Comments on: Managing Multiple Sites: WordPress Multisite vs Separate Installations

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:35:28 +0000

Great post Andy! I like the idea of the multisite – by one click you can update common plugins for all websites. This saves a lot of time and effort (but still you need to test all affected sites). However it’s not quite safe solution becuase if something goes wrong your entire network is going down. I think this is great solution for testing stage only.

By: Mel

Mel — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 06:56:31 +0000

Great post! One thing to note is if a client outgrows your platform the migration from Multisite sub-site to single install can be complex.

Also managing single installs now is really not time consuming if using a tool like ManageWP.

But I would recommend Gaddy hosting. I have a few clients on the Managed WP plan and their sites have gone down randomly over the last few months. The server up time is not the best and would opt for Siteground or other WP specific hosts.

By: Lee Graham

Lee Graham — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 22:39:42 +0000

In reply to Amit Khandelwal. What I do is create a sub-domain with all the base plugins and the theme(s) I plan to use on all my sites, I clone this sub-domain with backupbuddy and restore that dump to where ever I want to create a new site. Then it's just a matter of applying new design on the new site using BB of course!

By: Andy McIlwain

Andy McIlwain — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 18:13:30 +0000

In reply to Lee Graham. Hey Lee, "When I need to create a new satellite site I clone an existing site and install this from the dashboard, all-in-all this is a very efficient way to manage a network of sites." I love this approach! It's one of the reasons I encourage people to try out GoDaddy Pro Sites. Clone an existing site through the tool to jumpstart your next project and you can still charge your client for a full build. The value of a new site doesn't change for your client. You being more efficient doesn't change that. ;)

By: Andy McIlwain

Andy McIlwain — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 18:09:52 +0000

In reply to Steve. Hey Steve, "With the multi site installation would I be maintaining WP, BB, and envira (themes and plugins) only one time to support all of the sites. But site structure, appearance, essentially use of the themes and plugins would be done as an admin on each site (separately)?" Yep. You install the theme(s) and plugins once to the network and then activate on each site. When you run updates (core, theme, plugins) those updates apply across all the sites on the network. "What about certain plugins used on some sites but not on others?" You activate the plugins on a site-by-site basis. "And does the multi site install slow down loading or impact SEO?" That depends on the hosting you're using and how you've configured your installation. Multisite is more resource-intensive than a single site, so you may feel it chug on a less powerful hosting plan. As for SEO: Depends, again, if you're using a subdomain, subdirectory, or wildcard setup (i.e. running unique domains for each site on the network). Easy way to think about it: Google treats domains and subdomains as independent sites. That's why, for example, if you change your domain name, you can take a hit in the search rankings.

By: Andy McIlwain

Andy McIlwain — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 18:03:00 +0000

In reply to Amit Khandelwal. Hey Amit, Thanks! Glad you liked the post. You can use the standard WordPress export functionality under Tools > Import/Export to extract the content and media. WP Beginner has a decent write-up about the process. If you want to migrate the full site (file structure, database, plugins, the whole thing), then WP Migrate DB Pro can help there. Delicious Brains has a post walking through the process over on their blog. Hope that helps!

By: Alli Pappathopoulos

Alli Pappathopoulos — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 15:35:24 +0000

Great post! I’m in the early stages of implementing the idea you share at the end; creating a multi-site set-up for entry-level sites (within a specific niche) while keeping the more custom (larger budget) sites on their own installs. It’s very much a best of a both worlds scenario where everybody wins. Ideal!

By: Lee Graham

Lee Graham — Sat, 03 Aug 2019 20:54:38 +0000

This is an excellent post. One thing to note is that not all plugins are guaranteed to work in a multi-site network.
I have used multi-site network in the past but now I prefer separate websites and manage all updates to core, themes and plugins from a central dashboard.
From the central dashboard I am able to install, activate, de-activate plugins and themes on all satellite sites as well as configure settings and distribute posts and generally keep an eye on things. Occasionally I might log into a satellite websites just to eyeball the admin.
When I need to create a new satellite site I clone an existing site and install this from the dashboard, all-in-all this is a very efficient way to manage a network of sites .

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 03 Aug 2019 12:42:40 +0000

Nice article and interesting idea. I have one hosting account on godaddy. I am managing about 6 sites. These are all for me or my wife’s businesses. I use godaddy, WP, BB, and envira gallery. Each site looks different, but it becomes an effort when themes, plugins, WP, etc are updated because I now process each one and one at a time. With the multi site installation would I be maintaining WP, BB, and envira (themes and plugins) only one time to support all of the sites. But site structure, appearance, essentially use of the themes and plugins would be done as an admin on each site (separately)?

Would this be a good example for a multi site installation?

What about certain plugins used on some sites but not on others?

And does the multi site install slow down loading or impact SEO?

By: Amit Khandelwal

Amit Khandelwal — Sat, 03 Aug 2019 02:48:37 +0000

Really nice post, currently I’m way of building multisite website for small hotels or lodges.

Thanks for SEO part of your post, now i know i need to use sub-domains for each site because of Google.

Can you suggest a way, how i can export a sub site and install on standalone WordPress.