There are many reasons you may need to upgrade one of your website subscribers to an admin.
For example, you might be taking a short leave and want to give a team member more control over your blog while you’re away. Or if your admin account gets hacked, you may need to turn your subscriber account into an administrator to regain access to your site.
This article outlines two simple ways to change user roles and provides security precautions to keep your site safe.
Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
How to Turn a Subscriber Into an Admin Through WordPress
The first way to turn a subscriber into an admin is through your WordPress dashboard. This method can only be used when upgrading another user, as it requires admin access. If you’ve been hacked and are trying to regain access, consider the second method via your hosting provider’s control panel.
For those who simply want to take a break or assign more admins, here are two ways you can do so within WordPress:
Through the General User Table
- First, sign in to your WordPress account.
- On your dashboard, go to “Users” in the left-hand navigation bar and select “All Users.”
- A table will appear with all users on your site and their current roles.
- Select the user who needs higher access and click on the drop-down menu at the top of the table that says: “Change role to…”
- Scroll down, select “Administrator” from the menu.
- To save your changes, click “Change” beside the role’s menu, and your subscriber will automatically be upgraded to an admin.
Through the User’s Unique Profile
You can also do this through the user’s profile.
- Hover over the specific user and click “Edit.”
- This will display the user’s information, such as their name, contact information, and role.
- Scroll down to the “Role” section and select “Administrator” from the drop-down menu.
- Finally, click “Update User” at the bottom of the page to save the changes made.
Changing User Roles Through Your Hosting Provider’s Control Panel
The control panel, or cPanel, is the dashboard most web hosting companies provide to manage your website’s backend settings. You can also change user roles through this panel, even if you’re logged out of your WordPress account.
Here’s how it is done:
Log in to cPanel
- Open your web browser and enter one of the following URLs:
yourdomain.com/cpanel
cpanel.yourdomain.com
yourdomain.com:2083 (HTTPS)
yourdomain.com:2082 (HTTP)
- Replace “yourdomain.com” with your actual domain.
- Enter your cPanel login credentials provided by your hosting provider.
Find Your WordPress Database Name
- In cPanel, click “File Manager” under the “Files” section.
- Navigate to your “public_html” folder (your WordPress root directory).
- Locate the “wp-config.php” file, right-click it, and choose “View/Edit”.
- Look for the line:
define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘your_database_name’);
- Note down ‘your_database_name’ (this is your WordPress database name).
Access phpMyAdmin
- Return to the main “cPanel” interface and open “phpMyAdmin” (under the “Databases” section).
- On the left panel, find and click on your WordPress database (the one you noted earlier).
Modify User Role in wp_usermeta
- Locate and open the “wp_users” table.
- Find the “user ID” of the subscriber you want to upgrade.
- Open the “wp_usermeta” table.
- Search for the row where “meta_key = ‘wp_capabilities’” and “user_id = [subscriber’s ID].”
- Edit the “meta_value” field and replace its contents with:
a:1:{s:13:”administrator”;b:1;}
- Additionally, locate the row where meta_key = ‘wp_user_level’ and change its “meta_value” from 0 to 10.
Save Changes and Verify
- Click “Save” or “Go” to apply changes.
- Log in to WordPress with the updated user’s account and confirm they now have admin privileges.
Best Practices for Assigning Admin Roles
While some situations require you to elevate a subscriber to an admin, it’s not always the safest course of action for your website. To keep your site secure, here are some things you can do:
- Only grant admin access to trusted users: Administrators have complete control over the website, so avoid unnecessary role upgrades.
- Limit the number of administrators: Too many admins can increase security risks. Keep the list of admins as small as possible.
- Review user roles regularly: Audit your users periodically and remove admin privileges from anyone who no longer needs them.
- Use a plugin for temporary admin access: Use a plugin like “User Role Editor” for short-term access.
Enable two-factor authentication (2FA): Adding an extra layer of verification helps prevent unauthorized logins.
FAQs
To make a user an admin in WordPress, go to your dashboard and open “Users > All Users”. Select the particular user, then click on “Change role to…” at the top of the table. Choose “Administrator” and click “Change”. The user will now have admin privileges.
A subscriber is at the bottom of the WordPress user hierarchy. Their access is limited to opening accounts, making purchases, and changing passwords. They cannot make changes to your site, edit content, or create new pages.
If a user no longer requires the administrator capabilities, you can remove that access the same way you granted it. Head to the user’s dashboard. Select the particular user, select “Change role to…,” and change the user’s role to something else. This will strip the user of all admin privileges.
Admin access gives you full control over your website, including content, plugins, and security settings. To improve safety, only grant it to trusted users, limit the number of admins, and enable two-factor authentication.
The Final Word
Whether you want to give a team member more control over your site or want to regain access to a hacked website, it’s important to know how to appoint new admins or upgrade lower-level users to administrators. This will allow you to onboard help when needed or take back control of your site whenever necessary.
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