Some Questions from a Beginner with MultiSite

  • WordPress 3.5. Windows Server 2008 R2. IIS 7.x. Our web site is https://www.goodnewsjail.org.

    I am considering switching to multisite for the following reasons:

    1. We are an organization which has multiple “jurisdictions,” separated geographically, where we have teams of people working each which needs to have its own set of web pages.
    2. It seems cumbersome to try to accomodate the needs of our jurisdictions with a single site, as the ability to set security so that each jurisdiction’s personnel can ONLY access their own pages and post to their own pages seems to be non-existent or very difficult using a single site.

    Before I switch to WordPress MultiSite, I have the following questions:

    1. Will our current site still run and look the way it runs and looks now from the standpoint of those who browse to the site to view it and with respect to how I the administrator administer the main site?
    2. Can I make it so that ALL sub sites or subdomains have the same header and footer as the main site? Will this require me to have duplicates of the header and footer artwork in the media libraries of each of the sub sites?
    3. Will I be able to restrict sub sites to the same theme as the main site? Or could I give sub sites a selectioon of themes they could pick?
    4. The process of switching from single site to multisite sounds easy at https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Create_A_Network. Has anyone found there to be serious failures or down time when switching over?

    Thanks for any and all help you can give.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Thread Starter chaplaindoug

    (@chaplaindoug)

    In the article Before You Create a Network, it is stated,

    For another example, if all you want is for different groups of users to have access to different information, then you can probably achieve what you want in a single site by using a plugin to switch capabilities, menus, and link URLs.

    Easily said. But I have yet to find a plugin that would accomplish this. To which plugin(s) is the article refering?

    Thread Starter chaplaindoug

    (@chaplaindoug)

    Another question.

    If I choose to make each sub site a differnet “subdomain” (e.g., site1.goodnewsjail.org, site2.goodnewsjail.org, etc.), must I assign a separate IP to each sub site, or will the main site sort this out for me?

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    ?????? Advisor and Activist

    1. Will our current site still run and look the way it runs and looks now from the standpoint of those who browse to the site to view it and with respect to how I the administrator administer the main site?

    Mostly. You’ll no longer be able to manage plugins and themes from the site, you’ll have to use the network admin.

    Can I make it so that ALL sub sites or subdomains have the same header and footer as the main site? Will this require me to have duplicates of the header and footer artwork in the media libraries of each of the sub sites?

    You can hard code it into the theme. That’s the easiest way.

    3. Will I be able to restrict sub sites to the same theme as the main site? Or could I give sub sites a selectioon of themes they could pick?

    Yes and yes.

    Oh and it all uses one IP. No you can’t use multiple IPs.

    Thread Starter chaplaindoug

    (@chaplaindoug)

    Mika:

    How does WordPress acomplish routing for instance https://www.goodnewsjail.org to the fixed IP I have for the main site and then routing site1.goodnewsjail.org to the proper sub site?

    I also assume I will have to go to my DNS records and define site1.goodnewsjail.org to be the same IP as the main site?

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    ?????? Advisor and Activist

    How does WordPress acomplish routing for instance https://www.goodnewsjail.org to the fixed IP I have for the main site and then routing site1.goodnewsjail.org to the proper sub site?

    Magic.

    Okay, the real answer is that it’s got code that knows how to parse it. All you have to do is:

    1) Make sure all subdomains point to where WP is installed (so if goodnewsjail.org lives at /home/chaplindoug/public_html/ then all your subdomains point there as well – normally a subdomain points to /home/chaplindoug/public_html/subdomain )

    2) Make sure your DNS points the subdomain to the right IP

    3) Make a site named site1 within WP.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
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