Execute plugin for specific user role(s) only

Question

How can I have specific plugins only active for one specific user role (or potentially an array of user roles)?

Is there something I can add to my functions.php in the child theme to only use a specific plugin for a specific user role?

I have tried various answers from here and articles but nothing seems to offer what I need.

Update:

I've tried the below code (as a test) and it works in that if an admin accesses the site it disables the plugin, but once it's disabled it stays disabled for everyone. It needs to asses the current user and activate or reactivate depending on their role.

add_filter( 'option_active_plugins', 'custom_plugin_load_filter' );
function custom_plugin_load_filter( $plugins ) {
    $user = wp_get_current_user();
    if ( in_array( 'administrator', (array) $user->roles ) ) {
        //unset( $plugins['additional-order-confirmation-email/additional-order-confirmation-email.php'] ); // change my-plugin-slug
         $key = array_search( 'additional-order-confirmation-email/additional-order-confirmation-email.php' , $plugins );
            if ( false !== $key ) {
                unset( $plugins[$key] );
            }

    }
    return $plugins;
}   

If I change it to !in_array it remains active for admin users (correct) but also for guests (incorrect).

Answer 1

It's not a good idea to modify plugins if you can help it, as the plugin may be upated and you will lose your changes and need to redo them.

Fortunately, that is not necessary in this case anyway, as you can the filter active plugins option instead. You will need the plugin slug for this:

add_filter( 'option_active_plugins', 'custom_plugin_load_filter' );
function custom_plugin_load_filter( $plugins ) {
    $user = wp_get_current_user();
    if ( !in_array( 'sales_events', (array) $user->roles ) ) {
        unset( $plugins['my-plugin-slug'] ); // change my-plugin-slug
    }
    return $plugins;
}

Note as this will run on the plugins page also, it will probably prevent anyone without the role from disabling the plugin (as it will appear to be inactive to them.)

Answer 2

This is an answer based on the term "Executing plugin" in your question title.

If you just want to run/execute a plugin for user roles, you don't need to prevent it from loading. My solution is to let WordPress load your plugin and manage it in your plugin.

So, you could have codes like this:

// In the main plugin file that loads and initiate plugin functionalities.

if ( ! current_user_can( 'manage_options' ) ) {
    return;
}

include 'plugin-file.php';
new myPlugin();

By using this solution, your plugin is active for all users, but it actually works only for users with manage_options capability.

It will not make plugin Inactive for some users, but it is a clean solution to run functionality (Execute) only for some users.

Answer 3

I had a similar problem and used @majick's code after some modification:

add_filter( 'option_active_plugins', 'custom_plugin_load_filter' );
function custom_plugin_load_filter( $plugins ) {
    $user = wp_get_current_user();
    if ( !in_array( 'sales_events', (array) $user->roles ) ) {
        $index = array_search( 'plugin-name/plugin-file.php', $plugins );
        unset( $plugins[ $index ] );
        $plugins = array_values( $plugins );
    }
    return $plugins;
}

To find out the plugin name/path, right-click the activate or deactivate link of the plugin (WP-Admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins list) and paste it in a URL decoder like this one and use the value in the "plugin=" parameter.