" capability, but not the "Edit" or "Edit Others" capabilities:

![Custom Status Capabilities for Author](https://publishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/author-custom-caps-1024x262.png)