ClientPress adds two custom WordPress user roles and works alongside the existing Administrator role. Understanding how each role works will help you set up your team and clients correctly.
Administrator #
Who this is: You and anyone else who manages the WordPress site.
What they can do:
- Full access to all portals, regardless of assignment
- Create, edit, and delete portals
- Invite clients and manage user accounts
- Access all WordPress admin screens
- Configure ClientPress settings
- View the activity log for any portal
Administrators always receive portal notifications by default (this can be adjusted in settings).
Project Manager #
Who this is: Team members who need to work inside portals but should not have access to the WordPress admin.
What they can do:
- Access portals they have been explicitly assigned to
- Participate in discussions, tasks, files, deliverables, and all portal features within their assigned portals
- Cannot access the WordPress admin dashboard
- Cannot create or delete portals
- Cannot manage users or settings
How to assign: When editing a portal, add the team member’s account to the Project Managers field. They will immediately gain access to that portal.
Project managers do not see the WordPress admin toolbar when logged in.
Client #
Who this is: Your clients — the people you are doing work for.
What they can do:
- Access only the portals they have been invited to
- View and interact with portal features (discussion, tasks, files, etc.) based on what you have enabled
- Upload files (if the portal’s upload permission is turned on)
- Approve or request revisions on deliverables
- Update their own profile and notification preferences
- Cannot access the WordPress admin at all
How clients are created: Client accounts are created automatically when a client accepts an invitation. They do not need to be manually created in WordPress first.
Clients do not see the WordPress admin toolbar when logged in.
Sub-Clients #
A portal can have one primary client and any number of sub-clients. Sub-clients are additional client-role users who share access to the same portal. This is useful when a client organization has multiple contacts who all need to see the same portal.
Sub-clients have the same access and permissions as the primary client within that portal.
Role Comparison #
- Access WordPress admin — Administrator: Yes; Project Manager: No; Client: No
- Create/delete portals — Administrator: Yes; Project Manager: No; Client: No
- Access assigned portals — Administrator: Yes (all); Project Manager: Yes (assigned only); Client: Yes (invited only)
- Participate in portal features — Administrator: Yes; Project Manager: Yes; Client: Yes
- Manage users and settings — Administrator: Yes; Project Manager: No; Client: No
- Approve deliverables — Administrator: Yes; Project Manager: Yes; Client: Yes
- Upload files — Administrator: Yes; Project Manager: Yes; Client: If enabled per portal
