How to configure access control on individual posts

This article explains the access control settings on individual posts. You should read this article if you want to restrict access to a post, or if a post is only showing up for certain users and is refusing to be displayed for others.

How does access control on posts work?

Each post has individual access control settings. This means every single post can be set up to be visible to different groups of users. The settings can be found on the Access tab on the post editing form. Advanced mode may need to be turned on in the editor to see this tab (bottom right of your screen, it will be blue when engaged). This tab can be found near the bottom of the post editing form and is indicated by a yellow lock icon. The lock icon and the subtext on the tab indicate the current access control settings. It looks as follows:

Typically, you don't have to change these settings, since posts come with appropriate access control settings by default. This is indicated by the Use default access settings for this post type checkbox. If at any time this box is unchecked, you can revert to the defaults by checking it.

While the post is set to use the defaults, the checkboxes under Grant view access reflect the default access control settings. For most post types, posts are visible to Everyone by default, as in the example above. The default settings for posts are can be changed at the post type level.

If you want to change the access control settings for an individual post, uncheck the Use default access settings for this post type and check or uncheck the boxes under Grant view access as desired. When a box on the right is checked, the corresponding group of people will be able to access the post.

Some boxes are grayed out and cannot be unchecked, because they are implied by another box. For example, if Everyone is checked, then it will automatically force all boxes to be checked. Similarly, if Logged in (regardless of role) is checked, then it will automatically force all boxes underneath to be checked as well. If you want to uncheck any of these boxes, uncheck the Everyone or Logged in (regardless of role) box first.

Note: you can never uncheck Editors, Site admins and System admins, since these administrator-level roles are always able to see all posts.

How do I change a post from public access to member-only access?

First, uncheck Use default access settings for this post type, if it is checked:

Then, uncheck Everyone and check Members:

How do I change a post from member-only access to public access?

First, uncheck Use default access settings for this post type, if it is checked. Then, simply check Everyone.

How do I make a post available only to visitors that are not logged in?

This may be useful for, perhaps, a pod with a link to register an account or sign up. That's what the Not logged in box is for: