WPgeeks

Hi again Miro,

Then you have two choices left.

• Have a friend do it for you.
• Go with a single install for now.

As per forum rules, posting of email ids isn’t allowed, or we would be glad to help you with the installation personally.

Probably the plugin you were using to change the font size has been disabled. Try enabling it back.

If you need more features in your WYSIWYG editor, then consider installing one of these:

• Advanced TinyMCE Visual Editor
• Font Size Editor

Could you only let me know if I should install it on a domain WITH or WITHOUT www?

There’s a lot of discussion on the internet when it comes to https:// vs. https://www. This article will help you understand it better.

• Login to your WordPress dashboard.
• Navigate to Appearance > Menus
• On the right, you’ll see Menu Structure. Remove the duplicate Welcome (home page).
• You’re done. ??

You have probably added a password protection layer to your cPanel file/folder. Maybe that’s why you can’t login even after putting in the right credentials. Disable the password protection and you will be able to login. If you don’t know how, then consult your hosting provider.

Secondly, if you are concerned about security, try following these tips for Securing Your WordPress Site and you may install a security plugin if you wish.

Hi Miro,

We strongly suggest that you take help from a fellow WordPress geek to do your multisite installation. If you don’t have one already, then you can find one by joining a WordPress Meetup near you. Or, you may have to waste a few more hours/days into this. And you have spent a good amount of time on it already, ain’t we right?

Good luck on your WordPress journey! Hope it’s a wonderful one. Adieu.

You’re welcome anamericanindublin.

Anyway, the point of telling this experience it that I have the impression that when I was creating a new site I could choose one of my two domains. And now I don’t see my second domain (mirosoares.com) only my primary domain (mirosoaresstudio.com).

The domain you do the WordPress installation on becomes the primary domain.

1- Yes, I had added a wildcard domain (*) for both my domains.

Just add it for the network’s main domain. Remove the other one (*site2.com). It’s not needed. (We aren’t sure if it should be there. We haven’t added it and our network of sites work fine.)

Should I just change here for my second domain? (It doesn’t feel right, because if I had created a new site it should work directly).

Yes, instead of site2.mainsite.com, make it site2.com.

(Detail: When I create a new site I can only enter a subdomain .mainsite.com. I can’t choose my other domain).

Yes. That’s right. One has to go and ‘edit’ the url as we stated above.

I may have something wrong here because in the Network Admin > Settings > Domains I have a blank field. Actually I had never entered any info here.

Well that’s why you’re aren’t seeing your website! Lol. No issues. You can add it right now. We explained how to do so below.

The lynda.com course I am following doest mention any thing I should do here in this part of settings. It only instructs me to put the Server IP address in the field. Server CNAME domain is empty (I don’t know what ii is). Domains options from 1 to 5 is check on: 1, 3 and 4.

Uncheck the third one, unless you’re going to allow users to create their own sites. Doing so will not change anything for you. You can always add new sites from the Network Admin.

The funny thing is that even after going through many Multisite Installation guides, we got stuck too. Not once, not twice, but thrice. But thankfully, we figured out a lot of common issues in the process, and maybe it’s time we do a blog post about it.

In the part you mentioned, Network Admin / Settings / Domain:
Search Domains: I type my second domain here and nothing happens when I search. New Domain: Site ID and Domain fields are empty.

So now, add the site2.com under Domains. First input the Site ID. For finding out what your Site ID is go to Network Admin > Sites > All Sites and hover over your site2.com. At the bottom of your browser, you will see a URL, and at the end, you’ll see something like id=2. Your site number maybe different. Then add domain name – site2.com. Uncheck the Primary box. Click Save.

Now, you should be able to access your second site and it’s Dashboard as well.

You’re welcome, Miro. ??

I’m wondering if WordPress (or any “blog”) platform is right for that next move.

It obviously is.

I hope the forum can set me straight on these questions:

Sure.

1. I’m already self-hosting my current blog and am happy with my provider. If I want to self-host the small food blog with the same host, do I simply create a new site within the current WP install with my host, or do I actually install another copy of WP and create the new blog through that?

We think you have done a one click installation of WordPress and, maybe chosen, or not chosen, allow mulitsite while doing so. Well, it doesn’t matter much though.

For adding sites to your existing WordPress install, you need to create a Multisite Network. Using and configuring a Multsite Network is very easy. A little work is involved, but that’s only once. WordPress Multisite will allow you to create as many sites as you wish under the same dashboard.

Here’s how you Create Your Own Network of WordPress sites.

After you’ve allowed multisite, you will only be able to create Sub-domains or Sub-directories. To enable/use another site which is not a sub-domain, you will have to use the WordPress MU Domain Mapping Plugin.

You can download it from the WordPress Plugin Repository.

After downloading it follow these instructions to install it.

Take special note of this point.

If you are using CPanel, use the Park a Domain menu to set the mapped domain to your main installtion.

Here’s an additional guide with illustrations for installing the same plugin.

If you get stuck, don’t mind to post again.

2.And if there are multiple ways of creating a second and third self-hosted blog, what are the various advantages/disadvantages of each?

There are. It really depends on your needs though. One would be to have a separate installation of each site. The other would be to do a Multsite Installation. The latter is preferred by most. As it saves a lot of time if one has to use the same theme/plugin on many different sites.

3. For the larger food/travel site, I’ve searched for themes that fit my likes/wants/needs, but haven’t found anything I like. Is it possible to have a designer create a custom theme for me with multiple levels of page designs (parent/child/grandchild/great grandchild, etc.)?

Free themes usually do the work for some time, and then almost every blogger outgrows it. You may look for a paid theme, or you may want to go to the official job board to look for a good WordPress Developer. And yes, you can create as many child themes you want.

4. If I’m going to go with a custom design, what is the advantage of a “blog” over simply using Dreamweaver or some other WYSIWYG to create a “website” (what is the technical difference between “blog” and “website” these days)? Is one better than the other for certain applications?

Well, the technical difference is that your Content and your Design remain different when it comes to using a CMS platfrom like WordPress. (Yippee!) It allows for easy import/export of content. Plus, you may edit your website’s look and feel as many times as you want.

Hope we answered all your questions satisfactorily.

Not sure what’s going on. Haha. Crazy world? Definitely agree.

Hi smithsmith,

One more guy was facing the same problem. The error you are getting is maybe because the site2 on your network is under the Sub-domains section of your cPanel. Shifting it to Parked domains might avoid the error altogether. The error could be due to other problems too. We just gave Miro the possible solutions. You may want to go through the same.

The Problem – https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/change-domain-on-a-wp-multisite-subdomain-installation?replies=7#post-6391563

The Solution – https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/change-domain-on-a-wp-multisite-subdomain-installation?replies=7#post-6393369

You’re welcome Miro.

We think that this happens when the site2 has been added under the sub-domains section in your cPanel. Nope, sub-domains don’t take time to propagate. Doing the following will mostly solve your problem.

• First, check if you have added a wildcard subdomain (*)mainsite.com under Sub-domains on your cPanel. You just have to add the *.
• Second, the site2 (and site3, and so on and so forth) need to go under Parked domains.
• Third, check if you have changed the domain’s address correctly under Network Admin > Sites > All Sites > Site 2 (Click on Edit. It should be https://www.site2.com and not https://www.site2.mainsite.com).
• Fourth, check if you have configured the domains correctly under the Domains section of the WPMU Domain Mapping plugin. Go to Network Admin > Settings > Domains. Check if the Site Id is correct and, most importantly, don’t add a www while adding your domain. Don’t know the logic but site2.com will work and www.site.com might give an error page like the one you’re getting.

Hope this solves the problem.

WordPress posts/pages have comments on by default. If it’s not, then follow these steps to switch on comments, so that you don’t have to do it for individual posts.

1. Login to your WordPress dashboard
2. Go to Settings >> Discussion
3. Check the box where you read Allow people to post comments on new articles.

Also, you can override these settings for individual articles.

The point on my doubt is that I realise that I would like to have this network under my other domain (mirosoares.com), that is not yet available because it is still in a process of transferring. I feel that as this domain will hold most of my content, this should be my network domain and the other one should be mapped to an specific site of the network. So, I would like to know how to change the domain of my network installation.

Actually, it won’t matter much as to which domain is the network’s main domain. Plus, we aren’t sure if changing the network’s main domain after installation would be a good idea. See, it really is a matter of personal choice. You do either of these two –

• Let it be the way it is now and map the new domain onto the existing one
• Do a fresh install after you get your new domain

But also take note of the following points –

• What you go with won’t affect the functioning of your WordPress sites whatsoever.
• Every site will have the same dashboard.
• If you plan to, maybe, discontinue the network’s main site in future, then you should consider going with your new domain. Otherwise we don’t think it would be a problem.
• If your sites grow big in the future, then you can always consult WordPress experts. The good thing is that your content and your backend always stay different. So as far as the installation is concerned, you don’t need to worry about it.

By the way, I have just installed the MU plugin and I am getting error when I try do access the dashboard of the new site.
Any idea what have I possibly done wrong?

Can you share an online snapshot of the error? And please describe what you have done so far.

You’re welcome @bundleplan.

See if these help –

https://vbridge.co.uk/2014/01/22/shardb-hyperdb-and-multi-db-part-1/
https://premium.wpmudev.org/forums/topic/shardb-vs-hyperdb-vs-multidb
https://premium.wpmudev.org/forums/topic/advice-multi-db-shardb-or-hyperdb

We aren’t sure if WPMUDev forums are free to join, but if they are, then you may ask them too.