A simple plugin that add's the get_user_role() function to your site.
As of April 2026, Get User Role is a WordPress roles plugin with 10 active installations and a 0/5 rating0. It has been downloaded 1.8K+ times in total. Requires WordPress 3.0.1+ and PHP false+. Available on WordPress.org since 2012. Last updated 13 years ago — may have compatibility concerns. Top alternative: Members – Membership & User Role Editor….
This plugin doesn’t do anything on the surface but if you call the get_user_role() function then you can achieve one of two results.
Function
Returns the role of the specified user.
Usage
Parameters
$user_id
(string)(optional) ‘username’
Return Values
(string) If no $user_id is specified in the function call the function will return the role of the currently logged in user, otherwise the role of the specified user will be returned.
Examples
$role = get_user_role(“admin”);
This will return “administrator”.
Notes
This plugin may call the following global variables:
$current_user
$wp_roles
$wpdb
This plugin is designed to work with any correctly made custom roles.
| WordPress | 3.0.1+ requiredTested up to 3.4.2 |
| PHP | false+ required |
Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Analysis and metrics by PluginSift.