Create or clone a role of your own

The usual way to a role of your own is “clone”: take the one that is closest and change the differences. Starting from zero means ticking sixty boxes and forgetting one. Writing goes through WordPress’s add_role() and WP_Roles — what comes about here then lives in the wp_user_roles option and keeps working even when the plugin is no longer there.

Create a role

1. Open the entry “Kakapo Roles” in the WordPress menu — with white label active it carries the name set there — and in the left sidebar under “Roles & capabilities” choose the item “Roles”.
2. In the card at the top enter the display name, for example “Editorial”.
3. Leave the “Slug” field empty if it should come from the name; otherwise enter it yourself.
4. Save. The new role automatically gets the capability “read” — without it a signed-in user would not even see their own profile.
5. Then set the remaining capabilities under “Capability matrix”.

Cloning, renaming, deleting

• “Clone” creates a new role with the same capabilities; afterwards you only change the differences.
• “Rename” changes the display name, not the slug — slugs sit in the database on the users and are therefore left untouched.
• “Delete” requires a target role for the users who carry the deleted one. Without it they would hold a role that no longer exists, and would be allowed nothing at all.
• The five roles WordPress ships with — administrator, editor, author, contributor, subscriber — cannot be deleted.

The trash is the only way back

WordPress keeps a removed role nowhere. Kakapo Roles puts every deleted role, capabilities and all, into the trash until you bring it back or remove it for good. The role returns with all its capabilities; who should carry it you assign again afterwards under “Assign & migrate”.