WordPress Multisite Hosting: A Complete Guide

WordPress Multisite allows you to manage multiple websites from one WordPress setup. Instead of logging into separate dashboards for each site, Multisite brings everything together in a single admin area, making overseeing multiple sites easy.

WordPress Multisite offers flexibility and easy management, whether you’re a business manager managing several brands or a blogger with different niche sites. It saves time by centralizing plugin and theme management across all sites, allowing you to control user roles, keep branding consistent, and optimize resources.

There are currently 1,214,357 live websites using WordPress Multisite, and 754,972 websites have used it in the past.

This blog will cover how WordPress Multisite works, its benefits, and when to use it.

What is WordPress Multisite?

WordPress Multisite allows you to manage multiple sites from one central dashboard. Think of it as having a “main” WordPress site that acts as a control center for all the other sites you create under it. With Multisite, you can install plugins, themes, and updates just once on the leading site, and those changes apply to all the connected sites.

Imagine a franchise business like a restaurant chain with multiple locations nationwide. Each location needs its own website to showcase its menu, local events, and contact details. Instead of setting up a separate WordPress site for each location, you can use WordPress Multisite to manage everything from one central dashboard.

With Multisite, the leading franchise site acts as the control center, allowing you to update menus, install new plugins, or apply branding changes across all the location sites in one go. This saves time and ensures brand consistency across the entire chain while allowing each location some flexibility to add local content as needed.

How does WordPress Multisite Work?

To understand WordPress Multisite, knowing the difference between a super admin and a site admin is essential.

The super admin, also called the network admin, manages the entire network of sites. They set up Multisite in the first place.

Super admins have access to the Network Admin settings and every site’s dashboard within the network. They control who can create new accounts or websites and manage the installation of plugins, themes, and uploads across all sites. Super admins can also set up custom domain mapping.

A site admin, however, typically manages only one website within the network. Depending on permissions from the super admin, they might have access to more than one site. Site admins can add users to the sites they manage, but they can’t install plugins or themes—though they can choose to activate or deactivate the ones provided by the super admin.

Benefits of WordPress Multisite

Creating a Custom Sites

One significant advantage of using WordPress Multisite is that it gives visitors a personalized experience based on their country. You can do the same for your brand, like Google or Amazon, which adjusts its site for different countries.

With WordPress Multisite, you can quickly add new sites for each region in just a few clicks, choosing between subdomains or subdirectories for each version. You can update the design, theme, plugins, and more for each country’s site to suit local preferences.

Efficient Management

For example, you can find a great new plugin to boost website performance. You’d want it on every site, but this means opening each one individually to install it. If the plugin has a problem, you’d need to go back and remove it from each site separately.

Managing sites this way can get inefficient and time-consuming.

Multisite allows you to manage all your websites from a single dashboard. You don’t need to set up each site separately or handle themes and plugins individually.

It Makes Better Use of Server Space

Since all sites in the network share the same plugins, themes, and core WordPress files, less code fills up the server. Each new site only adds a small amount of text and media, so you’ll use much less space than if each site had a separate WordPress setup.

Cost-Effective

You also save money by reducing time, effort, and server space. You may not need an expensive web hosting plan and can streamline staff roles, all of which contribute to lowering overall expenses.

When to Use a WordPress Multisite

How to Set Up WordPress Multisite

Prerequisites

• Web Hosting: Ensure you choose a hosting plan to support multiple sites or domains.
• WordPress Installation: To set up a multisite network, you’ll need a new WordPress installation. If you’re using an existing installation, deactivate plugins and back up your files first.
• FTP Access: Make sure you can access your WordPress installation using an FTP client like FileZilla.

Note: Before you turn on Multisite, back up your website to protect against data loss.

1. 1. If you’re using the subdomain option, first set up a wildcard subdomain. If you’re using subfolders, you can skip to the next step.
   2. Go to your WordPress files using FTP or cPanel and open the wp-config.php file.
   3. Add the below code after the line: “That’s all, stop editing! Happy publishing.”.

define('WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE', true);

1. 1. Log into your WordPress dashboard.
   2. Click on Tools and then select Network Setup.
   3. Choose whether you want to use subdomains or subdirectories.
   4. Enter your Network Title.
   5. Add your Network Admin Email address.
   6. Then, click the Install button.

WordPress will guide you in enabling the network and give you the necessary code.

Tip: Before continuing, make sure to back up the wp-config.php and .htaccess files.

Copy the code snippets and follow the instructions.

1. 1. In the wp-config.php file, add a code above the line `/* That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging. */`:

define( 'MULTISITE', true );

define( 'SUBDOMAIN_INSTALL', false );

define( 'DOMAIN_CURRENT_SITE', 'domain.tld' );

define( 'PATH_CURRENT_SITE', '/' );

define( 'SITE_ID_CURRENT_SITE', 1 );

define( 'BLOG_ID_CURRENT_SITE', 1 );

Remember to replace domain.tld with your actual domain name.

    In the .htaccess file, add the following code.


RewriteEngine On

RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]

RewriteBase /

RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]

# add a trailing slash to /wp-admin

RewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?wp-admin$ $1wp-admin/ [R=301,L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d

RewriteRule ^ - [L]

RewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?(wp-(content|admin|includes).*) $2 [L]

RewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?(.*\.php)$ $2 [L]

RewriteRule . index.php [L]

1. Save the changes in both files.
2. Log back into your WordPress Dashboard. You can now click My Sites and then Add New to create new WordPress sites within your network.

To allow users to register, go to My Sites, click Network Admin, then choose Settings. Find “Allow new registrations” and choose if you want users to register for accounts, sites, or both.

Does AccuWeb Hosting Support WordPress Multisite Hosting?

Absolutely! AccuWeb Hosting’s services are optimized to provide the scalability and flexibility needed to manage a WordPress site network efficiently. Whether you’re handling a personal blog network or a complex setup, our WordPress hosting offers the reliability, speed, and support you need.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does Multisite Impact SEO?

Multisite can positively impact SEO when domains are set up in a way that helps Google index them correctly. Use sub-directories if you want Google to treat your multisite as one site, or choose subdomains or custom domains if you wish to each site to be seen separately.

2. Can I Set Up a Multisite on an Existing WordPress Site?

Yes, but if your WordPress site is older than a month, you can only use subdomains for new sites, not subdirectories. You may also face issues, like adding new multisite code to each site instead of just the .htaccess file.

3. Can I use different themes for each site in a Multisite network?

You can assign unique themes to each site while managing them all from one central dashboard.

4. Is WordPress Multisite suitable for eCommerce stores?

Absolutely! It’s excellent for managing multiple eCommerce sites from a single dashboard—ensure your hosting plan can handle the additional resources.