Sometimes you don’t want to protect a single article — you want to protect a whole group of them. With the Restrict for WordPress plugin you can restrict access to post categories, so every post filed under a category is covered by one rule. This guide shows you where the category restriction setting lives, which criteria you can choose from, and when category-level restriction beats restricting posts one by one.
Why restrict by category?
Category-level restriction is the natural fit whenever access should follow the topic rather than the individual post. Typical examples include a “Members” or “Premium” category on a membership blog, internal announcements for staff, or course material grouped by category. Instead of setting a restriction on every post, you set it once on the category — and every post you assign to that category from then on is automatically covered. It scales effortlessly as your site grows.
How to restrict a post category
Restrict allows you to easily restrict access to an entire post category. When creating a new post category or editing an existing one, you will find a dropdown menu that lets you select the criteria based on which the category should be accessible:
- In your WordPress dashboard, open the category you want to protect (or create a new one).
- Find the Restrict dropdown menu on the category screen.
- Select the criteria users must meet to access the category.
- Save the category — the restriction applies right away.
Available restriction criteria
By default, the dropdown is set to Everyone, which means the category will be accessible to all users. Apart from this, you can select the following criteria:
- Logged in users – the category will be accessible only to logged-in users. Perfect for a straightforward members-only section of your blog.
- Users with specific role – you can select which user role is required for accessing this category. Use this for tiered memberships, where for example only users with a “Premium” role can read premium categories.
- Users with specific capability – you can select which user capability is required for accessing this category. Capabilities are handy when access should span several roles that share a common permission.
Integration-based criteria
Additional options may appear in this dropdown if you have Tickera, WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads installed on your website. That means you can, for instance, unlock a category only for customers who purchased a particular product or hold a ticket for your event. For details, see the WooCommerce, Tickera and Easy Digital Downloads integration docs.
Tips for category restrictions
- Set your messages first. Visitors who don’t meet the criteria will see the message you configured in the General settings of the plugin. Use it to tell them how to log in or gain access, rather than leaving them at a dead end.
- Posts in multiple categories. Remember that a WordPress post can belong to several categories. Keep your restricted categories clearly separated from public ones so a post doesn’t unintentionally surface through an unrestricted category.
- Combine with other restriction levels. Category restriction works alongside per-page and per-post restriction and default rules set in the Post Types area — use whichever level matches how your content is organized.
- Hide the navigation too. If your menus link to restricted categories, consider restricting those menu items as well, so ineligible visitors don’t see links they can’t follow.
- Test before you announce. After saving the restriction, open the category in a private/incognito browser window (where you are logged out) to confirm that visitors who don’t meet the criteria really can’t access it and that they see the message you intended. It only takes a minute and saves you from accidentally leaving premium content exposed.