How do I add or remove someone's access to our website?

How do I add a new user?

These steps follow WordPress’s guide to the Add New User screen.

1. Log in as an Administrator and go to Users, then Add User. Older versions say Add New User or Add New.
2. Enter a Username. WordPress won’t let you change it later, so first name and last initial works well.
3. Enter their Email. Use their own work address, not a shared inbox. Each user needs a unique address.
4. Add First Name and Last Name if you like.
5. If WordPress suggests a Password, leave it alone, and keep the option to email the new user ticked (WordPress’s guide calls it Send Password?, and newer versions word it differently), so they can set their own password from the email.
6. Choose the Role.
7. Select the button that saves the user. WordPress’s guide calls it Add New User.
   • Expected result: a confirmation message at the top, and the person appears in All Users. They get an email with a link to set a password.

Which role should I pick?

Role	What they can do	Good for
Administrator	Everything, including plugins, themes, settings and users	One or two trusted people, plus your web company
Editor	Write, edit and publish any page or post	An office manager who keeps the site current
Author	Write and publish their own posts only	Staff who write news or blog posts
Contributor	Write posts, but someone else publishes them	Occasional writers whose work gets checked
Subscriber	Manage their own profile only	Members on sites that need customer logins

Shops built with WooCommerce add Shop manager and Customer. Our answer on WordPress user roles goes deeper. If you’re unsure, start lower. Raising a role later takes seconds.

WordPress roles decide what each person can do. WordPress describes them in Roles and capabilities.

The short version

• Give each person their own login: Users, then Add User, with the lowest role that does the job.
• Only an Administrator can do this. Remove people on their last day.

How do I change a role or remove someone?

To change a role, go to Users, then All Users, tick the person, choose a role from Change role to, and select Change. The Users screen guide covers this page.

To remove someone who has left:

1. Go to Users, then All Users.
2. Hover over their name and select Delete.
3. When asked about their content, choose to attribute it to another user, so nothing they wrote disappears.
4. Select Confirm Deletion.
   • Expected result: they’re gone from the list, and their old posts now show the other user’s name.

Don’t pick “delete all content” unless you’re sure. That removes their posts and pages too.

Why does this matter?

Separate logins let you remove one person without changing everyone’s password, and most changes are recorded by user, so you can see who did what. When a former employee or old agency still has a working login, it’s an open door. When a new hire needs to post content from home, the clean answer is the same: their own account, the right role, and a password they set themselves.

What are the common mistakes and edge cases?

• No Users menu: you’re not an Administrator.
• “Email already in use”: that address already has an account. Find it and change its role instead.
• The invite email never arrived: check spam. If your site doesn’t send email reliably, an administrator can set a password from the person’s profile and share it by phone or a password manager, never by plain email. The underlying fix is in form emails going to spam or missing.
• A contractor needs short-term access: give them their own account and delete it when the job ends.
• Users you don’t recognize: don’t ignore them. It can be a sign of a break-in. See I think my site was hacked.
• Someone only needs to approve changes: they may not need a login at all. They can review previews.

Ask every user to turn on two-factor login, keep Administrators to a minimum, and review the user list every few months.

What if this didn’t work?

• The new user can’t log in: check the spelling of their username and email, then send them to log in and reset a forgotten password.
• The site isn’t WordPress: Squarespace, Wix and Shopify each have their own “contributors” or “staff” settings. Search their help pages for “add a contributor.”
• The person also needs your Google profile, email or social accounts: see share access safely and removing an email account for someone who left.

How does E-3 handle this?

Sites that E-3 hosts include an E-3 administrator account so we can look after them; please leave it in place and don’t change its role.

If you’d like us to add, change or remove a user, email support@e3help.me with the person’s name, work email and the role you want. Never send passwords by email. Removing someone who has left? Call 814-399-4655.

Related questions

• How do I log in to my website if I forgot my password?
• How do I get FTP or cPanel access for a developer?
• Which logins should your business own?