Do you want to create a private post in WordPress? Unlike regular WordPress posts, a private post is not visible to your website visitors. Only logged in users with specific permissions can see them. In this article, we will show you how to easily create a private post in WordPress.
What is a Private Post in WordPress? How Does it Work?
A private post in WordPress is not visible to the public. Only logged in users with right permissions can see it among your blog posts.
WordPress comes with a built-in user role system that assigns permissions and capabilities to different user roles. Each WordPress user has a role assigned to them which gives them permissions to do specific tasks on a website.
Any user who has the permission to publish a post can write a private post and publish it. The post will be visible to the user and following user roles.
- Administrator – Can create, edit, and delete any private post created by any user on a WordPress site.
- Editor – Can create, edit, and delete any private posts created by any user.
- Author – Can create, publish, edit, view and delete their own private posts. They cannot see private posts created by other users.
That being said, let’s take a look at how to create a private post in WordPress.
Creating a Private Post or Private Page in WordPress
First you need to create a new post or page. You can also edit an existing post that you want to make private.
On the post edit screen, you need to click on the ‘Edit’ link next to the ‘Visibility’ option in ‘Publish’ meta box.
You will now see options to make a post sticky, password protected, or private. Go ahead and select private and then click the OK button to continue.
You can now continue editing the post or you can save/publish it.
If you visit your website, then you will see your Private blog post marked like this:
Users who don’t have permission to see private posts will not see it.
Note: Images you add to a private post are not private and can be viewed in media library by other authors. Images can also be viewed by anyone who has the image URL.
We hope this article helped you learn how to create a private post in WordPress. If you are looking to create a full-feature membership website with private content and courses, then you may want to check out our ultimate guide on how to create a membership site in WordPress.
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Lourd Bethel says
Your articles have helped me really improve my blog. Thank you! I have a question though: is there anyway to use private posts/pages to increase blog subscribers? Like, could I have something like “subscribe to view this page” type of feature or something?
WPBeginner Support says
You may want to take a look at our article below:
https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-create-a-paywall-in-wordpress/
Admin
Caoimhin says
Great article but can you think of any reason why a site admin could not see the private posts. Making post private for me seems to hide the post from everyone. Admin has the capability read-private-posts.
WPBeginner Support says
Unless you modified the user role permissions then an admin user should be able to see all posts even if they are private. You may want to try disabling your plugins in case you have a conflict that could be part of the issue.
Admin
Tahir Farooq says
great job sir
WPBeginner Support says
Thank you
Admin
Alauddin says
Nice Post.
WPBeginner Support says
Thank you
Admin
monica wehner says
I just need to know how to change spaces in the site. I am updated an already existing document and want to change double space to single.
Thanks,
ABDALLAH HEMEDI says
Now, I understand about Private Post, Thank you for good clarification.
Chris says
How can I stop those private posts from appearing in the RSS feed please?
WPBeginner Support says
Hi Chris,
Private posts do not appear in the RSS feed. You are probably seeing them in the RSS feed because you are logged in as an administrator, editor, or author of the post.
Admin