How to Limit Dashboard Access in WordPress

As a WordPress administrator, you may want to limit access to the WordPress dashboard for certain users. For example, you may want to allow only certain users to access the dashboard, or you may want to limit access to certain parts of the dashboard.

There are two ways to limit dashboard access in WordPress. The first way is to use the built-in WordPress user roles and capabilities. The second way is to use a plugin.

User Roles and Capabilities

WordPress has six built-in user roles: administrator, editor, author, contributor, subscriber, and Super Admin. Each role has its own set of capabilities. For example, administrators have the capability to do everything, while subscribers only have the capability to read and comment on posts.

To limit dashboard access, you need to edit the user role that you want to limit. To do this, go to Users > All Users in the WordPress dashboard. Then, click on the edit link next to the user that you want to edit.

In the user editor page, you will see a list of capabilities for that user. To remove a capability, simply uncheck the box next to it. For example, to prevent a user from accessing the WordPress dashboard, you would uncheck the box next to the “edit_posts” capability.

Once you have unchecked the capabilities that you want to remove, click on the “Update User” button to save your changes.

Plugins

If you want more granular control over who can access the WordPress dashboard, or you want to limit access to certain parts of the dashboard, you can use a plugin. There are a few plugins that offer this functionality, but we recommend the Advanced Access Manager plugin.

Advanced Access Manager is a free plugin that allows you to control access to the WordPress dashboard. With this plugin, you can create Access Groups and add users to those groups. Each group can have its own set of capabilities, so you can fine-tune exactly who has access to what.

To get started with Advanced Access Manager, install and activate the plugin. Then, go to the Access Groups page to create your first group.

Give your group a name and a description. Then, click on the “Add New Capability” button to add a capability to the group. For example, you may want to add the “edit_posts” capability to a group of users who should have access to the dashboard.

Once you have added the capabilities that you want, click on the “Add Group” button to save your changes.

Now, go to the Users page and add the users that you want to the group. To do this, select the group from the “Add to Group” drop-down menu and click on the “Update User” button.

Now, those users will only have the capabilities that you have assigned to the group. This will limit their access to the WordPress dashboard.

Conclusion

Limiting dashboard access in WordPress is a good way to keep your site secure. It is also a good way to keep your users from accidentally changing something that they should not. There are two ways to limit dashboard access: using user roles and capabilities, or using a plugin.

If you want more granular control over who can access the WordPress dashboard, we recommend using a plugin like Advanced Access Manager.