Elementor User Permissions Not Working? Fix It

Elementor has revolutionized web design, making it accessible to millions. But what happens when crucial features, like user permissions, suddenly stop working? It can be frustrating when your team members can’t access the editing capabilities they need, or you find pages editable by unauthorized roles. If you’re grappling with Elementor user permissions not working as expected, you’ve landed in the right place. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the common causes and provide multiple, step-by-step solutions to get your Elementor workflow back on track.

User permissions are vital for maintaining a secure and efficient WordPress website, especially when working with a team. They define who can do what, ensuring that only authorized users can make changes to your content and design. When Elementor user permissions malfunction, it can lead to security vulnerabilities, broken workflows, and a whole lot of headaches. Let’s dive in and fix this together!

Understanding Elementor User Permissions and WordPress Roles

To effectively troubleshoot Elementor user permissions not working, it’s essential to understand how Elementor integrates with WordPress’s built-in user role system. WordPress comes with several predefined user roles, each with specific capabilities:

• Administrator: Has access to all administration features.
• Editor: Can publish and manage posts and pages, including those of other users.
• Author: Can publish and manage their own posts.
• Contributor: Can write and manage their own posts but cannot publish them.
• Subscriber: Can only manage their profile.

Elementor leverages these roles and extends them, allowing you to define which roles can edit with Elementor, access specific features, or even manage Elementor’s settings. When Elementor user permissions are not working, it often stems from a conflict or misconfiguration within this intricate system.

For more details on WordPress user roles, refer to the WordPress Documentation on Roles and Capabilities.

Why Are Elementor User Permissions Not Working? Common Causes

Pinpointing the exact reason why Elementor user permissions are not working can be tricky, but several common culprits often emerge:

1. Incorrect Elementor Role Manager Settings: The most straightforward cause is often a misconfiguration within Elementor’s own role manager.
2. Plugin Conflicts: Other plugins, especially those related to user roles, membership, security, or caching, can interfere.
3. Theme Conflicts: Less common, but a poorly coded theme or one that overrides core WordPress functionalities can cause issues.
4. Caching Issues: Stale cache (server-side, plugin-side, or browser-side) can prevent changes from being reflected.
5. Outdated Software: Elementor, WordPress, or other plugins being out of date can lead to compatibility problems.
6. Database Corruption: Rare, but can affect how user capabilities are stored and retrieved.
7. Incorrect File Permissions: While less directly related to user roles, incorrect file permissions on your server can sometimes manifest in unexpected ways, including feature limitations.

Solutions to Fix Elementor User Permissions Not Working

Let’s tackle these issues systematically with step-by-step solutions.

Solution 1: Verify Elementor’s Role Manager Settings

This is often the quickest fix if Elementor user permissions are not working simply due to misconfiguration.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Navigate to Elementor Settings: From your WordPress dashboard, go to Elementor > Settings.
2. Access the Role Manager Tab: Click on the “Roles” tab.
3. Review User Role Access:
   • Under the “Restrict editing” section, you’ll see a list of WordPress user roles.
   • For each role, ensure that the appropriate access level is selected. For example, if you want Editors to be able to edit with Elementor, ensure “Edit with Elementor” is selected for the Editor role.
   • You can also configure “Access to Editor” and “Access to Library” for specific roles.

   

   Tip: If you want to enable full Elementor editing capabilities for a custom role or a specific default role, ensure “Edit with Elementor” is checked. For more granular control, you can enable “Access to Editor” which allows them into the editor interface.

4. Check General Access: Also, review the Elementor > Settings > General tab. Ensure that “Disable Default Colors” and “Disable Default Fonts” are not interfering with how Elementor loads for certain users (though less likely to affect permissions directly, it’s good to cross-check).
5. Save Changes: After making any adjustments, click the “Save Changes” button.
6. Test: Log in as a user with the affected role (or ask them to test) and see if the Elementor user permissions are now working correctly.

For official guidance, refer to Elementor’s User Roles Manager documentation.

Solution 2: Rule Out Plugin and Theme Conflicts

Plugin and theme conflicts are a common reason for Elementor user permissions not working. This requires a systematic approach.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Clear All Caches: Before you start, clear all caches (WordPress plugin cache, server-side cache like LiteSpeed/Varnish, and your browser cache). This ensures you’re working with the freshest version of your site.
2. Switch to a Default Theme:
   1. Go to Appearance > Themes in your WordPress dashboard.
   2. Activate a default WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty-Four.
   3. Test: Check if the Elementor user permissions issue persists. If it resolves, your theme was the culprit. Contact your theme developer for support or consider switching themes.
3. Deactivate Plugins One by One:
   1. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
   2. Deactivate all plugins except Elementor and Elementor Pro (if you use it).
   3. Test: If the problem is resolved, reactivate your other plugins one by one, testing after each activation, until you find the conflicting plugin.
   4. Once identified, decide whether to replace the plugin, seek an alternative, or contact its developer for support.

Important: Perform these steps on a staging site first, if possible, to avoid disrupting your live website’s visitors.

Solution 3: Clear Caches and Update Everything

Outdated software or stale caches frequently cause features like Elementor user permissions not working correctly.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Clear WordPress Caching Plugin:
   • If you use a caching plugin (e.g., WP Super Cache, WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache), navigate to its settings and clear all cached data.
2. Clear Server/Host Cache:
   • If your host (like Hostinger) provides server-level caching (e.g., LiteSpeed Cache at server level), log into your hosting control panel and clear the cache there. Look for options like “Purge Cache” or “Flush Cache.”
3. Clear Browser Cache:
   • Perform a hard refresh (Ctrl+F5 or Cmd+Shift+R) or clear your browser’s cache completely.
4. Update All Software:
   1. WordPress Core: Go to Dashboard > Updates and update WordPress to the latest version if available.
   2. Elementor and Elementor Pro: Ensure both Elementor and Elementor Pro are updated to their latest stable versions.
   3. All Other Plugins: Update all other active plugins.
   4. Theme: Update your active theme to its latest version.
5. Test: After clearing caches and updating, re-test the Elementor user permissions to see if the issue is resolved.

Solution 4: Check WordPress File Permissions

Incorrect file and folder permissions on your server can sometimes block WordPress or Elementor from performing certain operations, which might impact Elementor user permissions not working.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Access Your Server: Use an SFTP client (like FileZilla) or your hosting provider’s File Manager to connect to your website’s server.
2. Navigate to Your WordPress Root Directory: This is typically located at public_html or www.
3. Set Folder Permissions:
   • Right-click on any folder within your WordPress installation and set its permissions to 755.
   • Apply this recursively to all subdirectories.
4. Set File Permissions:
   • Right-click on any file and set its permissions to 644.
   • Apply this recursively to all files.

   

5. Special Case: wp-config.php: The wp-config.php file should ideally be set to 644 or even 640 for enhanced security, although 444 is also often recommended. Start with 644 if you’re experiencing issues, and then try 440 or 400 for production.
6. Test: Check Elementor user permissions again.

For more in-depth information, consult the WordPress Codex on Changing File Permissions.

Solution 5: Review Error Logs for Clues

If Elementor user permissions are not working and the above steps haven’t helped, consulting your error logs can provide valuable diagnostic information.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Enable WordPress Debugging (Temporarily):

   Add the following lines to your wp-config.php file (located in your WordPress root directory) just before the line that says /* That's all, stop editing! Happy publishing. */:

   define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
   define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );
   define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false ); // Set to false to avoid displaying errors on public site
   @ini_set( 'display_errors', 0 ); // Disable display of errors

   This will create a debug.log file inside your wp-content directory.

2. Recreate the Issue: Try to access Elementor with the user role that’s experiencing problems.
3. Check the Debug Log: Access your wp-content/debug.log file via SFTP or File Manager. Look for any PHP errors, warnings, or notices that appeared around the time you tried to reproduce the issue.
4. Check Server Error Logs: Your hosting provider (like Hostinger) will also have server-side error logs (e.g., Apache error logs or Nginx error logs). These can often be found in your hosting control panel. Look for critical errors related to PHP or WordPress.
5. Interpret Errors: Search for the error messages online, or share them with Elementor support or your hosting provider for analysis.
6. Disable Debugging: Once you’ve gathered information, remember to remove or comment out the debugging lines in wp-config.php to prevent disclosing sensitive information and to save server resources.

Solution 6: Reset Elementor Data (Last Resort)

If all else fails and Elementor user permissions are still not working, a radical solution could be to reset Elementor’s data. This should be considered a last resort and performed with extreme caution, ideally on a staging environment.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Backup Your Database: Use a plugin like UpdraftPlus or your hosting provider’s tool to create a full database backup. This is CRITICAL.
2. Install “Reset Elementor” Plugin (or similar): Search for a plugin like “Reset Elementor” on the WordPress plugin repository. Exercise extreme caution and only use highly rated and recently updated plugins.
3. Follow Plugin Instructions: These plugins typically ask for confirmation before resetting Elementor’s settings. Understand that this might revert all Elementor settings to default, potentially impacting global styles, custom fonts, and other Elementor-specific configurations. It will likely NOT affect your page content, but it will reset settings.
4. Manually Reset (Advanced): If you are comfortable with databases, you could manually clear Elementor-related entries from the wp_options table via phpMyAdmin (e.g., options starting