This article provides a guide to resolve WordPress admin permission issues, particularly when the Dashboard, Themes, or Plugins menus are inaccessible in wp-admin despite an Administrator role. It includes WP-CLI commands and steps to troubleshoot and fix issues, along with common WP-CLI commands for repetitive tasks.

Overview

WordPress admin permission issues often arise from corrupted user roles, plugin/theme conflicts, core file issues, or database problems. Symptoms include missing wp-admin menus (e.g., Dashboard, Themes, Plugins) or restricted access to admin features. WP-CLI is a powerful tool to diagnose and resolve these issues efficiently.

Prerequisites

• WP-CLI installed (wp --info to verify).
• Access to the WordPress root directory.
• Sufficient server permissions (e.g., file and database access).
• Backup your site (wp db export and tar -czf backup.tar.gz wp-content) before making changes.

Troubleshooting Steps

1. Verify User Role and Capabilities

Ensure the user has the Administrator role and required capabilities (edit_dashboard, switch_themes, activate_plugins).

• Check User Role:

  wp user get user@example.com --field=roles
  

  Output: Should return administrator. If not, set the role:

  wp user set-role user@example.com administrator
  

• Check Capabilities:

  wp role list
  

  +---------------+---------------+
  | name | role |
  +---------------+---------------+
  | Administrator | administrator |
  | Editor | editor |
  | Author | author |
  | Contributor | contributor |
  | Subscriber | subscriber |
  | SEO Manager | wpseo_manager |
  | SEO Editor | wpseo_editor |
  +---------------+---------------+
  
  wp cap list administrator Output: Confirm edit_dashboard, switch_themes, install_themes, activate_plugins, install_plugins are present.

• Reset Administrator Role:
  If capabilities are missing, reset the role:

  <?php
  // File: reset-admin.php
  require('wp-load.php');
  remove_role('administrator');
  $admin_caps = [
      'edit_dashboard' => true,
      'switch_themes' => true,
      'install_themes' => true,
      'update_themes' => true,
      'delete_themes' => true,
      'edit_themes' => true,
      'edit_theme_options' => true,
      'activate_plugins' => true,
      'install_plugins' => true,
      'update_plugins' => true,
      'delete_plugins' => true,
      'edit_plugins' => true,
      'manage_options' => true,
      'update_core' => true,
      'read' => true,
      'edit_posts' => true,
      'edit_others_posts' => true,
      'publish_posts' => true,
      'edit_pages' => true,
      'publish_pages' => true,
      'manage_categories' => true,
      'moderate_comments' => true,
      'upload_files' => true,
      'edit_users' => true,
      'create_users' => true,
      'delete_users' => true,
      'list_users' => true,
  ];
  add_role('administrator', 'Administrator', $admin_caps);
  $user = get_user_by('email', 'user@example.com');
  if ($user) $user->set_role('administrator');
  echo "Admin role reset. Delete this file!";
  

  Run: wp eval-file reset-admin.php and delete the file.

2. Check for Plugin/Theme Conflicts

Plugins or themes may hide menu items or override capabilities.

• Deactivate All Plugins:

  wp plugin deactivate --all
  

  Log in to wp-admin. If menus appear, reactivate plugins individually:

  wp plugin activate akismet
  

• Switch to Default Theme:

  wp theme activate twentytwentyfive
  

  If not installed: wp theme install twentytwentyfive --activate.

3. Verify Core Files

Corrupted core files (e.g., wp-admin/menu.php) can break menu rendering.

• Check Integrity:

  wp core verify-checksums
  

  If errors, reinstall core:

  wp core download --force --skip-content
  

4. Debug Admin Menu

Custom code may remove menu items via the admin_menu hook.

• Log Menu Items:
  Create wp-content/mu-plugins/debug-menu.php:

  <?php
  add_action('admin_menu', function () {
      global $menu, $submenu;
      file_put_contents(WP_CONTENT_DIR . '/menu-debug.log', print_r($menu, true));
      file_put_contents(WP_CONTENT_DIR . '/submenu-debug.log', print_r($submenu, true));
  }, 999);
  

  Check wp-content/menu-debug.log for index.php (Dashboard), themes.php (Themes), plugins.php (Plugins).

• Force Menu Items:
  Create wp-content/mu-plugins/force-menu.php:

  <?php
  add_action('admin_menu', function () {
      add_menu_page('Dashboard', 'Dashboard', 'edit_dashboard', 'index.php', '', 'dashicons-dashboard', 0);
      add_menu_page('Themes', 'Themes', 'switch_themes', 'themes.php', '', 'dashicons-admin-appearance', 60);
      add_menu_page('Plugins', 'Plugins', 'activate_plugins', 'plugins.php', '', 'dashicons-admin-plugins', 65);
  }, 999);
  

  Delete after testing.

5. Check Database

Corrupted roles in the database can cause permission issues.

• Verify Roles:

  wp option get wp_user_roles
  

  If incorrect, reset roles:

  wp role reset --all
  

• Repair Database:

  wp db repair
  

6. Multisite (If Applicable)

For multisite, ensure super admin status:

wp super-admin add user@example.com

Check network admin menus (/wp-admin/network/).

7. Enable Debugging

Log errors to identify issues:

wp config set WP_DEBUG true --raw
wp config set WP_DEBUG_LOG true --raw
wp config set WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY false --raw

Check wp-content/debug.log for errors.

Common WP-CLI Commands for Repetitive Issues

• List Users:

  wp user list --fields=user_email,roles
  

• List Plugins:

  wp plugin list --fields=name,status
  

• Activate/Deactivate Plugin:

  wp plugin activate akismet
  wp plugin deactivate akismet
  

• Switch Theme:

  wp theme activate twentytwentyfive
  

• Update WordPress Core:

  wp core update
  

• Flush Cache:

  wp cache flush
  

• Check File Permissions:

  find wp-admin -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
  find wp-admin -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
  

Additional Tips

• Backup Regularly: Use wp db export and archive wp-content before changes.
• Security Plugins: Check plugins like WP Rocket or Wordfence for restrictions:

  wp plugin deactivate wp-rocket wordfence
  

• File Permissions: Ensure wp-admin and wp-content have correct permissions (755 for directories, 644 for files).