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Multiple Roles

By Christian Neumann

User Management & Authentication / User Registration & Login

Reviewed by Omar Dabbas

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

Multiple Roles Review - In-Depth Analysis

Allow users to have multiple roles on one site. This plugin enhances user role management by providing a checklist interface.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.75/10

User Rating

4.7/5 (based on 15+ reviews)

Active Installations

5,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

5 / 10 (Medium Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

This plugin allows you to select multiple roles for a user - something that WordPress already supports under the hood, but doesn't provide a user interface for.

User edit and add new user screens will display a checklist of roles instead of the default role dropdown. The main user list screen will also display all roles a user has.

It also supports well Multisite mode.

That's it. No extra settings.

Comparing to Alternatives

Multiple Roles is a plugin designed to assign multiple user roles with a clean and simple interface. It competes with several other user role management plugins that offer varying features and complexity.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Clean and simple user interface praised by users.
Effectively allows assigning multiple roles to users.
Highly rated with 93.3% five-star reviews.
Lightweight and straightforward functionality.
Consistently works as expected across multiple sites.

Weaknesses

Has a known medium severity security vulnerability fixed in version 1.3.2.
No pro version or advanced premium features available.
Performance issues reported on older WordPress versions (e.g., 4.9.5).
Limited feature set compared to some alternatives.

User Sentiment Analysis

With a strong majority of 5-star ratings and only one low rating, users generally appreciate the plugin's simplicity and effectiveness. However, there is a notable complaint regarding performance degradation on older WordPress versions.

Positive highlights

"Works perfectly every time" - Monique
"Cleanest way to assign multiple roles" - Old account
"Elegant, simple .. great plugin" - thomasprice61
"Simple and works" - multmediadesigns
"It is simple and does the job" - Dennis Bareis

Common complaints

Performance severely degraded on WordPress 4.9.5, causing users to disable the plugin.

Weaknesses

Performance issues on older WordPress versions.
Security vulnerability fixed only in recent updates.
Lack of advanced features due to no pro version.
Limited support for complex role management scenarios.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a straightforward and reliable plugin to assign multiple roles without complexity, especially on up-to-date WordPress installations.

Not ideal for

Sites running older WordPress versions where performance may degrade, or users needing advanced role management features and premium support.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers all core functionalities needed to assign multiple roles with a clean interface, sufficient for most users.

Final Verdict

Multiple Roles stands out for its simplicity and effectiveness in assigning multiple user roles, earning high praise from most users. Its clean interface and reliable performance on current WordPress versions make it a solid choice for straightforward role management needs.

However, users on older WordPress versions should be cautious due to reported performance issues, and the plugin's history of a medium severity security vulnerability suggests keeping it updated is essential. The lack of a pro version limits advanced features, so users needing more complex capabilities might consider alternatives.