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Troubleshooting Content Permissions and Page Editing Issues in the Members Plugin

47 threads Sep 9, 2025 Plugin → Members – membership & user role editor plugin

Content

Many WordPress site administrators use the Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin to manage user access and content visibility. A common area of confusion involves setting up content permissions and configuring user roles for page editing. This guide addresses the most frequently reported issues and their solutions, based on community discussions.

Common Problem: Content Permissions Not Saving or Behaving Unexpectedly

Users often report that changes made in the Content Permissions meta box do not save correctly. For instance, unchecking roles may not persist after updating the page.

Why This Happens:

  • Plugin Conflicts: Another plugin may be interfering with the saving process.
  • Caching: Aggressive site or browser caching can show old permission states.
  • Interface Glitch: In some cases, the meta box may appear twice due to a conflict, making it unclear which checkboxes control the settings.

How to Fix It:

  1. Check the Settings: First, ensure the feature is enabled. Go to Members > Settings and verify that Enable Permissions is checked.
  2. Enable the Meta Box: If you don't see the Content Permissions box on your edit screen, click on Screen Options in the top right corner and ensure the Content Permissions panel is checked.
  3. Disable Caching: Temporarily disable any caching plugins or server-level caching to see if the permissions save correctly. This is a very common fix for permission issues.
  4. Conflict Test: Deactivate all other plugins except Members and switch to a default WordPress theme (like Twenty Twenty-One). If the permissions save correctly, reactivate your plugins one by one to identify the culprit.

Common Problem: User Can't Edit a Specific Page

A frequent goal is to allow a user or role to edit only one specific page. A user might be set as the author and given editing capabilities, but the edit link or Elementor access is still missing.

Why This Happens:

  • Incorrect Capabilities: The user's role may lack the necessary capabilities. For basic page editing, a role typically needs edit_pages and edit_published_pages. To use a page builder like Elementor, the role often also requires post-related capabilities like edit_posts.
  • Author Assignment: The user must be assigned as the author of the page. If the user has a custom role, a known WordPress bug can sometimes prevent them from appearing in the author dropdown list.

How to Fix It:

  1. Assign Correct Capabilities: Edit the user's role in Members > Roles. Under the Pages group, ensure edit_pages and edit_published_pages are granted. If using Elementor, also grant capabilities under the Posts group (e.g., edit_posts).
  2. Set the Page Author: Edit the page and assign the user as its author. If the user is not in the dropdown, ensure they have a role that is considered an "Author"-level role or higher. A bug sometimes prevents custom roles from appearing; a community-developed add-on exists to address this specific issue.
  3. Understand the Limits: It is not possible to assign edit permissions for a single page to an entire role using a standard capability. This level of granular control (e.g., letting Role A edit Page 1 and Role B edit Page 2) requires custom development, as confirmed by the plugin's support history.

Common Problem: Private Site vs. Content Permissions

Enabling the Private Site feature in Members makes the entire site require a login. This will override any Content Permissions set on individual pages, as the site is locked down before those individual rules can be evaluated.

The Solution:

You cannot use both features simultaneously. Choose one:

  • Use Content Permissions for a public site with some restricted content.
  • Use Private Site to make every part of your site require a login.

Conclusion

Most issues with the Members plugin's content and editing permissions can be resolved by methodically checking settings, capabilities, and potential conflicts. Always remember to clear your cache after making changes and test with all other plugins disabled to isolate the problem. For more complex needs, like per-page editing permissions for roles, custom code is necessary as this functionality falls outside the plugin's core feature set.

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