Do you want to restrict an author’s ability to only post in specific categories of your WordPress site?
If you’re running a multi-author blog, then it can be helpful to limit author’s ability to only post on a selected category or sections of your site.
In this article, we’ll show you how to restrict authors to a specific category in WordPress.
Why Restrict Authors to a Specific Category?
If you have multiple people writing for your WordPress blog, then there is a chance that they may not select the appropriate category.
By restricting authors to specific categories, you can limit the categories they can select. You can even assign an author to post in just one category.
This not only helps them focus on their writing strengths, but it can also prevent content from being posted in the wrong category.
Overall, using categories properly can be very beneficial to your website’s SEO ranking as well.
How to Restrict Authors to a Specific Category in WordPress
The easiest way to do this is by using the Restricted Authors plugin. For more details, see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
After you’ve activated the plugin, go to Users » All Users and then click on ‘Edit’ for the user profile you want to restrict.
On their profile page, you’ll need to scroll to the bottom. You will see a section where you can select categories that you want to restrict the user’s ability to post to. In the first box, whatever category you select is what they’ll be able to use.
In the field below, you can select a default category for that specific user.
Once you’re done, click the ‘Update User’ button and you’re all done.
Now, when the author goes in the WordPress content editor to create a post, they’ll see the following on their sidebar:
As you can see, there are no other categories that they can select due to the plugin settings we’re using.
If you want to restrict their WordPress user role to specific sections or custom post types, then you can use the Members plugin to further customize the permissions.
We hope this helped you learn how you can restrict authors to a specific category in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to create a WordPress membership site, and our expert pick of the best WordPress plugins for all websites.
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