AuthorFence

Restrict which categories each author can publish in — per role, per user, with smart default-category resolution.

AuthorFence is a WordPress plugin for editorial teams that need to keep specific authors (or entire roles) inside a defined set of categories. It works in both the classic and block editors, handles multi-role users, and ships with a GitHub-based auto-updater.

Features

• Per-role restrictions — dynamic, searchable picker on Settings → AuthorFence lets you add category restrictions for any role that has edit_posts.
• Per-user overrides — individual authors can have a bespoke category list set from their profile screen.
• Priority chain for the default category — user → role → global → WordPress default.
• Multi-role resolution — most permissive role wins; any unrestricted role makes the user unrestricted.
• Administrators are never restricted.
• Block editor aware — the REST categories endpoint is filtered so restricted users only see the categories they can publish in.
• Self-updating — bundled GitHub Releases updater checks iwritec0de/authorfence for new tagged releases.
• Clean uninstall — uninstall.php removes all options, transients, and per-user meta.

Requirements

• WordPress 6.5+
• PHP 8.0+

Installation

1. Download the latest release zip from the Releases page, or clone this repo and run the build.
2. Upload via Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin and activate, or drop the folder into wp-content/plugins/.
3. Configure role restrictions under Settings → AuthorFence. Per-user overrides live on each user's profile screen.

Resolving Allowed Categories

AuthorFence::get_allowed_categories_for_user( \WP_User $user ): ?array

1. Administrators → null (unrestricted).
2. Per-user override → explicit term IDs.
3. Role-based restrictions → most permissive role wins. Any unrestricted configured role → null.
4. Otherwise → null.

License

GPL-2.0-or-later. See LICENSE.