Wordpress Install on a Subdomain
October 29, 2011 10:57 AM Subscribe
I have a Wordpress blog at www.mydomainname.org. I want to add another Wordpress blog at subdomain.mydomainname.org. I know it's possible, but is it something I can do?
My husband and I could create pretty badass geocities/neopets sites with html back in our day, but we have been left in the dust. We have a blog that we use mainly for family news and baby pictures, and we want to create another blog to keep a record of what we cook. The main blog is a Wordpress 3.2.1 install at our domain name. I would like the cooking blog to be at a subdomain OR a subdirectory of our domain name.
Wordpress support led me to this page which tells me that "If you want to run a network of sites you should at least have a basic understanding of WordPress development, PHP, HTML and CSS, as well as UNIX/Linux administration." Ha, no.
Our hosting provider is Network Solutions. Their support is just trying to convince me to buy a special blog hosting package. I was able to set up a subdomain, but there is nothing there.
So, how can I add a second Wordpress blog to a subdomain or subdirectory of my domain? Please talk to me like someone whose web design knowledge peaked with the marquee tag.
My husband and I could create pretty badass geocities/neopets sites with html back in our day, but we have been left in the dust. We have a blog that we use mainly for family news and baby pictures, and we want to create another blog to keep a record of what we cook. The main blog is a Wordpress 3.2.1 install at our domain name. I would like the cooking blog to be at a subdomain OR a subdirectory of our domain name.
Wordpress support led me to this page which tells me that "If you want to run a network of sites you should at least have a basic understanding of WordPress development, PHP, HTML and CSS, as well as UNIX/Linux administration." Ha, no.
Our hosting provider is Network Solutions. Their support is just trying to convince me to buy a special blog hosting package. I was able to set up a subdomain, but there is nothing there.
So, how can I add a second Wordpress blog to a subdomain or subdirectory of my domain? Please talk to me like someone whose web design knowledge peaked with the marquee tag.
I just realized that maybe you installed WordPress through Fantastico or other app installer.
The process is almost the same though, you just need to select the subdomain folder instead of the root.
posted by Memo at 11:12 AM on October 29, 2011
The process is almost the same though, you just need to select the subdomain folder instead of the root.
posted by Memo at 11:12 AM on October 29, 2011
Agreeing with Memo. I run a network of Wordpress sites at my job and unless you're going to be running a bunch of different blogs, it's much simpler to just have a separate WP install in the subdomain.
posted by telophase at 11:20 AM on October 29, 2011
posted by telophase at 11:20 AM on October 29, 2011
Response by poster: And I don't have to change any of the lines in the any of the Wordpress files? In other words, I don't have to do any of this?
My husband doesn't remember how he installed Wordpress initially, but it was probably just through Network Solution's FTP client. I think I could handle that.
posted by that's how you get ants at 11:22 AM on October 29, 2011
My husband doesn't remember how he installed Wordpress initially, but it was probably just through Network Solution's FTP client. I think I could handle that.
posted by that's how you get ants at 11:22 AM on October 29, 2011
Best answer: Yes, I'm pretty sure you do have to add a unique prefix for the second blog. Where it says "$table_prefix = 'wp_';" you change the "wp" to anything else (this is detailed halfway down the page you linked). This is in the setup file that you have to do anyway when you install Wordpress, and you'll never have to deal with the extra bit of code again. It is not difficult at all.
posted by ella wren at 1:08 PM on October 29, 2011
posted by ella wren at 1:08 PM on October 29, 2011
Best answer: As far as I understand it, the database is created when you install Wordpress into a domain or subdomain. So as Memo said, you will need to install Wordpress into a sub-folder on your host server, that your hosting company will set up for you so that the Domain Name Server (DNS) services will be able to associate your new subdomain with an IP address.
This was pretty easy on Dreamhost (my hosting service). I just went into their Add New Domain / Sub-Domain menu and set up a sub-domain. This created a new sub-folder from my main domain file folder, which I could FTP into directly. I installed Wordpress into this subfolder and everything set itself up (including the database file, which is installed into that subfolder). I did not have to pay anything to register the subdomain, as the payment is for the domain name - you can set up multiple subdomains.
If your hosting provider is not being helpful, check out Dreamhost. I really like the way that they don't talk down to you when you are asking basic "how-to" questions. Their support staff are friendly and helpful - and they semi-automate just about everything you need to do. So installing server software is just a matter of clicking on an "Install Wordpress" button and then entering a few basic parameters, such as the domain or subdomain name. They can probably help you with "how-to-s" on how to copy your current blog to their server, as well.
posted by Susurration at 1:29 PM on October 29, 2011
This was pretty easy on Dreamhost (my hosting service). I just went into their Add New Domain / Sub-Domain menu and set up a sub-domain. This created a new sub-folder from my main domain file folder, which I could FTP into directly. I installed Wordpress into this subfolder and everything set itself up (including the database file, which is installed into that subfolder). I did not have to pay anything to register the subdomain, as the payment is for the domain name - you can set up multiple subdomains.
If your hosting provider is not being helpful, check out Dreamhost. I really like the way that they don't talk down to you when you are asking basic "how-to" questions. Their support staff are friendly and helpful - and they semi-automate just about everything you need to do. So installing server software is just a matter of clicking on an "Install Wordpress" button and then entering a few basic parameters, such as the domain or subdomain name. They can probably help you with "how-to-s" on how to copy your current blog to their server, as well.
posted by Susurration at 1:29 PM on October 29, 2011
Response by poster: I did it! Thank you, internet.
posted by that's how you get ants at 3:42 PM on October 29, 2011
posted by that's how you get ants at 3:42 PM on October 29, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
Basically you need to figure out where the subdomain is pointing (is it a folder inside the root?) and install WordPress like normal. There's no need to setup multi-sites.
The long answer is to use a FTP client, upload WordPress to the subdomain folder, go to the subdomain and install WordPress. You may need to change the table prefix if you have only one database but here's how to do it.
posted by Memo at 11:09 AM on October 29, 2011