This plugin allows you to create multiple levels of Super Admins in a multi-site configuration.
The way that WordPress roles and capabilities are set up, there is only level of Super Admin available. Without this plugin, the only way to grant a user control over certain aspects of the network, you have to grant that user control over all aspects.
This plugin allows you to revoke specific privileges from any Super Admin on the network. You can create new roles within the site, then assign any Super Admin to that role; effectively removing the appropriate privileges.
This plugin does not grant any new privileges (with the possible exception of the ability to manage the settings for this plugin itself) to any users. It is only capable of removing privileges.
This plugin is also built to be compatible with the WordPress Multi Network plugin and the Networks for WordPress plugin. If either of those plugins is active, the options for this plugin will be saved and used for all of the networks within the installation.
This plugin was developed by Curtiss Grymala for the University of Mary Washington. It is licensed under the GPL2, which basically means you can take it, break it and change it any way you want, as long as the original credit and license information remains somewhere in the package.
Screenshots
The admin area for this plugin. In this shot, two custom roles have been defined, and all three boxes have been collapsed.
The way the admin area looks while adding a new role.
The way the admin area looks while modifying an existing role. In this shot, an example of the Codex information is being displayed.
How do I let you know if I find a bug?
Please either hit me up on Twitter @cgrymala, report the issue in the WordPress Support Forums or post a comment on my website. If you e-mail me, please include “Extended Super Admins” in the subject line of the message. Thanks.
Can I use this plugin to grant extra capabilities to user(s)?
No. This plugin is only capable of removing privileges from a user. It cannot add extra privileges.
Can I use this plugin on a non-Multi-Site WordPress?
No. This plugin would be pointless for non-Multi-Site installations. It might actually generate errors if you try to use it on a site that doesn’t have the multi-site capabilities turned on.
Can a user belong to more than one role?
At this time, you can assign a user to multiple roles, but only the first role in the list will have an effect on that user’s capabilities. In a future version, I will look into allowing multiple roles to modify a user’s capabilities.
How do I know what the capabilities actually do?
You can find descriptions of most of the capabilities in the WordPress codex.
Unfortunately, there is no definitive explanation for each and every capability, so you may have to do some testing and play around with things a bit to get things working exactly the way you want.
How does this plugin integrate with the WordPress Multi Network plugin from John James Jacoby or the Networks for WordPress plugin from David Dean?
If either of those plugins is active, this plugin will attempt to use and save any and all of its settings across all of the networks. There is currently no way, with WPMN or Networks for WordPress activated, to use different settings on individual networks.
How do I keep the users with the modified roles from being able to modify this plugin’s settings?
This plugin creates a new capability called “manage_esa_options”. If you do not want a user to be able to modify the settings for this plugin, simply revoke that capability from any users that belong to the modified role(s).
ChangeLog
0.7
- Added multi-network support for Networks+ plugin
- Wrote custom function to switch networks in a multi-network setup
- Optimized the way Codex information is retrieved, stored and displayed
- Further optimized JavaScript
- Minified JavaScript and CSS files used in the plugin (non-minified source files are still included in the package)
- Added ability to manually flush the Codex information
- Extended length of Codex cache from 7 days to 30 days
- Minor change in CSS for 3.2
- Removed “Activate” and “Deactivate” links from plugins screen if user doesn’t have the manage_esa_options capability
- Cleaned up improper uses of WPDB::prepare()
- Cleaned up messy SQL calls
- Removed useless ESA Manager role
0.6.1
- Hopefully fixed issue that allowed modified users to edit their own permissions
- Removed alpha indication from plugin version name
0.6a
- The JavaScript for this plugin has been optimized quite a bit
- The admin options page now utilizes the standard WordPress meta box interface rather than using a custom interface (thanks to RavanH for the suggestion)
- Updated the way the Codex dialogs are displayed on-screen
0.5a
- Fixed bugs that caused roles not to be deleted properly if they had been added without all criteria specified
0.4a
- Plugin now retrieves information about each capability (where available) from the WordPress Codex
- In addition to John James Jacoby’s WP Multi Network plugin, this plugin should now be compatible with David Dean’s Networks for WordPress plugin.
- Fixed bugs that caused roles not to be deleted properly
- Made minor UI changes to make it more obvious how roles are added and modified
- Added a notice warning users when a role is added without a name
- Special thanks to RavanH for help testing and debugging this version
0.3a
The “stable” copy of 0.2a was missing all subfolders. Corrected this issue.
0.2a
Corrected a version inconsistency between the readme file and the main plugin file. No substantial changes were made to the functionality of this plugin.
0.1
This is the first version.
