[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #40599: Rename Subscriber Role

[WordPress Trac]

#40599: Rename Subscriber Role
----------------------------------------+------------------------------
 Reporter:  macmanx                     |       Owner:
     Type:  enhancement                 |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                      |   Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Role/Capability             |     Version:
 Severity:  normal                      |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  needs-patch good-first-bug  |     Focuses:  administration
----------------------------------------+------------------------------

Comment (by johnjamesjacoby):

 I don't like "Registered" because all users need to register.

 bbPress already uses "Participant", so it would be confusing to use that
 in WordPress also.

 We can't use "None" (without complications) because "No role for this
 site" is already a possible condition in Multisite.

 This recommendation overlaps with WordPress.com, which eliminated the
 "Subscriber" role entirely. That doesn't make sense for single-site
 though, especially when open registration is turned on.

 We could maybe try "Unassigned" (like we use "Uncategorized" with posts)
 or fix the various bugs with how users having "no role" on a site (even on
 single-site) works weird.

 A useful exercise is to consider what other roles are out there. Banned;
 Blocked; Pending; Spammer; Moderator; Keymaster; Buyer; Seller; Customer;
 etc…

 There's also a problem of WordPress roles currently only being blog
 centric. An "Editor" of the blog shouldn't be assumed to also be able to
 edit items for sale in my WooCommerce store. Currently, most plugins don't
 embrace the multiple-roles per-user idea, but it becomes necessary once
 your WordPress isn't just a blog anymore.

 We could go with "Member" to try and convey "this user has activated their
 account and has generic level access" but that might not look right next
 to some membership plugins.

 This also has backwards compatibility implications, as roles are saved
 per-site in the database, keyed by ID like `subscriber`. So we can't
 easily rename roles on existing sites, and we can't be confident that
 plugins haven't made assumptions about the subscriber role existing.

 TL;DR - it's almost easier to build a subscription feature than it is to
 remove/rename the Subscriber role itself.

--
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/40599#comment:8>
WordPress Trac <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/>
WordPress publishing platform