Let’s\u00a0get started.<\/p>\n
Missed a tutorial in our WordPress Multisite Masterclass series? You can catch up on all six posts here:<\/strong><\/p>\n WordPress Multisite is a feature of WordPress core. It used to be a standalone system called WPMU\u00a0but was merged into WordPress\u00a0core in version 3.0.<\/p>\n This means that you can easily activate Multisite in any existing standalone installation, even one you’ve been running for months or years. There’s one key difference when you install Multisite on an existing WordPress installation as compared to a new one, though, and that relates to subdomains and subdirectories. I’ll cover this in more detail later in this post when I look at the structure of Multisite networks.<\/p>\n Multisite lets you run a network of sites, meaning that with one installation of WordPress, you can have as many sites as you like.<\/p>\n And yes, I really mean as many sites as you like. WordPress.com<\/a> is a Multisite installation powering over 10% of all websites, and our own Edublogs<\/a> is also a Multisite installation that runs over 3 million educational blogs. As you can imagine, there are some extra considerations when it comes to managing a vast network<\/a> like this, such as distributing storage across multiple servers. But the basic setup is one WordPress installation with one Multisite network running on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n In this course, you won’t learn\u00a0how to create and manage an immense network like Edublogs \u2013 that takes years of experience, sometimes painful \u2013 but what you will learn is how to create your own network of sites that you can use\u00a0for one or more of a variety of purposes, which may or may not earn you money.<\/p>\n Here’s the definition of Multisite from the WordPress Codex<\/a>:<\/p>\n A Multisite network is a collection of sites that all share the same WordPress installation. They can also share plugins and themes. The individual sites in the network are\u00a0virtual<\/i>\u00a0sites in the sense that they do not have their own directories on your server, although they do have separate directories for media uploads within the shared installation, and they do have separate tables in the database.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So, Multisite is a WordPress feature that lets you create your own network of sites. Each of those sites\u00a0can be managed separately and have its own domain pointing to it, so that when people visit it, you’d never know it’s on a network. This can make life much easier for you if you manage lots of sites and don’t want the hassle of keeping a separate eye on them all \u2013 updating plugins, dealing with performance and security, adding users, etc. It’s also incredibly useful if you want to let your users communicate with each other via a community, which you can host on your network.<\/p>\n WordPress Multisite has a few key benefits when compared to managing multiple sites each on their own WordPress installation. These are:<\/p>\n Before you start working with Multisite there are some key differences between it and a standard (what I’ll call standalone) WordPress installation. It helps to understand these first, as they’ll help you decide whether Multisite is the right tool for you and to be more effective when you start creating and managing your network. Let’s take a look at some of those differences.<\/p>\n Note on terminology: If you’re used\u00a0to standard WordPress sites, you’ll\u00a0probably\u00a0think of\u00a0your installation as\u00a0your site. In this course the terminology I’ll use will be different. The network<\/strong> is the WordPress installation, which includes a number of sites. A site<\/strong> is one site on that network. In earlier versions of\u00a0<\/em>Multisite they were thought of as blogs<\/strong>, but that\u00a0changed with\u00a0WordPress version 3.5.<\/i><\/p>\n When you create a Multisite network, you’ll become the network administrator, or super admin. This means you have the ability to manage the network as well as individual sites within\u00a0it.<\/p>\n When you activate Multisite, you’ll see some extra links in your admin screens, shown in the screenshot:<\/p>\n The additional menu items are:<\/p>\n The network management screens are where you install and activate themes and plugins and create and manage sites and users:<\/p>\n The network admin menu includes six sections:<\/p>\n There are a few aspects of network management that can be confusing for beginners:<\/p>\n As a network administrator you have additional capabilities compared to a site administrator:<\/p>\n This means that as network administrator you can also edit and manage the individual sites on your network.<\/p>\n Whenever a new site is created on your network, it will have a site administrator. If the site is created\u00a0by the network administrator, then the site administrator will be the same person. If the site is created via the signup screens, then the person creating the site will be the site administrator. It’s possible to add additional administrators to each site just as it is for a standalone WordPress site.<\/p>\n For site administrators, the screens they will have access to and the capabilities they have will be different from a standalone installation. The key differences are:<\/p>\n Site administrators have all the same capabilities and screens for creating and editing content as they would on a standalone site. They can also add users to their site, including users already registered on the network and new users.<\/p>\n If the network administrator has enabled it via the network settings, site administrators\u00a0can also activate plugins that haven’t been network activated. This is useful if you’re letting people create and manage their own sites in a similar way to edublogs or WordPress.com.<\/p>\n A Multisite network includes the same WordPress files as any other installation, so the files in the root folder, in The one difference is in the way the uploads folder is structured inside The uploads for the base site will be stored in exactly the same way as for a standalone site. It’s important that this works in the same way, as if you activate Multisite on a site that you’ve already added content and uploads to, you still want those uploads to work. But all of the other sites will have their own folder for uploads. In the This means that if you upload a file called media.png to the site with the ID of 10 during March 2016, it will be stored as The database for a Multisite installation will also have a different structure from that of a standalone site. A standard WordPress site has eleven\u00a0database tables:<\/p>\n In a Multisite installation, the tables are separated out for each site. So there will still be a copy of each of these tables, plus extra tables for each site. Nine\u00a0of the tables are duplicated for each site – everything except wp_users and wp_usermeta.<\/p>\n The two tables with user data are just held once, as any users are users across your entire network and not just for one site. Each of the other nine\u00a0is duplicated for each site, with the site ID added to its prefix. So the site with ID 10 will have the following tables for its content:<\/p>\n In addition, WordPress creates some extra tables which store data relating to the network itself. These are:<\/p>\n These store data relating to network settings and sites created. For more details of the database tables and how they work with Multisite, read this guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another difference with Multisite is the domains used for each site in the network. Each one has its own domain, which is created using either\u00a0a subdomain or a\u00a0subdirectory of the main site’s url. These work as follows:<\/p>\n If you’re activating Multisite on a local site (i.e. one on your local machine using MAMP or similar to run WordPress<\/a>), then you won’t be allowed to use subdomains\u00a0when setting things up – you’ll have to use subdirectories. If you’re activating Multisite on a WordPress installation that’s over a month old, you won’t be given the option to use subfolders: you’ll have to use subdomains. This is because your site may already include posts or pages with slugs that would conflict with the subdirectory for a new site being set up on the network.<\/p>\n In order to avoid slug clashes, the blog in your base site will have its permalinks changed when you activate Multisite using subfolders, so if you have pretty permalinks enabled, a post at I’ll cover domains, wildcard domains and domain mapping in more detail in a later part of this course.<\/p>\n Multisite has a variety of uses you can put it to. Some of these will support comities, others will be great for business. They include:<\/p>\n Let’s take a look at each of these.<\/p>\n I talk to a lot of WordPress users and developer who have lots and lots of their own sites. Maybe they support personal projects, perhaps they’re for different businesses or maybe (like me) they demonstrate different techniques.<\/p>\n I have a Multisite network which includes dozens of sites I’ve created to demonstrate techniques that I’ve written about in tutorials, books and articles. Most of these sites are small, with one plugin or theme activated that uses the code in a tutorial. Others are bigger, and support an entire book.<\/p>\n Being able to keep all these in one place saves me lots of work when I need to update plugins, themes, or WordPress itself. Lots of the themes I use for tutorials are child themes of the Twenty Sixteen default WordPress themes, and so I only need to store and update one copy of Twenty Sixteen.<\/p>\n If you’re one of those people who likes to create personal sites, then Multisite is a great way to look after them. And with domain mapping, you can use a separate domain for each of them \u2013 no-one will ever know they’re running on a network.<\/p>\n Using Multisite to host client sites<\/a> is another way to be more efficient and use less server space.<\/p>\n My agency, Compass Design, develops and hosts websites for small business clients. I don’t host all of my client sites in one network, as some are too bespoke, but a sizeable proportion\u00a0of the sites I host are small sites with less than 20 pages. All of these are built using a child of the same framework theme, which I built myself. If I ever update the framework theme I only need to do it once on my network, and the same applies for plugins. This makes the process of updating much quicker and more efficient. \u00a0And domain mapping means that each site has its own unique domain, so my client’s customers never know that their site is hosted on my network.<\/p>\n By using plugins such as Support System<\/a> and Snapshot<\/a>, I can use my Multisite network to improve the service I offer clients. Snapshot is Multisite-compatible and lets me configure all my backup options from one place, and Support System lets me receive and respond to support requests from clients.<\/p>\n If you’re using Multisite like this, the same caveat applies when doing updates \u2013 test on a development site first!<\/a> I have a local copy of my network, which I activate any updates on and test before doing so on the live sites. These are client sites, treat them with care!<\/p>\n Imagine you’re the website manager for a large organization that works in many countries. You might have separate websites for each of those countries, with the headache of managing them all. Or you could have multiple sites in the same language, maybe for different departments.<\/p>\n Multisite makes it easy to have separate sites but manage them all from one place.<\/p>\n If all your sites are using one child theme, you only need to store and keep it updated once. If you’re using the same plugins across all your sites, there are more efficiencies. And even better, you can allow cross–posting of content between sites, create a community of users across your organization and set up a template site for use every time a new site is created for a new country or department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n Multisite is a tool you can use to support a business and make money. If you set up\u00a0a network that allows people to create their own sites, then there are a variety of charging models you can use to make money from that network.<\/p>\n These include:<\/p>\n We use some of these on Edublogs. Creating a site is free, but if you want advanced features and extra plugins, you need to pay. WordPress.com works in a similar way.<\/p>\n There will be a whole part of this course dedicated to the process of setting up site creation for\u00a0users which will include content on charging for sites or features.<\/p>\n Multisite isn’t just about running a business and making money: it’s a great tool for supporting communities. It lets you create a network of sites run by users who are all part of a community. That could be a club or a loose grouping of people with similar interests.<\/p>\n Multisite lets your community members not only create sites but also communicate with each other, follow each other’s posts and share content. It can provide a useful resource for the members of your community and let them be better connected.<\/p>\n Now that you’ve read this first part in our Multisite course, you’ll know how useful and versatile WordPress Multisite can be. In the later parts of this course we’ll go into the more practical aspects of creating and managing a WordPress network, including activating Multisite and configuring your network; enabling and enhancing site creation for users; domain mapping; creating a community; and managing your network.<\/p>\n I look forward to working through this series with you!<\/p>\n Missed a tutorial in our Multisite masterclass series? You can catch up on all six posts here:<\/strong><\/p>\n Learn everything you need to know to master WordPress Multisite network in this six-week series, including how to get started, how to ensure your network is secure, and how to make money.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":347011,"featured_media":153773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"blog_reading_time":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_tutorials_categories":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1117,263,4161],"tags":[9958],"tutorials_categories":[],"class_list":["post-153301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-multisite","category-tutorials","category-wpmudev","tag-multisite-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/347011"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153301"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214776,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153301\/revisions\/214776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153301"},{"taxonomy":"tutorials_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tutorials_categories?post=153301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
![\"Create](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/create-a-network.png\")
Introduction to WordPress Multisite<\/h2>\n
![\"We](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/scaling-WordPress.png\")
The Benefits of Multisite<\/h2>\n
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Multisite vs Standalone Sites: Key Differences<\/h2>\n
Network Administration<\/h3>\n
![\"Multisite](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Multisite-dashboard.png\")
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![\"Multisite](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/network-dashboard.png\")
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![\"network](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/network-plugins.png\")
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Site Administration<\/h3>\n
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![\"site](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/site-admin-new-user.png\")
File Structure<\/h3>\n
wp-admin<\/code> and wp-includes<\/code> will be the same. The plugin and theme folders in wp-content<\/code> will also be the same. This is a much more efficient\u00a0way of storing all of these files if you’re managing multiple sites: instead of storing each theme or plugin many\u00a0times on many\u00a0sites, you just have one network with one copy of the theme or plugin\u00a0and as many sites as you need.<\/p>\nwp-content<\/code>. In a standard installation, the uploads folder will contain one folder for each year since the site was created, with each of those having folders for the months in which media was uploaded. In a Multisite installation, the uploads for each of the sites are stored separately.<\/p>\nwp-content\/uploads<\/code> folder, a new folder is created called sites<\/code>. Within that there is a folder for each site created on your network, with its name being the ID of the site.\u00a0 Each site has its own unique numerical ID, starting with 2. Then within that numbered folder the uploads will have the same structure as for a standalone site, with folders for each year and then month.<\/p>\n![\"folder](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/uploads-structure-wide.png\")
wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/03\/media.png<\/code>.<\/p>\nDatabase Structure<\/h3>\n
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Domains<\/h2>\n
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http:\/\/site1.yournetwork.com<\/code>. If you\u2019re planning to let people create their own site, you\u2019ll need to have wild card subdomains activated for your hosting.<\/li>\nhttp:\/\/yournetwork.com\/site1<\/code>. You can\u2019t choose this option on an established site that you\u2019re converting to a network as it may cause clashes with urls already created in your site.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nhttp:\/\/yoursite.com\/name-of-my-post<\/code> will move to http:\/\/yoursite.com\/blog\/name-of-my-post<\/code>. Again this is to avoid conflicts between your post titles and any subfolders.<\/p>\nUses for WordPress Multisite<\/h3>\n
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Managing Your Own Sites<\/h3>\n
Hosting Sites for Clients<\/h3>\n
![\"support](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/support-system.png\")
Hosting Multiple Sites for One Organization<\/h3>\n
![\"BBC](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/bbc-america.png\")
Making Money with Multisite<\/h3>\n
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![\"WordPress.com](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/WordPress-com-plans.png\")
Supporting a Community<\/h3>\n
Multisite Has Many Uses and Benefits<\/h2>\n
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