Creating Private Post in WordPress

Creating a private post in WordPress

WordPress has the ability to create a private post that is only available to certain logged in users with specific permissions.  In this how-to tutorial we will show you how to create a private post in WordPress.

First Things First – What is a Private Post?

Let’s first dive in by getting a good understanding of permissions and how they are used to make a post private.  WordPress has a built in user role system that is used to determine which users can do what actions on your WordPress site.  They call these permissions user capabilities.  Every visitor to your website has a user role assigned to them.  Let’s look at a few example user roles:

  • Administrator:  Can create, edit and delete any content on the site and can also administer the sites settings.
  • Editor: Can create, edit and delete any content on the site, but does not have permission to edit site settings.
  • Author:  Can create, edit and delete only their content, but cannot edit content of others and cannot edit site settings.
  • Subscriber: Can login to the websites backend but cannot create, edit or delete content or modify site settings.

Why is this important?  Look at the Author and Editor roles.  An author will be unable to see private posts made by other authors while Editors will be able to see private posts from others.

So what is a private post?  A private post is any post that is restricted only to certain users based upon that users role.

How to Create a Private Post in WordPress

Go ahead and create your post as normal within the WordPress editor.

Go to the “Publish” meta box (generally on the right side towards the top).  Find the “Visibility” setting and click on the “Edit” link.

Visibility Edit Link in WordPress Editor

After clicking the edit link you will see different visibility settings that can be used.  These are:

  • Public:  Once published, anyone can view it.
  • Password protected:  Anyone can view it after entering a designated password.
  • Private: Only logged in users with appropriate permission can view it.

Go ahead and select the radio button to choose “Private”.

WordPress Visibility Settings - Private

Click the “OK” button to have your visibility settings saved.  You can now hit the Publish, Update or Save Draft buttons as needed to save your changes.

When is a Private Post Needed?

There are lots of circumstances when a private post can be appropriate.  Let’s explore a few of them.

Internal Employee Articles.  Let’s assume your WordPress site represents a small business such as a local accounting firm.  The public pages are intended for clients to read news about tax changes, etc.  Private pages are then used for articles designed for Employees only and detail things such as company initiatives, events and so forth.

Premium Content.  Let’s assume your WordPress site runs a premium content section that is only available to certain users.  Maybe via subscription or other mechanism.  Content that you would like these users to have access to (but not free to the public) you can mark as private.  Then these premium users log in to the site to gain access.

 

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