Customizing User Roles and Permissions

Last Updated: 23 May 2025

Summary

Learn how to manage and customize user roles and permissions in Drupal to control access and functionality across your site.

Introduction

User roles and permissions are foundational to Drupal's powerful access control system. By assigning specific permissions to roles—and then assigning those roles to users—you can control exactly who can do what on your site.

Drupal comes with a few predefined roles like Anonymous, Authenticated, and Administrator, but you can easily create custom roles for different use cases like Content Editor, Moderator, or Client.

Understanding Roles and Permissions

  • Roles: Define groups of users with similar access needs.
  • Permissions: Specific actions or capabilities (e.g., “create article content”, “administer blocks”).

Each role is assigned a set of permissions. Users inherit all permissions from their assigned roles.

Step 1: Creating a New User Role

To create a custom role:

  1. Go to People > Roles (/admin/people/roles).
  2. Click Add role.
  3. Enter a name (e.g., Content Editor) and save.

This new role will now appear in your role list.

Step 2: Assigning Permissions

Once the role exists, you need to define what users with this role can do.

  1. Go to People > Permissions (/admin/people/permissions).
  2. Find your new role in the header row.
  3. Check or uncheck permissions for each module or functionality.
  4. Click Save permissions at the bottom.

Tip: Use the “Filter permissions” search bar to quickly find the permission you're looking for.

Step 3: Assigning Roles to Users

Now that the role is set up and has permissions:

  1. Go to People (/admin/people).
  2. Click Edit next to a user.
  3. Under the Roles section, check the role you want to assign.
  4. Save.

That user now has all permissions associated with that role.

Example Use Case

Let’s say you want to allow a group of users to manage blog posts but not access admin settings.

  1. Create a role: Blog Author.
  2. Assign permissions like:
    • Create and edit own Blog content.
    • View published content.
    • Access content overview page.
  3. Assign the Blog Author role to contributors.

Tips for Managing Permissions Safely

  • Avoid giving critical permissions (like "Administer site configuration") to non-admin roles.
  • Review permissions after enabling new modules—they often introduce new options.
  • Use the Permissions by Role module (contrib) for a better overview.

Conclusion

Customizing user roles and permissions allows you to tailor Drupal’s powerful access control to your specific workflow and security needs. With a bit of planning, you can ensure every user has the right level of access—and nothing more.

If you're building complex permission setups or need help auditing access control, reach out via our Contact Us page. We're glad to help!

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