How to Redirect Users After Login by Role

Customization

December 22, 2025

How to Redirect Users After Login by Role

By default, WordPress redirects users to the Dashboard after login.
However, in real-world projects, different user roles often need different destinations:

Editors → Posts list
Authors → Their own posts
Subscribers → Front-end homepage or members area
Clients → A specific admin screen or custom page

This article explains how to redirect users after login based on role or capability
using clean, plugin-free code that works reliably with WordPress core behavior.

Key Principle: Use Capabilities, Not Role Names

Although the filter name mentions “login”, WordPress authorization is capability-based.
Roles are simply collections of capabilities.

For maintainability, prefer checks like:

current_user_can( 'manage_options' )
current_user_can( 'edit_posts' )
current_user_can( 'read' )

This avoids hard dependencies on role slugs and works with custom roles.

Basic Redirect Using `login_redirect`

The correct hook for post-login redirects is login_redirect.
It fires after authentication and before the redirect occurs.

Simple Role-Based Redirect

<?php
add_filter( 'login_redirect', function ( $redirect_to, $requested, $user ) {

  if ( ! $user || is_wp_error( $user ) ) {
    return $redirect_to;
  }

  if ( in_array( 'administrator', (array) $user->roles, true ) ) {
    return admin_url();
  }

  if ( in_array( 'editor', (array) $user->roles, true ) ) {
    return admin_url( 'edit.php' );
  }

  if ( in_array( 'subscriber', (array) $user->roles, true ) ) {
    return home_url();
  }

  return $redirect_to;
}, 10, 3 );

This works, but checking role names directly does not scale well.
Next, let’s improve it.

Recommended Approach: Capability-Based Redirect

This version relies on capabilities instead of role slugs.
It is more flexible and future-proof.

<?php
add_filter( 'login_redirect', function ( $redirect_to, $requested, $user ) {

  if ( ! $user || is_wp_error( $user ) ) {
    return $redirect_to;
  }

  // Site administrators
  if ( user_can( $user, 'manage_options' ) ) {
    return admin_url();
  }

  // Editors / Authors
  if ( user_can( $user, 'edit_posts' ) ) {
    return admin_url( 'edit.php' );
  }

  // Logged-in users without edit capability (subscribers, members)
  if ( user_can( $user, 'read' ) ) {
    return home_url( '/members/' );
  }

  return $redirect_to;
}, 10, 3 );

Benefits of this approach:

Works with custom roles
Handles capability changes gracefully
Clear intent in code

Respect Requested Redirects (Important)

WordPress sometimes passes a requested redirect URL
(e.g. when accessing a protected admin page before login).

You should respect it when appropriate to avoid breaking core flows.

<?php
add_filter( 'login_redirect', function ( $redirect_to, $requested, $user ) {

  if ( ! $user || is_wp_error( $user ) ) {
    return $redirect_to;
  }

  // If WordPress already requested a specific admin URL, respect it
  if ( ! empty( $requested ) ) {
    return $requested;
  }

  if ( user_can( $user, 'manage_options' ) ) {
    return admin_url();
  }

  if ( user_can( $user, 'edit_posts' ) ) {
    return admin_url( 'edit.php' );
  }

  return home_url();
}, 10, 3 );

This prevents unexpected behavior when users bookmark admin pages.

Redirect Only First-Time Logins

Sometimes you want a special redirect only on the user’s first login
(e.g. onboarding page).

First-Login Redirect Using User Meta

<?php
add_filter( 'login_redirect', function ( $redirect_to, $requested, $user ) {

  if ( ! $user || is_wp_error( $user ) ) {
    return $redirect_to;
  }

  $user_id = (int) $user->ID;
  $meta_key = '_wpct_first_login_done';

  if ( ! get_user_meta( $user_id, $meta_key, true ) ) {
    update_user_meta( $user_id, $meta_key, '1' );
    return home_url( '/welcome/' );
  }

  return $redirect_to;
}, 10, 3 );

This ensures the onboarding page is shown only once.

Redirect Users Away from wp-admin

For subscribers or front-end–only users, redirecting after login is not enough.
You should also prevent access to /wp-admin/.

<?php
add_action( 'admin_init', function () {
  if ( wp_doing_ajax() ) {
    return;
  }

  if ( is_user_logged_in() && ! current_user_can( 'edit_posts' ) ) {
    wp_safe_redirect( home_url() );
    exit;
  }
} );

This complements login redirects and avoids confusion.