How to use the current_user_can function in WordPress

Last Updated：2020/09/22

This article explains how to use the current_user_can function in WordPress. It also introduces the parameters, return value, and examples of usage.

What is the current_user_can function?

Returns whether the current user has the specified capability or not.

The current_user_can function is written as follows.

current_user_can( $capability, $args )

2 parameters can be specified in the current_user_can function.

Parameter name	Description
$capability (Required)	Capability name
$args	Additional Parameters

Specify the capability name. Required.

It is also possible to specify a role (admin/editor/contributor/contributor/subscriber) for $capability, but this may return unintended results.

Specify additional parameters, such as $post_id. It is optional.

Returns true if the current user has the specified capability, false if not.

Explains how to use the current_user_can function to check if the current user has article editing capability.

edit_posts is a parameter of current_user_can function that represents the capability to edit an article.

It’s a string, so use single quotes to enclose the parameters.

current_user_can( 'edit_posts' )

Check to see if the current user is authorized by specifying the current_user_can function as a conditional expression in the IF statement.

if( current_user_can( 'edit_posts' ) ){
    //Processing for users with article editing rights
}

An example of the use of the current_user_can function is shown below.

How to check if the current user is Administrator in WordPress

WordPress 2.0.0 or later

The current_user_can function is defined in “wp-includes/capabilities.php”.