Are you looking to limit WordPress dashboard access?
If you are the only one working on WordPress websites and blogs, it does not make any difference.
But as the site grows, you take help from others to maintain the website’s growth. You might add the user registration functionality to your website. When any user makes an account on WordPress, they automatically get access to the WordPress dashboard.
You do not want that. This quick article will guide you on how to limit WordPress dashboard access.
But first.
Why Limit Dashboard Access?
As the website grows, it also attracts hackers and digital thieves. You have to ensure that an untrusted person does not get access to the sensitive areas of the WordPress website.
WordPress development company often limit the dashboard access for many users, but when you create a blog yourself, you have to do it.
Writers need access to the Dashboard to write, edit, and publish the post. The writer does not need access to the theme, plugins and other WordPress settings.
That’s why you have to limit WordPress dashboard access according to the roles.
How to Limit WordPress Dashboard Access?
The WordPress platform has a native function to limit dashboard access to different user roles. And you can also install a plugin.
Let’s see both methods.
#1 Limiting Dashboard Access in WordPress
The user roles in WordPress determine what the User can do on the WordPress website. Each role has its set of permissions and privileges.
The administrator assigned the role to the users as per their work for the website. If there is a writer, they get the Writer role; for Editor, there is an editor role.
The roles define which User will moderate comments, create pages, edit the website code, install/uninstall the plugins, and write/edit the blog posts.
The default role is ‘Subscriber’. Whenever a new user is registered on the website, they will get the most limited user role. All they can do is interact with the website’s front-end content and manage their own profiles.
Go to the General Settings page. And enable it.
But this is for the new users.
For the existing users, go to the User setting. Click on the ‘Users’.
Select the User and change their role that fits their work for the website. You can also click on the ‘Edit’ button to edit the user profile.
Learn about the User Roles in detail.
In short:
- Administrator: Complete access to the site
- Editor: Can edit website’s post, settings and comments
- Author: Only write blog post, and edit their post
- Contributor: Similar to authors, but they cannot publish anything without Authors and Editors approval.
- Subscriber: Can only read and comment.
#2 Limiting Dashboard Access in WordPress with Plugin
The best thing about WordPress is that it has plugins for everything. So if you want to use the plugin to limit WordPress dashboard access for users, you can simply download one from the plugin repository.
Remove Dashboard Access by Dre Jaynes has 50,000 activations with five-star reviews. It is safe to install on your website.
Install the plugin and activate it. After activation, go to Setting >> Dashboard Access to set up the plugin.
The Remove Dashboard Access plugin enables you to select which user role gets access to the Dashboard.
You can select from administrators, editors and administrators, authors, editors, and administrators. Preferably, only the Administrator should have access to the Dashboard.
The plugins also offer advanced functions to change the capability of the user role. But please read about it properly before making any changes.
Once the User Access is selected, you have to enter the URL to redirect the disallowed users. We suggest building a dedicated page informing the users why they are not allowed to be on the WordPress dashboard.
However, you can let the users edit their profiles. Enable the User Profile Access by selecting the option. If this option is selected, the URL redirection will be disabled, and the User will see the profile edit screen.
Finally, you can display a message for Login users. If you don’t enter anything, the function will stay disabled.
Once you are satisfied with all the changes, you can click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to save the settings. Only the user roles you selected to give access will view the WordPress dashboard.
Also Read:
- Automatically Log out Idle Users in WordPress
- How to Reduce HTTP Requests in WordPress?
- Core Web Vitals WordPress Optimization Guide
Final Words
That’s it.
Whether you limit the accessibility to the WordPress dashboard with native features or with the plugin, you should keep track of all registered users.
Besides storing the strong password, changing login URL, disabling directory browsing and spam comments, you can limit WordPress dashboard access.
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