“Capability” is a specific action or permission that a user can perform

In WordPress, a “capability” is a specific action or permission that a user can perform. Capabilities are part of the WordPress roles and permissions system, which is used to control what different types of users can do within the WordPress dashboard.

Understanding Capabilities

Each user role in WordPress has a set of capabilities associated with it. For example:

• Administrator: Has all capabilities, meaning they can perform any action on the site, including adding and deleting users, installing and deleting themes and plugins, and editing any content.
• Editor: Can manage and publish posts, including those written by other users.
• Author: Can write, edit, and publish their own posts.
• Contributor: Can write and edit their own posts but cannot publish them.
• Subscriber: Can only manage their own profile.

Common Capabilities

Some common capabilities include:

• edit_posts: Allows a user to edit their own posts.
• publish_posts: Allows a user to publish their own posts.
• edit_others_posts: Allows a user to edit posts written by others.
• delete_posts: Allows a user to delete their own posts.
• manage_options: Allows a user to change WordPress settings, such as the settings found in the Settings menu.
• install_plugins: Allows a user to install plugins.
• edit_theme_options: Allows a user to modify theme settings, such as those found in the WordPress Customizer.

Capability in the Context of the Customizer

In the context of the WordPress Customizer, the capability parameter is used to define which users can see and modify certain settings.

For example:

$wp_customize->add_panel( 'panel_id', array(
'priority' => 10,
'capability' => 'edit_theme_options',
'theme_supports' => '',
'title' => 'My Custom Panel',
'description' => 'This panel contains settings for customizing my theme.',
) );

In this example:

• capability => 'edit_theme_options': This line specifies that only users who have the edit_theme_options capability can see and use this panel in the customizer.

The edit_theme_options capability is typically given to Administrators (and sometimes Editors, depending on the setup). This ensures that only users with the appropriate permissions can access and modify the theme options, which could affect the appearance and functionality of the site.

Custom Capabilities

You can also define custom capabilities if you need more granular control over permissions. This is often done in conjunction with custom user roles. Custom capabilities are typically used in larger or more complex sites where you need to control specific actions for different types of users.

Summary

• Capabilities control what actions a user can perform on a WordPress site.
• Each user role has a set of capabilities associated with it.
• In the Customizer, the capability parameter is used to restrict access to certain panels, sections, or settings based on user capabilities.
• edit_theme_options is a common capability used to control access to theme settings in the customizer, typically allowing only administrators to make changes.