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Plugins course · BeginnerIn production

User Role Editor: WordPress Plugin Tutorial

Learn how to use User Role Editor to control what each user can do in WordPress — edit roles and capabilities and build custom roles with this free plugin.

7 lessons
34 min
Free with a free account
Create a free account →In production. Every lesson will be free — a free account gets it the day it releases

User Role Editor is a free plugin that lets you control exactly what each person can do on your WordPress site. This course shows you how to use User Role Editor to understand roles and capabilities, grant a specific permission, and build a custom role you can assign to a user. By the end you'll be able to fit permissions to your team instead of forcing your team into WordPress's five fixed roles.

What you'll learn

Real teams rarely fit the default WordPress roles — a bookkeeper, a guest writer, and a comment moderator each need a different slice of access. Learning the User Role Editor WordPress plugin lets you grant single capabilities and build custom roles, so people get exactly the permissions they need and nothing more. You'll come away able to tighten security and reduce mistakes by giving each user the right level of control.

Inside the course

  • Roles, Capabilities & the Editor Screen
  • Granting a Capability to a Role
  • Creating a Custom Role & Assigning It to a User

Who this course is for

This is for site owners and admins managing multiple users, clients, or contributors who need more than the built-in roles allow. It helps to understand the standard WordPress roles first, but the course explains the core ideas as it goes. Our free written tutorials are a good reference alongside it.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between a role and a capability?
A role is like a job title — a bundle of permissions you assign to a person. A capability is a single permission, such as publishing a post. User Role Editor lets you adjust both, and the course explains them plainly.
Can I create my own custom roles?
Yes. The course walks through building a custom role from scratch and assigning it to a user, so you can match permissions to how your team actually works.
Is this course free to watch?
Yes, it's free with a free WP Tutoring account. It's three short lessons focused on getting user permissions right without guesswork.

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