Controlling User Options with WordPress and Catalyst

The Feature of the Week series returns after a short break this week with a look at how WordPress and Catalyst Theme cater for providing different users of a site with different options when accessing their WordPress site.

When a WordPress site is set up and installed, the initial user account that is automatically created is that of the Administrator account (As an aside – for security purposes, it’s always a good idea to set a different login name than Admin for this account, even if Admin is the name that you choose to be publicly displayed in the Post Byline underneath each Post).

In many instances the website owner is the only user of the site and this will be the only account required. They can manage, develop and design the site as they see fit, and are responsible for all the content that is published on it.

Their account settings therefore allow them access to all WordPress and Catalyst Theme features and functionality, including the Dynamik Child Theme options for design and styling etc.

Multiple Users and Roles

Many sites, however, require additional users. These may be other people within your own organization, or external to it, and it is likely you will want to limit what they have access to with regards to management of functionality on the site.

WordPress itself provides five main options for different user ‘Roles’ – ranging from the Administrator  to Subscriber levels and which have different capabilities. In brief they are:

• Administrator – has access to all admin features (as you’d maybe expect!)
• Editor – Can publish and manage Posts/Pages and other users’ Posts
• Author – Can publish and manage their own Posts only
• Contributor – Can write and manage their own Posts, but not publish them
• Subscriber – Can only manage their own profile

Each of these is fairly self explanatory and these options provide a good degree of granularity for user management.

Catalyst User Options

Additionally, with Catalyst Theme though, there is the ability to disable access to each of the main Catalyst Admin Pages.

Catalyst User Options

These can be set on a per user basis in the WordPress > Users menu by editing each particular user’s profile.

While users with WordPress Roles other than that of Administrator wouldn’t have access to the Catalyst Admin Pages anyway, this additional functionality allows you to restrict such access for each Administrator you have set up for the site.

This therefore enables you to have multiple administrators of the site and restrict which ones have access to each of the Catalyst Admin Pages.

For example, you can have an Administrator who can perform WordPress site management functions such as updating Plugins or WordPress itself, but have no access to administering Catalyst Theme.

As another example, they also allow you to have an Administrator level user who can manage and change aspects of the site such as SEO settings, how Content is laid out, add Google Analytic Scripts etc, but not be able to change any of the Dynamik Child Theme design and styling settings which control the look and feel of the site.

Catalyst Menus for Different User Option Settings

Just another example of a feature that typifies the flexibility provided by Catalyst Theme!

Have fun

David

David Pritchard is the author of the Catalyst Theme Cheat Sheet – the 250+ page guide that helps users make the most of Catalyst Theme. Licenced Catalyst Theme owners can get their FREE copy in the downloads section of the Catalyst Theme forum.

David also has a site with guides to using Catalyst Theme, WordPress, SEO, internet marketing techniques and other topics at http://www.FastStepInternetMarketing.com