Sub-domain or Sub-directory?

  • First, I know the difference between sub-domains and sub-directories, and the reasoning behind using both. This is not that question.

    My question comes from the way that my host (he.net) treats multiple domain names on the same account. I have a site hosted at example1.com, stored in the public root directory of my shared hosting account. When I add an additional domain to my hosting account, example2.com, the host creates a sub-directory within the root, titled “www.example2.com” and sets their server to direct queries for the new domain to that sub-directory.

    Now, I’d like to use a sub-domain network, and my hunch is that I can do this, regardless of the setup I’ve described above. In fact, I wonder if I could skip adding the domain to my hosting account (and bypassing their server re-direction to the “www.example2.com” subdirectory), and just add the domain using the domain mapping plugin.

    Thoughts? Is there anything I’m missing?

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    ?????? Advisor and Activist

    Additional domains (domain2.com) are totally unrelated to subdomains.

    Regardless of your setup, you can still use subdomains in WP.

    ETA: If you use subFOLDERS, just don’t name a site domain2.com ??

    Thread Starter verythorough

    (@verythorough)

    I understand what you’re saying. I know the difference between a second-level domain and a sub-domain. What had me wondering was the unusual way that this particular host handles multiple domains on the same account, with the second domain’s root stored in a subdirectory of the first domain.

    I’m sure I didn’t make clear enough what I was asking, but in the end I suppose it doesn’t matter. I did try a subdomain-style multisite network, but in the end I decided that hassles (like dealing with the added /blog prefix on existing posts, etc.) outweighed the benefits for a network of just two sites. I didn’t get far enough to see if the domain mapping plugin worked. I decided revert to backups and did a multiple install with shared database instead.

    Thanks.

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    ?????? Advisor and Activist

    It really shouldn’t matter ??

    What had me wondering was the unusual way that this particular host handles multiple domains on the same account, with the second domain’s root stored in a subdirectory of the first domain.

    That’s actually normal ?? And I have it on my site with subdomain multisite and no problems at all ??

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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