How to add and remove users

Adding a new user

Step One: Login

Log in to WordPress and access the admin area of your website. (If you’re not sure how to do this, see How to Login above.)

Step Two: Navigate to Users

In the admin dashboard, on the left-hand side, click on the Users tab. You’ll then see a list of all the users on your website currently.

Step Three: Add New

Click the Add New button at the top. (This button should appear right next to the text that says Users.) 

Step Four: Enter Info

Enter the information for your new user. At a minimum, you’ll need to provide a username and email address, but you can also add their first and last name or generate a secure password. There is a checkbox to choose to send an email notification to the new user about their account which will allow them to set their own password.

Note: We recommend using email addresses for the username to make it easier for everyone to remember. This means you’ll enter the same thing in the top two fields (username and email address).

🚨 Caution: If you generate a secure password, we never recommend sending that password via plain text in an email because this can open you up to a hacking risk. Instead, we suggest generating a password but then telling the new user to use the Forgot your password? link to reset their password. 

Step Five: Set Role

Setting your new user’s role is very important as it will determine what they’re allowed to do on your website. Here’s a quick breakdown of the two roles that will be most useful to you:

  • Administratortop-level access to your website. An administrator will be able to do anything and everything, so make sure you have fully vetted someone before giving them this role and ensure that they know what they’re doing. However, this is the role you will likely want to give individuals like an assistant or another team member who needs full access to your site.
  • Editor: can publish and manage posts. If someone is only responsible for updating your blog, this will be an excellent role for them. But if they need access to more, you’ll need to give them an administrator role so they aren’t limited.

✅ We recommend…

At least once a year, it’s a good idea to go into your Users tab and make sure that everyone listed as an administrator still needs that level of access to your site. If someone isn’t logging in anymore, it’s a good idea to remove them. This helps with security and protects your site from people who shouldn’t have access anymore. 

Removing a user

Step One: Navigate to Users

On the User screen, hover over a user and more options will appear, including Delete. Click on this option to delete the user.

Step Two: Confirm Deletion

You’ll be taken to a confirmation page that asks you to confirm the deletion of this user. 

🚨 Caution: Depending on the data associated with the user you are deleting, you will be asked if you want to transfer data to another user. If you do not transfer this data, you will lose anything the deleted user was the “author” of, including entire posts or pages. If you are deleting a user that done a lot of work on your site, you will want to make sure that select the transfer option. You will want to transfer the data to another user such as yourself or another administrator. 

Helping a user with a forgotten password

If you hover over a user on the User screen, you’ll also see an option for Send password reset. You can use this if a user has forgotten their password and is having trouble using the reset link on the login page.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *