Users
We begin our step-by-step systematic tour through the WordPress Dashboard with the Users Menu Item, located toward the bottom of the left column.
NOTE: WordPress Version 3.3 was released in December 2011. Updates that affect the content of this article are explained here.
The Users Menu Item in your Dashboard controls who can contribute to your site and what kinds of permissions or privileges you will allow them (roles). If you will be maintaining your site by yourself, this item will be a simple “set it and forget it.” However, if you’re part of an organization that has multiple contributors, you’ll want to give some consideration to how you define your users’ roles.
Users | All Users
Users | All Users
The Users Dashboard screen lists all of your users by User name, Name, Email, Role, and Number of posts posted. Hover your mouse cursor over the user name and the Edit link will appear and allow you to modify that user’s profile.
Edit User
Disable the Visual Editor – NOT recommended, discussed in more detail in Section 3.0, Use: Pages.
Admin Color Scheme – either gray or blue, not much difference either way.
Enable Keyboard Shortcuts – not relevant at the moment, but if you’re interested, see http://codex.wordpress.org/Keyboard_Shortcuts.
Show Admin Bar – this entry displays a ribbon bar at the top of your Admin screens that provides another way to navigate within your Dashboard.
Name, Contact, and Bio Info about the user.
New Password – must be entered twice for verification.
UPDATE PROFILE – don’t forget to press this or your changes will be lost.
Users | Add New
Add New User
As the item name suggests, this screen allows you to enter the necessary information for additional Users.
Note the last entry on this screen, the dropdown menu where you need to define that user’s Role. WordPress explains the different Roles here: http://codex.wordpress.org/Roles_and_Capabilities. From that page, this summarizes the possible roles:
Administrator – User has access to all the administration features
Editor – User can publish and manage posts and pages as well as manage other users’ posts, etc.
Author – User can publish and manage her own posts
Contributor – User can write and manage her posts but not publish them
Subscriber – User can only manage her profile
You can see that the default Role when you add a new User is the Subscriber, or lowest level of permission. As you add new Users, give careful thought to their assigned roles.
Users | Your Profile
This is simply the same screen that appears when you Edit your User name.
Video Review of Dashboard Setup: Users (9:08)
In the following video we:
- Explain the Administrator role and profile settings.
- Go through each of the settings.
- Demonstrate how to access the WordPress Codex for support.
- Explain the Admin bar that can be displayed while in the Dashboard and when viewing the site.
- Add a new user.
- Demonstrate the context-sensitive WordPress Help.
Return to Section 2.0 Setup WordPress, or continue to Setup: Settings.
