Consolidating separate wordpress sites into a network

You can convert your root WP installation into a network. If you want to be able to access network sub-sites the same way you do the current independent sites, you’ll need to rename the existing sites so their original names are available on the network.

Once the network conversion is completed, add additional sub-sites as desired. They’ll initially be empty except for default example content. Export the content from the original sites and import into the new sub-sites. Once you’re sure the export/import was done successfully, you may remove the original sites. I recommend making full backups of the original sites prior to deletion.

What about the database of individual sites? They have a separate logon and password, and contain content. They also have an A record in the domain.

Do I need to create a folder in the main RFSC.ORG directory structure, or will it be created when I do WordPress network setup?

• This reply was modified 8 months ago by slabydl.
• This reply was modified 8 months ago by slabydl.

Multisite works with “virtual” folders. If one physically exists on the server, the same cannot be used by WP. WP will create a virtual folder for a new sub-site if one does not physically exist. It will never create a physical folder for a sub-site.

All users in multisite are shared among the various sites. Access is managed by permissions and capabilities. Each user has one password for all sites they are allowed to use.

Multisite uses domain mapping to relate domains to sub-sites, so all domain A records should point to the same server. The server’s virtual host should direct all domain requests to the same WP installation.

Site content can be imported individually to a specific sub-site. You can also import users, but doing so could cause confusion over which password to use and which sub-sites they can access. If there are not too many users, it may make sense to re-create them in multisite. If there are a lot of users, they could be imported en masse and a custom script can associate each with the appropriate sites.

I’ve set rfsc.org to multisite and deactivated the plugins, but the create network of WordPress Sites is blank. Is this because I have created separate sites in folders of the primary rfsc.org site? Could I back up each site and then remove the subdirectory folders to procede with creating a multisite?

I’m not sure what “create network of WordPress Sites” is exactly, I’ve not personally created a network in quite a while. In any case, you definitely cannot add new sub-sites that get mapped to a directory that already exists on the server.

While backing up and removing is an option, you could rename the directories to something you don’t wish to use in WP. Either way, the sites will no longer be accessible via HTTPS. If renamed, you can still access the files via FTP and the data via phpMyAdmin.

If you did rename the directories, you could alter virtual host configuration accordingly in order to maintain HTTPS access.