WooCommerce Function of the Week: wc_current_user_has_role

Running functions based on user roles by using conditional logic is a common part of WooCommerce customization.

What if you want to show hidden information only to “administrators” or “shop managers?” What about displaying a custom “My Account” tab just for logged-in customers?

Well, wc_current_user_has_role allows us to check just that: what role group does the logged-in user belong to.

WordPress has six pre-defined roles: Super Admin, Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, and Subscriber. WooCommerce adds another two: Shop Manager and Customer. Other plugins may add more. You can theoretically create any number of user roles. Each role is allowed to perform a defined set of tasks called capabilities.

As usual, we’ll study the WooCommerce core function code for wc_current_user_has_role, see where and why it’s used, and finally, we’ll cover a quick case study. Enjoy!

Function code

The wc_current_user_has_role function can be found under \woocommerce\includes\wc-user-functions.php:

/**
 * Checks if the current user has a role.
 *
 * @param string $role The role.
 * @return bool
 */
function wc_current_user_has_role( $role ) {
	return wc_user_has_role( wp_get_current_user(), $role );
}

The function just returns the result of the wc_user_has_role function for the logged-in user. This additional function can be found in the same file as wc_current_user_has_role:

/**
 * Checks if a user has a role.
 *
 * @param int|\WP_User $user The user.
 * @param string       $role The role.
 * @return bool
 */
function wc_user_has_role( $user, $role ) {
	if ( ! is_object( $user ) ) {
		$user = get_userdata( $user );
	}

	if ( ! $user || ! $user->exists() ) {
		return false;
	}

	return in_array( $role, $user->roles, true );
}

In a nutshell, wc_user_has_role checks if a $user object exists, and if it does, it checks the $role passed to it against the current list of user roles to see if there’s a match. That’s it.

Function usage

Want to know if the current user is an Administrator? Simple!

if ( wc_current_user_has_role( 'administrator' ) ) {
   // do something
}

The same applies to the other roles. The slugs you can use in the wc_current_user_has_role function are:

• 'administrator'
• 'editor'
• 'author'
• 'contributor'
• 'subscriber'
• 'shop_manager'
• 'customer'

If you want to know if the current user is in a specific role group — for example, a WooCommerce Shop Manager — you would check this way:

if ( wc_current_user_has_role( 'shop_manager' ) ) {
   // do something
}

Now, for a bit of context. If we do a file search for wc_current_user_has_role inside the WooCommerce plugin code, we’re able to understand where and when it’s used. There are four main results, all inside \woocommerce\includes\wc-user-functions.php:

/**
 * Modify the list of editable roles to prevent non-admin adding admin users.
 *
 * @param  array $roles Roles.
 * @return array
 */
function wc_modify_editable_roles( $roles ) {
	if ( is_multisite() && is_super_admin() ) {
		return $roles;
	}
	if ( ! wc_current_user_has_role( 'administrator' ) ) {
		unset( $roles['administrator'] );

		if ( wc_current_user_has_role( 'shop_manager' ) ) {
			$shop_manager_editable_roles = apply_filters( 'woocommerce_shop_manager_editable_roles', array( 'customer' ) );
			return array_intersect_key( $roles, array_flip( $shop_manager_editable_roles ) );
		}
	}

	return $roles;
}
add_filter( 'editable_roles', 'wc_modify_editable_roles' );

The wc_modify_editable_roles function clearly defines who can “add/edit specific user roles.” Because WooCommerce adds users to the Shop Manager and Customer role groups, this function makes sure that if the current user is not an Administrator ( ! wc_current_user_has_role( 'administrator' ) ) they can’t add Administrators. (This is for the new Customer and Shop Manager roles.) Also, if the logged-in user is a Shop Manager (wc_current_user_has_role( 'shop_manager' )), they can add/edit customers!

Similarly, wc_current_user_has_role is used a few lines below by wc_modify_map_meta_cap:

/**
 * Modify capabilities to prevent non-admin users editing admin users.
 *
 * $args[0] will be the user being edited in this case.
 *
 * @param  array  $caps    Array of caps.
 * @param  string $cap     Name of the cap we are checking.
 * @param  int    $user_id ID of the user being checked against.
 * @param  array  $args    Arguments.
 * @return array
 */
function wc_modify_map_meta_cap( $caps, $cap, $user_id, $args ) {
	if ( is_multisite() && is_super_admin() ) {
		return $caps;
	}
	switch ( $cap ) {
		case 'edit_user':
		case 'remove_user':
		case 'promote_user':
		case 'delete_user':
			if ( ! isset( $args[0] ) || $args[0] === $user_id ) {
				break;
			} else {
				if ( ! wc_current_user_has_role( 'administrator' ) ) {
					if ( wc_user_has_role( $args[0], 'administrator' ) ) {
						$caps[] = 'do_not_allow';
					} elseif ( wc_current_user_has_role( 'shop_manager' ) ) {
						// Shop managers can only edit customer info.
						$userdata                    = get_userdata( $args[0] );
						$shop_manager_editable_roles = apply_filters( 'woocommerce_shop_manager_editable_roles', array( 'customer' ) );
						if ( property_exists( $userdata, 'roles' ) && ! empty( $userdata->roles ) && ! array_intersect( $userdata->roles, $shop_manager_editable_roles ) ) {
							$caps[] = 'do_not_allow';
						}
					}
				}
			}
			break;
	}
	return $caps;
}
add_filter( 'map_meta_cap', 'wc_modify_map_meta_cap', 10, 4 );

Once again, this function dictates what Shop Managers can and cannot do with regard to capabilities. This is a little more complex than the previous function so let’s see some case studies that illustrate how it can be used.

WooCommerce case studies

We often need to check the logged-in user role when our shop applies different rules:

• at checkout (payment gateways by role)
• at the product level (price by role)
• at the shop level (toggle categories by role)
• …and so on

Let’s start with the first example — how can we enable a payment gateway just for logged-in customers?

I already have a PayPal toggle snippet on Business Bloomer — however, I use current_user_can and not wc_current_user_has_role, so let’s write a new version. Let’s check for a “cheque” gateway:

/**
 * @snippet       Enable cheque for logged in customers only
 * @how-to        Get CustomizeWoo.com FREE
 * @author        Rodolfo Melogli
 * @compatible    WooCommerce 6
 * @donate $9     https://businessbloomer.com/bloomer-armada/
 */

add_filter( 'woocommerce_available_payment_gateways', 'bbloomer_enable_cheque_customers' );
  
function bbloomer_enable_cheque_customers( $available_gateways ) {
   if ( isset( $available_gateways['cheque'] ) && ! wc_current_user_has_role( 'customer' ) ) {
      unset( $available_gateways['cheque'] );
   } 
   return $available_gateways;
}

Yes, in order to “enable” a gateway just for customers, I “disable” (unset) it for all non-customers.

One more example?

Let’s apply a discount to logged-in subscribers.

WooCommerce Subscriptions uses the default Subscriber role when a WooCommerce Customer purchases a subscription. Their goes back to “Customer” when the subscription expires/is cancelled)

/**
 * @snippet       20% discount logged in subscribers only
 * @how-to        Get CustomizeWoo.com FREE
 * @author        Rodolfo Melogli
 * @compatible    WooCommerce 6
 * @donate $9     https://businessbloomer.com/bloomer-armada/
 */

add_action( 'woocommerce_before_calculate_totals', 'bbloomer_alter_price_cart_subscribers', 9999 );
 
function bbloomer_alter_price_cart_subscribers( $cart ) {
 
    if ( is_admin() && ! defined( 'DOING_AJAX' ) ) return;
 
    if ( did_action( 'woocommerce_before_calculate_totals' ) >= 2 ) return;
 
    // IF SUBSCRIBER NOT LOGGED IN, DONT APPLY DISCOUNT
    if ( ! wc_current_user_has_role( 'subscriber' ) ) return;
 
    // LOOP THROUGH CART ITEMS & APPLY 20% DISCOUNT
    foreach ( $cart->get_cart() as $cart_item_key => $cart_item ) {
        $product = $cart_item['data'];
        $price = $product->get_price();
        $cart_item['data']->set_price( $price * 0.80 );
    }
 
}

No screenshots this week as I’m getting ready for WCEU 2022 and am short on time — hope to see you there!