Users, roles & site access

Give each person their own account and assign the role they need on each website.

← All website guides

These are default role summaries. Plugins and custom settings can change capabilities. An Editor does not normally manage users or site menus. Choose the least access that lets the person do their job.

The upper form adds an existing network account to the current site. The lower form creates a new account. Each form has its own Role selector. The fields are intentionally empty; no real account details are shown.

These steps require permission to manage users.

1. Switch to the website the person should access and verify its name and address.
2. Open Users → Add User (sometimes Add New).
3. Find the Add User section for a brand new user, below Add Existing User on the inspected multisite form.
4. Enter a unique username and the person’s correct email address.
5. Choose the role for this site.
6. Leave Skip Confirmation Email unchecked for the normal invitation/confirmation flow, unless your administrator has a specific onboarding process.
7. Select Add User. Ask the person to follow the email instructions and complete any activation or password setup.

An account should represent one person. Do not create a second account just because the person needs another site.

1. Switch to the additional site’s dashboard.
2. Open Users → Add User.
3. In Add Existing User, enter their existing username or email address.
4. Choose their role on this site. It may differ from their role elsewhere.
5. Leave the confirmation-email option in its normal state and select Add Existing User.
6. Have the user accept the invitation if required. Check the site’s user list and ask them to verify that the site appears under My Sites.

Example: create Jordan once, add Jordan as an Editor on “Main Website”, then switch to “Community Program” and add that same account with the role needed there. Do not add Jordan to unrelated sites.

In the target site’s Users → All Users, find the person. Use their edit screen or the available role-change controls, choose the new role, and save. Check the selected site before applying the change. Repeat separately for other sites that need a change.

Do not use a network-wide Super Administrator assignment to solve an ordinary site-access problem.

Use the target site’s user-management controls to remove the user from that site when appropriate. Read the confirmation carefully, including any content reassignment options. Removing site membership and deleting a network account are different actions. Network deletion can affect multiple sites; ask the network administrator to handle it.

• “User already exists”: use Add Existing User instead of creating another account.
• No invitation email: confirm the address, check spam, and ask your administrator to check delivery. Avoid creating duplicate users.
• Cannot edit pages: check the role on that specific site; Author and Subscriber are not normally page-editing roles.
• No Users menu or Add User form: your account or the network’s policy may not permit user management. Ask an administrator.

Confirm the person’s correct email address, which websites they need, and what they will do on each one. Ask whether they already have a network account. Search Users on the current site, and ask the network administrator to check if you cannot determine whether an account exists elsewhere.

Make a small access plan before using either form:

This is an example, not a recommendation to give everyone these roles. Choose roles based on actual duties. If someone only needs to read a public page, they normally do not need a WordPress account at all.

Use the new-account form once for someone who does not yet have a network account. Choose the Role for the current site; the example shows the default selection, not a recommended role for page editing.

1. Enter the target site’s dashboard and open Users → Add User.
2. Locate the lower Add User form for a brand new network account. Do not use the upper existing-user form for someone who has no account yet.
3. Choose a recognisable username following your organisation’s naming convention. Avoid a shared name such as “office” when several people would use it.
4. Enter the person’s own correct email address. Check spelling before submitting, because the invitation and recovery process depend on it.
5. Select the role from that form’s Role dropdown. An Editor is normally the relevant starting point for someone maintaining pages; an Author role normally covers their own posts, not pages.
6. Keep the normal confirmation email process unless your administrator has explicitly arranged another onboarding method.
7. Submit once, read the confirmation or error, and record whether an invitation or activation is still required.
8. Ask the person to complete the email instructions themselves. Do not ask them to send you their new password.
9. After onboarding, confirm that they can reach the intended site and carry out the required task.

Do not repeatedly submit the form when an email is delayed. Check the result and ask an administrator to investigate delivery or pending invitations.

Switch to the additional site first, then use the existing-account form. Enter the same person’s existing username or email and choose the role for this site.

This is usually an Add Existing User task, not a second account creation task.

1. Finish the first site’s work and switch to the second site’s dashboard.
2. Check the site’s public address so you do not invite the user to the wrong copy.
3. Open Users → Add User and use the upper Add Existing User section.
4. Enter the exact existing username or email address. Select the role in the dropdown belonging to this form.
5. Submit Add Existing User and have the person complete any required confirmation.
6. Review the second site’s All Users list and confirm the assigned role.
7. Repeat only for the other sites in the access plan.

There is not normally one site-selection checkbox list on this per-site form. You choose the site by entering its dashboard, then add the account there. Network administrators may have additional management screens or plugins, but those do not replace checking the final membership on each intended site.

Ask the user to sign in and open My Sites. Have them confirm that the relevant site is available and that its dashboard shows the expected tools. For an Editor, a useful check is whether Pages is available and an assigned page can be opened for editing. A harmless draft exercise is better than publishing a test change on an important public page.

An administrator seeing the correct user in All Users verifies assignment; it does not prove the recipient completed an invitation or knows which login address to use. Check both the assignment and the person’s actual ability to reach the site.

Check the new duty first, then change the role only on the relevant site. Record the old and new roles and verify the result. If the user needs a task such as changing menus but their normal content role does not permit it, ask whether that particular task should be handled by an administrator rather than granting broad administration permanently.

Do not change your own last working administrator access while trying to tidy roles. Ask the network administrator to handle uncertain privilege changes or customised roles.

List all the sites the person can access, using your access records and the network administrator’s help if needed. Removing someone from one site does not necessarily remove membership elsewhere.

Before removal, establish who will maintain any content or workflows they own. Review each confirmation screen and arrange content reassignment where the interface offers it. Removing a site membership is different from deleting the network identity, deleting content, or removing an account from an external email or forms service.

Network-wide account deletion needs the network administrator’s review. Do not use it as a shortcut for removing access to one programme site.

WordPress Users screen reference

Multisite navigation · Get support · WordPress role reference