Four WordPress Plugins that Restrict User Access to Content

You probably don’t want to give your users free rein over the entire website. It might be manageable at first. But as the site grows, you may eventually face more traffic than you want on certain pages.

Accidents also happen. Your users may mean well, but it’s possible for them to get into something they shouldn’t or to become distracted by other projects to leave things half-finished. Also, you may want some content to be privileged and not available to just anyone.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to manage users to keep them focused and organized? Luckily for you, there are lots of options! Let’s take a look at some great WordPress plugins you can use to manage your users based on their roles.

Restrict user access with these four WordPress plugins

As we said above, there are plenty of excellent options. Each will allow you to restrict user access to only specific parts of your WordPress website. Once you’ve developed a growing user base, one of these will suit your needs.

1. Restrict User Access

Restrict User Access is a great plugin by DEV Institute that carries a lot of features with it. You can limit your users to what they can and cannot access and set them up so that content “drips” over time. You’ll also be able to create an unlimited number of access levels while still maintaining the ability to override any user and role at any time.

As a bonus, you can also control membership durations, redirect unauthorized users away from pages, and even tease content a user doesn’t yet have access to. All of this…for free. If any of this sounds overwhelming to you, don’t worry.

This plugin has great documentation to ensure you don’t get lost.

2. Restrict Content

Ok, let’s be honest. Who wouldn’t want that adorable purple dragon as guardian of their content? Restrict Content is a simple plugin that prevents users from seeing content unless they are logged in.

You can also control whether your site is partially restricted or fully restricted, including forms for user registration, login, and password reset. Your members can do these actions without direct admin approval or supervision.

If you are looking for a plugin like this but with more features, there is also Restrict Content Pro. The pro version is not free, but it will outfit you with more features, such as data reports, payment integration, and the ability to email your users. Either the free or pro versions are great for controlling your site’s content access.

3. Restrict user access with User Access Manager

User Access Manager is a stellar plugin that does a lot with a little. This is a great plugin if you want to manage your users and content while still opening up your site to user-generated content. With User Access Manager, you can separate your site for readers and editors, control what times the users can access specific areas, limit access to uploaded files, and more.

Though any of those features may sound great on their own, they are stellar when combined with each other. This plugin is perfect for controlling user-generated content through its filters or even setting up contests and fundraisers through its timed access feature. Explore this one more and see if it is right for you.

4. MemberPress

If you are looking for a user management plugin that will offer you many features and support, then MemberPress might be your option.

MemberPress is a bundled package, so in addition to giving you control of your site’s content access, it also supports a very straightforward installation, the ability to create coupons for purchases and giveaways, subscription management, data reporting, and the ability to build your own forum.

That may be more options than what you were looking for when you started this article, but if you are trying to find a bigger and better one, MemberPress might be a good option.

There you have it, five plugins that will help you restrict users’ access to your website. 

Unrestricted user access with User Management and Front-End Posting from Ninja Forms

Now that you are familiar with several plugins that restrict user access, here are two for creating content with unrestricted access. Luckily for you, we offer the perfect lightweight solutions for both your user registration and content publishing needs.

Our User Management add-on comes with three ready-to-use WordPress user-registration form templates; Register User, Login Form, and Update Profile, with registration features included.

Need editing permission? User Management does that too. Allows users to view or edit their own form submissions straight from your Ninja Forms dashboard.

Allow publically viewable user-generated content with our Front-End Posting add-on. Our Post Creation action captures the WordPress post editor experience for your users with zero risk.

Features:

• Create posts, pages, or custom post types from any of your WordPress forms.
• Set default post status: draft, pending, or publish.
• Set default categories and/or custom taxonomies and tags.
• Allow users to select tags and categories.
• Attribute posts to the currently logged-in user or any other registered user.
• Allow non-registered or non-logged-in users to create posts.

Use both ( or just one ) to start your very own one-stop-shop publishing portal. Get User Management and Front-End Posting free with our Elite membership, or purchase it individually. Try it out, and if you’re not in love, let us know. We offer a no-risk, 14-day money-back guarantee.