An Introduction to Multisite - WordCamp Phoenix

Hello, I am NOTLisa Sabin-Wilson• Lisa wasn’t feeling well and had to cancel

• They asked me to take her place

• I am not a natural blonde

• I’ll do my best to fill her shoes

http://about-me/

John HawkinsCo-founder of

We’re a WordPress development team

I write plugins, build sites, answer emails

I’m a WordCamp Junkie (29 & counting)

I live just outside of Vegas

No, I don’t know Wayne Newton

If you come to Vegas, visit the Pinball Hall of Fame.

You can reach me at:[email protected]

Twitter - @vegasgeekFacebook.com/vegasgeek

The what and the why.

• Multisite is built in to the same WordPress software you are already using

• Enables you to run multiple websites from one installation of WordPress

• Install themes and plugins once, use them across all sites in your network

• WordPress.com runs on multisite

Who is using Multisite?

Who is using Multisite?

• Businesses • Multiple branches or departments that have a need for their own site

• Theme developers who want to show demos of each theme

Who is using Multisite?

• Businesses• People who run

multiple websites

• If you own or operate several websites, multisite can save you time and resources.

Who is using Multisite?

• Businesses• People who run

multiple websites• Community managers

• Easily set up an online community for a niche interest group, sports league, etc.

• Multiple blogs from multiple users, forums, member profiles and more.

Who is using Multisite?

• Businesses• People who run

multiple websites• Community managers• Developers

• Create a sub site for each client with their theme, plugins, data & settings

• Great for returning clients who need periodic tweaks

Some Examples

http://powersites.net/

- 17,000+ sites for small businesses

Some Examples

http://nytimes.com/blogs

- 60+ blogs covering a wide range of topics

Some Examples

http://worpress.com/

- Kinda big- 460k bloggers,

840k new posts, 1m comments a day

Things to consider…

• Hosting– Shared vs Dedicated

• Support• Plugins / Features• Spam / Splogs• Update, update, update• URL Structure

URL Structure

Subdirectoryhttp://site.com/subsite/

- Requires no additional configuration

- Search engines see this content as part of the main site.

Subdomainhttp://subsite.site.com/

- Requires wildcard DNS- Search engines see this

content as a separate site with separate listings

* Domain mapping is also an option

Setting up Multisite

• Edit wp-config.php

You’ll have a new ‘Network Setup’ link in your dashboard.

Setting up Multisite

Setting up Multisite

Your new network

Network Admin Panel

Network Settings

Add a new network site

Edit a network site

Enable themes Site by site control• Archive, delete, or mark a

site as spam or mature• Set amount of space for

uploads• Much, much more

Users / Admins / Super Admins

You control the plugins

Speaking of plugins

*If Lisa was here, she’d also mention bbPress.

BuddyPress

• Main site becomes central hub.

• Subsites provide content, content, content

• Users can friend each other, leave comments, create groups / forums… if you let them, of course.

BuddyPress

Community Activity

BuddyPress

Gravity Forms

• Very powerful and versatile plugin

• Use it to create a customized sign up form

• Connect it to Paypal to charge for signups

Resources

• Setting up Multisite– http://codex.wordpress.org/Create_A_Network

• Domain mapping tutorial– http://ottopress.com/2010/wordpress-3-0-

multisite-domain-mapping-tutorial/• http://buddypress.org/• http://gravityforms.com/