WP 3.0.1 Multisite subdirectories cannot access backend

How are you going to the site’s backend? Try going directly to https://www.domain.com/site/wp-admin

I click on “Sites” in the Super Admin menu, then click the “backend” link that appears underneath the listing for the secondary site. Then when I look at any of the Pages or settings such as Header under Appearance, the content is that of my main site. The same thing happens when I enter wp-admin by the route you suggest. The only backend I have been able to access is that for the main site.

Update: I deleted my existing subdirectory site and added it back in again. Now I am able to access its backend by going to https://domain.com/site/wp-admin. Still cannot access it via the Super Admin menu.

Now I have another issue: I created a Custom Header for the TwentyTen theme, 940 x 198 pixels, less than 18K bytes, and cannot upload it. The function says my header has been updated, but the graphic is blank. The only custom header I have been able to insert into my secondary blog is one of the designs provided with the theme. I had earlier inserted a custom header into the base blog, so I know that I understand the procedure.

From what I have seen, WP Multisite is a huge disappointment and waste of time & energy. If code is poetry, then this version of WP is doggerel!

Your site is jacked up.

Do you know if your host even allows multisite? Some have been pretty sneaky in disabling it.

Which instructions did you follow on setup?

The function says my header has been updated, but the graphic is blank.

This means a php error. It actually has little to do with the multisite feature.

From what I have seen, WP Multisite is a huge disappointment and waste of time & energy. If code is poetry, then this version of WP is doggerel!

It’s not for beginners. you’re running your own mini version of wordpress.COM and you’ll need to have or be able to learn server skills and at least have a general understanding of troubleshooting procedures.

The website giving me all these problems is running on a HostGator shared hosting account. Do you think I should try a different hosting platform?
If so, which one?
As for setup, I followed the instructions given in the WP help.
If the header graphic problem is a PHP error, why is there no error message? Is there some manual procedure whereby I could force the desired graphic to be inserted with hammer & tongs, perhaps?

Hmm, HostGator’s actually been okay-ish….

And you followed this?
https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Create_A_Network

Is this the main domain on the account? Can you post a URL?

Yes, I followed those directions, and copied the generated code into my .htaccess and wp-config.php files as directed. I presume that if I hadn’t done that correctly, the network wouldn’t have worked at all.
One clue I’ve gotten from a colleague who has used Multisite successfully is that when adding a new site, its email address should be different from the one associated with the main WP site. Is that correct? Nothing in the documentation I’ve seen says that is necessary.

The domain on which I’ve been trying this is an addon domain (one of about thirty), not the account’s main domain.
The URL is https://FanHappy.com, and the one site I’ve added to the network is at https://FanHappy.com/celinedion. As you can see, it has the default post and page, and the default TwentyTen header that I have not been able to replace with my own, although that feature worked flawlessly on the main domain.

I hope you can help me, as the Multisite facility would be ideal for this project if I could get it to work. I really appreciate your effort.

One clue I’ve gotten from a colleague who has used Multisite successfully is that when adding a new site, its email address should be different from the one associated with the main WP site. Is that correct? Nothing in the documentation I’ve seen says that is necessary.

It’s not. If you add a new site with the same email as admin, it’s considered *your* site – the email has no relation to whether the site works or not.

As you can see, it has the default post and page, and the default TwentyTen header that I have not been able to replace with my own, although that feature worked flawlessly on the main domain.

I see a Celine header…

I also see your permalinks are jacked up. The second site shoudl not have /blog/ in the URL. Disable that plugin you’re running. Go to the permalinks page for the sub-blog and re-save it.

Yes, I see my custom header is there today. Last night it was blank… perhaps a browser cache issue? I tried uploading my custom header multiple times with three different browsers, and got a blank graphic each time.

I don’t know what to do about the Permalinks. I selected the custom structure: “/blog/%category%/%postname%/” on the Permalink Settings page. All the options except the Default have the term “/blog” hard coded, so I don’t see how I could remove it. I don’t think any of my plugins have anything to do with Permalinks.

Here is a list of plugins I am using:

Caffeinated Content for WordPress (3.42)
cbnet Ping Optimizer (2.3.3)
Google XML Sitemaps (3.2.4) [not activated]
Max Banner Ads (1.4)
Platinum SEO Pack (1.3.4)
Quizzin (1.01.4)
Secure WordPress (1.0.4)
Ultimate Google Analytics (1.6.0)
Wordpress Firewall (1.25)
WP-SpamFree (2.1.0.7)
WP Security Scan (2.7.1.2)
WP Unique (2.7.0)
YD Network-wide options (3.0.1)

Are any of these known to be incompatible with WP 3.0.1 Multisite?

I don’t know what to do about the Permalinks. I selected the custom structure: “/blog/%category%/%postname%/” on the Permalink Settings page. All the options except the Default have the term “/blog” hard coded, so I don’t see how I could remove it. I don’t think any of my plugins have anything to do with Permalinks.

You should only see that on the MINA site, not the sub-sites. Make sure you’re looking at https://FanHappy.com/celinedion/wp-admin/options-permalink.php

Whenever you enable the network, you should DISable all plugins first. I’d be disabling them all anyway and see if that fixes thing. First rule of troubleshooting.

I went into Permalink Settings of the second site and removed the “/blog” term from the custom structure. Now I will know not to propagate that particular setting to other blogs as they are added.

I set up the network before I installed any plugins. After installing and configuring all plugins, I configured the YD Network-wide options plugin to replicate settings to new blogs. This step is supposed to alleviate the drudgery of setting dozens of parameters manually on each new blog. For the most part it works very well; however, I can see that it will take multiple trial-and-error attempts to figure out, eventually, which settings one should propagate. The author of the [em]YD[/em] plugin has stated that it’s largely guesswork, because there is no recognized discipline as to how plugins are coded, or how their parameters are denoted.

I still do not understand how the “backend” facility is supposed to work. When I log in to my main blog and select the backend link under a subsidiary site, my admin panel exposes a mixed bag of items, some of which pertain to the subsidiary blog, but also some that belong to the main blog. Is that the way it’s supposed to work?

The Super Admin menu is available to you, the Super Admin, from ANY site in the network.

You can login to the backend of any site without going through the main site – just as you can if you have multiple blogs at wordpress.com.

I am still having problems inserting a custom header into the TwentyTen theme. A few minutes ago I uploaded a new header for the secondary blog at https://FanHappy.com/celinedion. When I visit the site the header is empty. Is there any reason why the change would not be visible immediately? I cleared my browser cache and also visited the site from another computer (that had never visited the site before) with the same result: blank header. My previous experience with this issue suggests that the new header will show up some time tomorrow.

When I try and look at the image, it’s looking in the main blog’s uploads folder. Which is odd, as it shouldn’t. the custom header works perfectly fine on every single site I’ve tested it on (and wordpress.com) so it’s got to be something peculiar to your setup.

If previous experience shows it shows up by itself after 24 hours, then it;s your host.

About ten hours now since I uploaded the header, and it’s still blank.
Can you recommend another host where I might not have so many problems?