WordPress domain mapping nightmare

try reviewing:

WordPress Multisite Domain Mapping

https://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/domain-mapping-wordpress-multisite/
https://github.com/wpmudev/domain-mapping

There’s no DNS records being returned for ‘weddingthings.ca’… This means the DNS system doesn’t know where the webserver running WordPress is!

You need to have the basics in place first before WordPress can map that. The DNS needs at least an A record with an IP address for your multisite.

Did ‘angel-wong.ca/weedingthings’ work before you tried to map it to that broken domain? That’s another consideration.

The ‘weddingthings.ca’ looks to have been registered at WordPress dot com or to be using their DNS servers but they may not be set properly.

@t-p I will review that and try it

@jnashhawkins apologies i should have fixed that first, the domain at the very moment is just parked. If I remove the mapping attempt, angel-wong.ca/weddingthings does show up as the wordpress install. The domain weddingthings.ca is registered at hostinger which is where the wordpress multisites are hosted

Right, I saw the registration for Angel-Wong.ca and figured your multisite was there and I could see that domain name working.

I expect that other domain will work the minute the DNS is corrected.

You might have to also inform the hosting control panel about that second domain but since the subsite works you probably know how to deal with that if necessary.

If you run into problems though let us know.

@jnashhawkins that is partially the problem, when I asked my hostinger how to fix the DNS problem, they told me to add the domain as a website under angel-wong.ca which I did. But then it basically created a blank site which was not the wordpress site it was supposed to be mapping over… so I am at a loss to how to fix my dns problem…

You caught me napping (actually I was watching NCIS New Orleans).

Anyway, ‘angel-wong.ca’ points at 185.201.11.174 so you need to find the DNS server that is authoritative for ‘weddingthings.ca’ which was at WordPress.com but now looks to be one of the DNS servers at dns-parking.com. Did you just change that or am I wrong there?

Whatever DNS server is authoritative for that second domain needs an A record added to point at 185.201.11.174

What you did at Hostinger is probably right so let’s leave that be and get this DNS issue solved first then I can look at that and see if anything else is broken there.

I should be up for a bit so hit me back ASAP if you need more help…

@jnashhawkins thank you! I took a look at the DNS zone and changed the A record to show that IP address but it still looks like I get a 403 forbidden message for weddingthings.ca, the bottome is what my DNS A record looks like right now.

Host Points to TTL
@ 185.201.11.174 14400

I currently have it mapping via the plugin but can easily change it to try wordpress native mapping if you think that will work better. It’s just when I have it set to native mapping via changing the URL in sites via superadmin, I don’t have access to the dashboard since it doesnt currently work…

Okay, from what I see it is finding the Hostinger server now so I’m happy with that… progress.

I’m going to take a guess at the control panel needing a slight tweak. You might need Hostingers help but…

We know Angel-Wong.ca is pointing at the server properly and the proper directory on that server.

We probably need to set weddingthings.ca to point at the exact same server directory. Can you take a look at that and try to fix it? Or tell me what control panel you might have there or else contact Hostinger for help?

Anyway, leave the domain mapping alone. Once the server is pointing at the WordPress install WordPress will tell me the next step after this.

btw, The DNS looks fine! Leave that be now!

@jnashhawkins Yay! At least one thing is fixed! Thank you!! I tried talking to hostinger but they had noooooo idea how to help or how to fix any of it. I think hostinger uses Hpanel? Not sure if I’m even giving you the correct information about that but its what the main hosting account is showing?

@jnashhawkins could it be the SRV record in the DNS that you’re talking about? At the moment there is nothing there

No, leave the DNS alone now. We seem to be getting what we need there.

Hpanel is supposed to be a CPanel derivative…

I need to think a bit or look at something with cPanel installed. Give me a few minutes.

@jnashhawkins no worries, it is also getting late and I am not in a rush! Thank you for all your help so far! I really really appreicate it T-T

Okay, here’s what I’ve figured out…

In CPanel, there is an option to ‘add-on’ a domain and within that is a place to point the Add-On domain to the proper directory within the server.

That usually points at something like public_html for the root domain (your Angel-Wong.ca is probably your root domain there)…

The Add-On domain most likely points at a sub-directory under public_html (your weddingthings.ca is probably an Add-On Domain)…

We need the weddingthings.ca to point at the exact same directory that Angel-Wong points at in the control panel… It’s probably a sub-directory of public_html so you’ll probably need to erase the subdirectory from that using the editor the control panel (HPanel provided)…

This might be where we really need Hostinger’s help if you can’t find it. Sometimes the support rep doesn’t know these things as it’s not a common setup but is common among certain systems that support multiple sites within their APP as WordPress does.

When I used to run into ‘blank wall’ support issues I’d sometimes wait a bit then call back hoping to get a different support rep or an escalation to ‘2nd level’.

If I was you, I’d get into there (the HPanel) and dig around looking for that ability to tweak that directory and do so or call my support people back one more time.

I have every confidence that this may be the last step to getting this to work.

—

Once this is working I think we probably should look at the native domain mapping issue again in a separate thread… but not right now. That domain mapping plugin is fine for what we want for now!

I’d also like to double check the DNS after the updates settle in.

@jnashhawkins happy new years! So what I was able to gather from hostinger after multiple attempts is that the MU mapping plugin does not work with their shared plans, it must be on their VPS plans. I asked about native mapping and they had no idea what I was talking about.

So I’ve deactivated the mu plugin and replaced “define( ‘SUNRISE’, ‘on’ );” with “define(‘COOKIE_DOMAIN’, $_SERVER[‘HTTP_HOST’]);”

I’ve also replaced the url of https://angel-wong.ca/weddingthings with https://weddingthings.ca in networkadmin/sites section. Site info was updated but native mapping still doesnt work for me

Edit: Hostinger rep says that even native mapping wouldn’t work with shared plans but should work with their VPS server plans. I have no idea how much truth there is to this but that is what they are saying

• This reply was modified 4 years, 11 months ago by amdwong.