Customer versus subscriber role

  • 2rascallyrabbitsbusiness

    (@2rascallyrabbitsbusiness)


    2 years, 1 month ago

    We have a new site and just started getting people to it. Have Woocommerce installed as it is an ecommerce site. I have the membership and subscriptions package but are currently not using either yet (Will soon).

    I am now seeing people registering accounts (Good thing).

    Membership is set to anyone can register.
    New user default role is set to Subscriber.

    My confusion stems from the first two users. One is listed as a Subscriber and the other is listed as a customer. How is this possible? Why are they both not listed as Subscribers?

    2nd question. What is the difference between the two roles?

    The official documentation for Woocommerce states:

    Subscriber: Assigned to new users if you enable registrations on your site. This role has the least number of permissions. Users are only able to update their own profile, read the content on your site, and leave comments.

    Customer: Assigned to new customers when they create an account on your website. This role is basically equivalent to that of a normal blog subscriber, but customers can edit their own account information and view past or current orders.

    To me that pretty much sounds the same for both.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

  • My confusion stems from the first two users. One is listed as a Subscriber and the other is listed as a customer. How is this possible? Why are they both not listed as Subscribers?

    “Subscriber” is a default user role assigned by WordPress. This has absolutely nothing to do with your Woocommerce (or any other plugin’s) subscriptions.

    The “Customer” is a user role assigned by the Woocommerce plugin. People who purchase your Woocomerce products and subscriptions will have the “Customer” role.

    A Woocommerce “Customer” can manage their Woocommerce orders, whereas a WordPress “Subscriber” has no such orders to manage.

    And, again, the WordPress “Subscriber” role has nothing to do with the Woocommerce Subscriptions plugin.

    Thread Starter 2rascallyrabbitsbusiness

    (@2rascallyrabbitsbusiness)

    So if two people came to my website, why would one be assigned the Subscriber role and the other the Customer role?

    That depends on how they acquire an account on your website.

    If they go through the normal WordPress account creation process, they get the WordPress subscriber role (or whatever role you’ve configured as your default role for new registrations). You’ll see such users under the USERS menu (and the appropriate tab for the different roles).

    But if they go through the Woocommerce store checkout, they become Woocommerce “Customer”.

    (Similarly, if a user were to register for a course created with some e-learning plugin, they’ll very likely be assigned a “Student” role created by that plugin.)

    And here, not to confuse the issue further, but I just run some checks and even a Woocommerce “Customer” has some nuances to it.

    Anyone who goes through the Woocommerce checkout is a Woocommerce Customer. You’ll find these users at WOOCOMMERCE => CUSTOMERS.

    But not all Woocommerce customers have the “Customer” role in WordPress (or any other role, for that matter).

    Yes, I know that’s confusing.

    That’s because, under WOOCOMMERCE => SETTINGS => ACCOUNTS & PRIVACY, you can configure your Woocommerce store to allow or require:

    — Guest checkout: these users are your customers, but they don’t have a role (and login) to your WordPress site. So you’ll only see their order/billing/shipping information at WOOCOMMERCE => USERS.

    — Account Creation: With this option enabled, new users can check a box to have an account created for them when they submit their order. These users will then have the Woocommerce “Customer” role and will be listed at both WOOCOMMERCE => CUSTOMERS and at USERS => CUSTOMERS (tab).

    — Login to existing account: With this option enabled, existing WordPress users (eg subscribers, contributors, etc) can log in during checkout. When they do, their existing user role is not changed. So if a subscriber places an order, they’ll be listed under WOOCOMMERCE => CUSTOMERS, but their user role remains “Subscriber” (at least from the dashboard UI. I don’t know if internal Woocommerce ads this role or not.)

    If you still need clarity on this, I’ll recommend you make a fresh post in the Woocommerce plugin’s own support forum, so that Woocommerce developers and support community can straighten things out for you:

    https://www.ads-software.com/support/plugin/woocommerce/

    Good luck!

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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