--- title: Configuring Roles and Permissions in the Hub slug: configuring-roles-and-permissions-in-the-hub docTags: createdAt: 2026-10-13T14:05:48.746Z --- The Hub uses the **PublishPress Capabilities** plugin to control what each user role can see and do. Each permission is called a *capability* and has a technical name such as edit\_others\_posts or bulk\_publish\_content. These names are hard to read, so this guide explains what the capabilities that matter in the Hub do and how to combine them for common editorial setups. **Who can do this?** Only administrators can change roles and capabilities. ## 1. Basics ### Roles and capabilities - A **capability** is a single permission, for example "may publish articles". - A **role** is a named set of capabilities, for example *Purple Editor*. - Every **user** has a role. A user can do whatever their role's capabilities allow. You never give capabilities to individual users. You configure a **role** and then assign that role to users under **Users → All Users → (user) → Role**. ### Where to find the settings In the Hub admin menu, open **Capabilities**: | Menu entry | What it is for | | -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Capabilities** | The main editor. Pick a role at the top and tick or untick its capabilities. | | **Roles** | Create, copy, rename or delete roles. | | **Admin Menus** | Hide admin menu entries for a role. This only hides them; it does not remove the permission. | | **Editor Features** | Hide panels and settings in the article editor for a role. | | **Admin Features** | Hide toolbar items and other admin elements for a role. | | **Profile Features** | Hide fields on the user profile page for a role. | | **Backup** | Save the current role configuration or restore an earlier one. | **Tip:** Make a backup under **Capabilities → Backup** before you make large changes. ### Reading the capabilities screen 1. Choose the role you want to change in the **role selector** at the top. 2. Use the **tabs on the left** to switch between capability groups (Editing, Deletion, Taxonomies, Media, Admin, plugin groups, and so on). 3. Hover over a capability name to see PublishPress' short description. 4. Tick a box to grant a capability, or untick it to remove it. Clicking the small **X** next to a box **denies** the capability: the user doesn't get it, even if the role usually would grant it. You'll rarely need this. 5. Click **Save Changes**. Nothing is applied until you save. On the **Editing**, **Deletion** and **Reading** tabs, capabilities are shown as a grid: one **column per content type** (Posts, Pages, Issues, Dossiers, custom content types) and one **row per action** (Edit, Edit Others, Publish, …). Each checkbox controls that action for that content type only. ### Hide vs. forbid - **Capabilities** decide what a user is *allowed* to do. Without the capability, the action fails, including through the API. - **Admin Menus / Editor Features / Admin Features** only *hide* elements to keep the interface simple. They are not a security setting. Use capabilities to restrict access. Use the hiding features to declutter the interface. ## 2. Roles that come with the Hub Three roles come with every Hub: | Role | Typical use | What it can do | | -------------------------- | ------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Administrator** | Hub owners and technical admins | Everything, including Hub settings, users and capabilities. Cannot create new users (users are provisioned through Purple). | | **Purple Managing Editor** | Desk leads and editors-in-chief | All content, including others' articles, Issues, Dossiers and the Curator. **Plus** App Themes, Bulk Publish, Purple Wires, Purple RSS and theme options (edit\_theme\_options). | | **Purple Editor** | Regular editors | All content, including others' articles, Issues, Dossiers and the Curator. **No** App Themes, Bulk Publish, Purple Wires or Purple RSS. | For anything in between, for example writers who may not publish, create your own role based on one of these (see Recipes). Roles you create appear alongside the three built-in roles and can be assigned to users. **What about Editor, Author, Contributor and Subscriber?** These standard WordPress roles, and the SEO Editor / SEO Manager roles added by Yoast SEO, are not available in the Hub. They can't be assigned to users and are not listed under **Capabilities → Roles**. Users who already have one of these roles keep it and their permissions. You can move them to a Hub role at any time. **Important:** The Hub automatically gives the **Administrator** role all Purple capabilities (app\_themes, edit\_issues, edit\_dossiers, edit\_collections, bulk\_publish\_content, bulk\_publish\_taxonomies, unfiltered\_html, purple\_wires, purple\_rss) every time an administrator opens the backend. It also always gives **Purple Managing Editor** edit\_theme\_options. **Removing these does not stick.** **Do not delete or rename** the *Purple Editor* or *Purple Managing Editor* roles. If one of them is missing, the Hub recreates both with their default settings, and your changes to them are lost. ## 3. Capability reference Plugin sections (3.8 onwards) only appear if that plugin is active on your Hub. ### 3.1 Editing, Deletion and Reading tabs (per content type) The rows below exist once per content type. The name in parentheses is the capability for **Posts** (articles); other content types use the same pattern with their own name, for example edit\_pages or publish\_pages. | Label in the grid | Capability (Posts) | What it allows | | -------------------- | ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Edit** | edit\_posts | Create articles and edit **own drafts**. This is also what lets a user open the content list and the editor. **Almost every editorial role needs it.** | | **Edit Others** | edit\_others\_posts | Edit articles **written by other users**. Also needed to edit or replace media uploaded by others, to use the content importers, and to change Nelio Content settings. | | **Edit Published** | edit\_published\_posts | Change articles that are **already published**. Without it, a user can't touch an article once it is live. | | **Edit Private** | edit\_private\_posts | Edit articles with *private* visibility. | | **Publish** | publish\_posts | **Publish** articles (make them live) and use the publish bulk action in the article list. Without it the user can only *Submit for Review*. | | **Delete** | delete\_posts | Delete **own unpublished** articles. | | **Delete Others** | delete\_others\_posts | Delete articles written by others. Also needed to delete media uploaded by others. | | **Delete Published** | delete\_published\_posts | Delete articles that are already published. | | **Delete Private** | delete\_private\_posts | Delete private articles. | | **Read Private** | read\_private\_posts | See private articles in lists. | **Custom content types** (for example those created under **CPT UI**) usually share the permissions of **Posts**. If a content type has no column of its own in the grid, the Posts column applies to it. **Issues** and **Dossiers** do not have a grid of their own. A single capability controls each of them: | Capability | What it allows | | -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | edit\_issues | Full access to **Issues**: create, edit, publish and delete. | | edit\_dossiers | Full access to **Dossiers**: create, edit, publish and delete. | ### 3.2 Taxonomies tab (categories, tags, custom taxonomies) One column per taxonomy (Categories, Tags, and any custom taxonomy). | Label | Capability (Categories) | What it allows | | ---------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Manage** | manage\_categories | Open the taxonomy admin page and manage its settings. Also needed to manage media folders/categories in the Hub media library. | | **Edit** | edit\_categories | **Create** new terms and rename existing ones. | | **Delete** | delete\_categories | Delete terms. | | **Assign** | assign\_categories | **Select** existing terms on an article. | **Hub behaviour:** A role with **Assign** but without **Edit** can pick existing terms in the editor but **cannot create new ones**, not even by typing a new tag. Use this to keep your taxonomy clean (see Recipes). The **Authors** taxonomy (PublishPress Authors) is controlled by its own capabilities instead; see 3.10. ### 3.3 Media tab | Capability | What it allows | | ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | upload\_files | Upload images and files, and use the media library, including Unsplash, Picture Alliance, Hugo, AI image metadata and similar image sources. | | safe\_svg\_upload\_svg | Upload **SVG** files. | Editing or deleting media that **someone else** uploaded also requires **Edit Others** / **Delete Others** (see 3.1). ### 3.4 Admin tab | Capability | What it allows | Recommendation | | --------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | read | Log in to the backend at all. | Every role needs it. | | manage\_options | Opens **all Hub settings**: Settings → Purple DS HUB, Hub UI, Hub Apps, Workflows configuration, Purple Blocks, Most Read, ePaper interstitial, AI image settings, Hugo / Unsplash / Picture Alliance / EXIF settings, Aptoma, Google Translate, column configuration of the overviews, Curator settings and more. Also opens the settings of most plugins: languages (Polylang), custom fields (ACF), content types and taxonomies (CPT UI), Nelio Content account, Ninja Tables and others. | **Administrators only.** Giving it to editors lets them change system-wide settings. | | unfiltered\_html | Use **any HTML in content**, including \