WordPress for Birding Blogs, Part 7: Authors and Access Levels

This is the part of a multi-part series about using WordPress for birding blogs. Click here to start at the beginning.

Multiple Authors

WordPress is nice in that it allows you to have multiple content contributors, each with their own level of access. Do you want to ask some friends to contribute a monthly post to your blog? Make them a Contributor and they can log in and create posts for you but can’t actually publish those posts. Want to have a blog with someone who isn’t tech-savvy but want them to have access to create and publish all the content they want but not have access to the website settings? Make them an Editor.

Here is a Summary of the Default Roles

• Administrator – nothing is off limits, can change the theme, add users, or even delete the whole site
• Editor – has access to all posts, pages, comments, categories, tags, and links.
• Author – can write, upload photos to, edit, and publish their own posts.
• Contributor – has no publishing or uploading capability, but can write and edit their own posts until they are published
• Follower (public sites) / Viewer (private sites only) – can read and comment on posts and pages

Custom Roles

Want users to only have access to edit certain pages? Want something other than what’s listed above? Well, you have to have a WordPress.ORG install and not a .COM. This is one of those times that it pays to have your own self-hosted site. Just download one of the many custom user roles plugins available. Make sure to do your research and that the plugin is kept up-to-date.

Adding Users

It’s super easy to add new users to your blog. Just locate the Users tab in the main WordPress Dashboard and select “Invite New.” You’ll be redirected to the New Users screen. From here you will be able to add new users and select their starting role from a dropdown menu.

Each new user will be sent an email with all the login information that they need. They will be able to login into your site and will only see the sections of the Dashboard menu that they have access to.

You will be able to edit a user’s access at any time. You will also be able to reset their password if they forget it.

Note: Make sure you don’t give out Administrator access to anyone. If someone has Admin access they can delete your blog, edit any content, change your settings, or even delete your user. Only give Admin access to those you really trust.

User Profiles

Each of your users can create their own profile with a description of themselves and links to their own websites and social media accounts. Depending on your theme, this profile can pop-up when you hover over the person’s name, the info can be used to auto-generate an Authors page, appear at the bottom of an author’s post, or the profile can rotate in a widget. A user’s profile is really powerful, but is solely dependent on how your theme chooses to display it.

Having additional content creators on your site can lead to interesting and diverse content. With WordPress you can make managing your staff a breeze.