We provide two plugins that allow you to control who can access what on your WordPress site. This is simple way to understand the difference:
- PublishPress Capabilities focuses on user roles.
- PublishPress Permissions controls access for individual posts, pages, or users.
OK, that’s maybe too simple, so here’s more detail:
- PublishPress Capabilities allows you to customize the default WordPress permissions such as who can edit posts.
- PublishPress Permissions allows you to customize advanced permissions that go far beyond the scope of the WordPress core.
Here’s an specific comparison using Posts:
- PublishPress Capabilities allows you to control who can edit all your Posts.
- PublishPress Permissions allows you to control who can edit Posts with a particular Category or Tag.
Here’s another specific comparison, this time using Pages:
- PublishPress Capabilities allows you to control who can edit all your Pages.
- PublishPress Permissions allows you to control who can edit Pages with a particular parent Page.
There are many more differences between the two plugins, but hopefully this gives you a general guide: PublishPress Capabilities controls general access to WordPress features and is enough for 80% of sites. PublishPress Permissions goes much deeper and has advanced features that perhaps 20% of sites will need.
| Task | PublishPress Capabilities | PublishPress Permissions |
|---|---|---|
| Allow a user to install plugins | ✅ | ❌ |
| Allow a user to activate plugins | ✅ | ❌ |
| Allow a user to edit themes | ✅ | ❌ |
| Allow a user to manage WooCommerce settings | ✅ | ❌ |
| Allow a user to access a plugin settings page | ✅ | ❌ |
| Allow a user to publish posts | ✅ | ❌ |
| Allow a user to edit all posts | ✅ | ❌ |
| Allow a user to edit all pages | ✅ | ❌ |
| Allow a user to moderate comments | ✅ | ❌ |
| Allow a user to manage categories | ✅ | ❌ |
| Allow a user to edit one specific post | ❌ | ✅ |
| Allow a user to edit one specific page | ❌ | ✅ |
| Allow a user to edit posts in one category | ❌ | ✅ |
| Allow a user to edit posts with one tag | ❌ | ✅ |
| Allow a user to access one custom post type item | ❌ | ✅ |
