You don't have to add every member by hand. Turn on open registration once, and anyone who visits your site can create their own account — landing straight in the role you pick for them.

## Prerequisites

- You're signed in to your site as an administrator.
- You've decided what new members should be able to do — most sites start them as a Subscriber.

## Steps

### Step 1: Turn registration on in General Settings

In the left sidebar, click **Settings**, then **General**. Under **Membership**, tick the **Anyone can register** box, and under **New User Default Role** pick what new members can do — **Subscriber** is the right answer for most sites.

![Turn registration on in General Settings](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6MTA0MDMsInB1ciI6ImJsb2JfaWQifX0=--e99f83803244404523803f5752c728cf64462f02/block_open-general-settings.png)

### Step 2: Save your changes

Click **Save Changes** at the bottom of the screen. Registration is now open — no other setting is needed.

![Save your changes](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6MTA0MTgsInB1ciI6ImJsb2JfaWQifX0=--51268ccb83e9a0b5d6b3781343b363e64448a639/block_save-changes.png)

## What visitors see

Your login screen now shows a **Register** link. Point people at your signup page — it lives at `wp-login.php?action=register` — and they can join with just a username and an email address. WordPress emails them a confirmation, and their account is created in the role you chose.

![What visitors see](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6MTA0MTksInB1ciI6ImJsb2JfaWQifX0=--5eb24766ee828034c3e328c3a729ac7cffe5be7a/block_what-visitors-see.png)

## Tips

- Registration is off until you turn it on, and you can turn it back off the same way whenever you like.
- The dropdown deliberately leaves out **Administrator** and **Editor**, so a signup can never hand someone the keys to your site.
- Changing the default role only affects accounts created from that point on — it won't touch the members you already have.

## Summary

You've opened your site to new members and set the role they start with. If you ever want to close the doors again, head back to **Settings** → **General** and untick **Anyone can register**.