Is renaming role safe?

[R083RT]

I would like to rename a role, the administrator role for example.

But if other plugins are programmed to work with certain default WP roles, like administrator role, will this cause plugins to break?

I guess what I’m trying to ask is, by renaming the role does it just create a mask over the administrator role or does it actually change the name.

[Vladimir]

Yes, it’s safe to rename WordPress built-in roles.
Role has 2 attributes: ID and name. WordPress and plugins use role ID internally, but shows to a user role name. When you rename role – User Role Editor changes the role name only, but ID will stay the same. So when you rename ‘Administrator’ to ‘Power user’, renamed role still will have the id ‘administrator’. You will see in the URE’s drop-down list ‘Power user (administrator)’, for example.

[Author]

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