When you’re starting with a new WordPress developer, one thing I try to request is to create a administration user for me to log in. Whilst the I agree keeping the number of administrators to the barest minimum is needed, having a separate admin user for a trusted developer is probably more secure in the long run as you don’t have to share passwords, and you can easily remove them at the end of the project (please remove them at the end of the project!). Furthermore, it can make them more efficient as they will be able to set up their login differently to the main site – I’ve clients who’s English isn’t their first language and their WordPress dashboard is in their native tongue. My logins are all in English which makes my life a lot easier!
This is one of those blog posts that exist because I couldn’t find a blog post that described what I was after clients to do. Adding an administrator to WordPress is quick and easy, and it is secure as you do not give your password to your designer or developer. Here’s how you do it.
Add an administrator to WordPress
To add an administrator to WordPress is incredibly straightforward if you are familiar with the WordPress dashboard (say for writing posts or editing pages). First log in as an administrator and you’ll notice a “Users” section. Click “Add New” to add a new user.
If you don’t have a “Add New” section, it means your current account isn’t an administrator. You will have to speak with whoever manages your site to add you as an administrator.
Set up the user however you wish, but the most important section is the “Role”. Make sure that it is the “Administrator” (or whatever “Administator” is in your local language) level is selected, and then click “Add New User”. This will create a brand new WordPress user with the Administrator level.
How to change a current user’s role to Administrator in WordPress
The above is what is common when you have a new web developer working on the site, however sometimes you would want to promote from within and make a current user an administrator. To do this, from the WordPress dashboard click on “Users” > “All Users” to arrive at the screen below.
Click the tick box next to the name of the user you wish to upgrade to an administrator and the dropdown entitled “Change Role To…”, make sure “Administrator” is selected and then click “Change”. The user should now be an administrator.
Test with User Switching
As an admin, you can check if a user is an admin using the excellent User Switching plugin. This is one of my favourite plugins and will allow you to switch from one user to another. Install it and switch to the new user and see if you can do what you wish to do.
Remember: Remove them when done!
Finally, adding an administrator to the site is another vector in which a malicious user can attack a site. It’s unlikely to cause issues, but once your relationship with the admin user ends, be sure to remove them from the site – the only ones I wouldn’t remove are people who have written content for the site, in which case convert them to a “Subscriber” using the similar method described in the changing current user’s level section above.
Featured image credit: Zen Chung on Pexels