User management

Adding existing WordPress users to Client Portal

Client Portal requires users to have the 'CP Client' role to access portals. If you already have WordPress users with different roles (like Subscriber, WooCommerce Customer, or Author), you can give them portal access without losing their existing permissions.

This is particularly useful if you have WooCommerce customers who are already logged into their account area—they won't need to log in again separately to access their Client Portal.

The easiest solution is to assign multiple roles to your existing users. WordPress supports this natively, but doesn't show the option by default.

Step 1: Install HM Multiple Roles

Install the free HM Multiple Roles plugin from the WordPress plugin directory.

Step 2: Assign multiple roles

  1. Go to Users → All Users

  2. Click on any existing user

  3. You'll now see checkboxes instead of a dropdown for roles

  4. Tick both their existing role (like Subscriber or Customer) AND 'CP Client'

  5. Click Update User

Your users keep their current permissions and can access Client Portal.

This plugin works on WordPress multisite networks, so you can manage user roles across multiple sites from one place.

Step 3: Assign them to a portal

Having the CP Client role isn't enough—you still need to assign users to specific portals:

  1. Go to CP Portals

  2. Open the portal you want to add them to

  3. Click the CP Portal tab

  4. Expand Client Portal Settings

  5. Scroll to Client Accounts and add the user

  6. Click Update

For detailed instructions on adding users to portals, see How to add clients to your portals.

Alternative plugins

If you want more control over roles and capabilities, User Role Editor or Members are solid alternatives. Both support multisite networks and offer more advanced features, though they're more complex than needed for this specific task.

For developers: Using the leco_cp_client_roles filter

Instead of adding multiple roles, you can tell Client Portal to accept different user roles directly using code.

This method involves editing PHP code and requires a child theme. If something goes wrong, it could break your site. Only attempt this if you're comfortable with code and have a recent backup.

Add this code to your child theme's functions.php file:

function my_leco_cp_client_roles( $roles ) {
    $roles[] = 'subscriber';
    return $roles;
}
add_filter( 'leco_cp_client_roles', 'my_leco_cp_client_roles' );

Change 'subscriber' to whatever role slug your users have. For multiple roles, add more:

function my_leco_cp_client_roles( $roles ) {
    $roles[] = 'subscriber';
    $roles[] = 'contributor';
    $roles[] = 'customer';
    return $roles;
}
add_filter( 'leco_cp_client_roles', 'my_leco_cp_client_roles' );

Need help finding your role slug? WooCommerce customers use 'customer', standard WordPress roles use lowercase versions (subscriber, contributor, author, editor).

Which method should you use?

Use the plugin method if:

  • You're not comfortable editing code

  • You only have a few users to update

  • You want the safest approach

Use the code filter if:

  • You're comfortable with PHP and child themes

  • You have many existing users with the same role

  • You want a "set it and forget it" solution

Troubleshooting

If users still can't access their portals after assigning the CP Client role:

  • Verify the user has the CP Client role assigned

  • Confirm you've added them to the specific portal (not just given them the role)

  • Check the portal is published (not in draft status)

  • Make sure they're logging in at yourwebsite.com/client-portal-login

For WooCommerce integration specifically, see Using Client Portal with WooCommerce.

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