Custom user roles for access to specific parts of the site

Question

I need to create specific sections of my site which should only allow certain users to access them.

So basically, I'll be having a staff section - if the user is a staff member, they'll see a link to the section and obviously be able to see all the info there.

I've looked into a couple of things, namely adding user roles but they all seem to have a set list of capabilities that I can set. There isn't anything that I can find that will allow me to restrict users access to certain parts of the site.

I don't mind using plugins or anything like that - any suggestions would be welcome.

Answer 1

You could create a new role, say staff, and add the users you want to that specific role. Then link that role a new capability of your choice, e.g. access_staff.

Now you have a new role with a new capability, so all you need to do to restrict the access to any part of the site is add this piece of code:

if ( is_user_logged_in() && current_user_can( 'access_staff' ) ) {
    // Section
} else {
    // Let them know they don't have enough privileges or...
    wp_redirect( wp_login_url( get_permalink() ) ); // Send them to the login page 
}

Answer 2

If your needs are simple, the Log Me In custom login plugin might do. You can control what user roles have access to the dashboard and select a custom set of links displayed on the front end to the user when logged in. If this isn't sufficient there are lots of membership plugins available.