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MultiSite Help Please, What is difference between network site and first installed site?

I have never worked with MultiSite before and am trying to build a demo setup locally in preparation for a large scale network we hope to build. When I first installed WordPress I gave it a name of mastersite, and then I setup the network. Now I have two sites listed under “my sites” which are Network Admin and Mastersite. The Network Admin one has a ‘visit network’ link whereas the mastersite one has a ‘visit site’ link. Basically, what are the differences here? What is the main site? Did the site mastersite become the first ‘site’ of the network?

Also curious is I registered a new site from another browser and logged in, and that site shows both itself and mastersite under its ‘my sites’ tab….That confuses me! :slight_smile: So what IS mastersite now exactly?

Also, is there a way to have client/network sites ONLY see their site, no others in the ‘my site’ listing?

Thank you much.

Fri, 23 Aug 2013 6:02:38
  • Jack Kitterhing
    • Code Norris

    Hi there @Ryan

    I hope you are well today and thank you for your question.

    By the sounds of it, mastersite is the main site within your network, though giving it the name of mastersite may be confusing :slight_smile:

    Network admin isn’t a site, rather it’s the network admin dashboard where you install, plugins, themes and manage sited.

    If you go to network admin > sites and find the site with it’s path of / click that link, as what that links you too is your main site, which I believe will be your main site.

    If this is the case, it’s means the master site is the main site of the network, which is your site, that is the site other people would sign up for a site from.

    That’s because of the naming structure you have given it, each sub site still belongs to the main site within your network, so it shows as the master site within my sites, if that makes sense? :slight_smile:

    Within my site, clients shouldn’t see any other sites apart from the main network site, only their sites, they wouldn’t see other sites on the network, there is a great guide here https://wpmudev.com/blog/wordpress-multisite-guide/

    Thank you!

    Kind Regards

    Jack.

  • Ryan
    • Design Lord, Child of Thor

    Hey Jack,

    Thank you for your help and prompt reply.

    Ha, I named it Mastersite thinking it would be the “base” site, therefore master worked, and I got more confused with the fact that the ‘visit network’ link sent me to the main site, so visit network does not go to its “own” site, but rather the main site?

    I will read that post now, looks super helpful thank you.

    _Ryan