In a WordPress Multisite network, there are two distinct tiers of administrator roles:
Site Administrator: Manages only a specific subsite within the network. This role cannot access network-level plugin or theme installations.
Super Admin: Has full administrative access to all subsites across the network, global network settings, and the management of themes and plugins.
This guide explains how to grant Super Admin privileges to a new or existing user via the WordPress dashboard or the command line.
Security Note: A Super Admin has unrestricted access to the entire installation's databases and all subsites. Do not grant Super Admin privileges to users who only need to update or manage a single subsite.
Option 1: Managing Privileges via the WordPress Dashboard
Network-wide privileges can only be modified through the dedicated Network Admin dashboard.
Promoting an Existing User to Super Admin
Log in to WordPress using an account that already has Super Admin privileges.
Navigate to the Network Admin area from the top toolbar: My Sites > Network Admin > Users.
Screenshot of the WordPress toolbar menu showing My Sites, Network Admin, and Users dropdown
Locate the user you wish to modify from the list and click Edit under their username.
Scroll down to the Super Admin section and check the following box: ☑ Grant this user super admin privileges for the Network.
The Super Admin checkbox setting in the WordPress user edit screen
Save your changes at the bottom of the page (Update User).
(If you need to create a completely new user, click the Add New button on the Users page, create the account using an email address, and then follow the steps above to edit the user and grant them network privileges).
Revoking Privileges
If you want to remove network administrative privileges from a user without deleting their account entirely, navigate to the same user edit screen, uncheck the Grant this user super admin privileges for the Network box, and save your changes.
Option 2: Managing Privileges via Command Line (WP-CLI)
You can quickly manage Super Admins over an SSH connection using the WP-CLI tool:
1. Check Current Super Admins
To view a list of all current Super Admins on the network, run:
wp super-admin list
2. Grant Privileges to a User
To promote an existing username to Super Admin, run:
wp super-admin add <username>
3. Revoke Privileges from a User
To remove Super Admin privileges from an account, run:
wp super-admin remove <username>
(This only removes network-level privileges; the user account and any roles they hold on individual subsites will remain unaffected).
Troubleshooting and Exceptions
The "My Sites > Network Admin" menu is missing:
Your current user account does not have Super Admin privileges; you are logged in as a standard Site Administrator. Log in with a Super Admin account, or grant your account the required privileges via SSH using WP-CLI.
A newly created user is not receiving their confirmation email:
Verify that your site is successfully sending emails. If you are using a third-party SMTP service or Seravo's local SMTP, check the email service logs or the user's spam folder. If necessary, you can create the user directly via the command line (
wp user create), which allows you to set their password immediately without requiring email verification.
See Also
Managing Multisite network privileges is straightforward once you understand the core roles and their scopes. If you have accidentally locked yourself out of the network dashboard or need help configuring user roles, Seravo's support team is happy to assist at [email protected].