WordPress MU

I have setup WPMU at http://www.telecomnest.com and while installation I configured it for subdomain based blogs i.e. (*.blogs.telecomnest.com). Actually I did this because I wanted to customize the homepage i.e. index.php in the root folder.

In other words, I want to do the following:

1. WPMU is installed in the root folder
2. Blogs will be created like this: blog1.blogs.telecomnest.com , blog2.blogs.telecomnest.com
3. If I modify index.php in the root folder, every single blog (e.g. blog1.blogs.telecomnest.com etc.) shows the index page. I can't modify index.php page.
4. I want to modify index page because I want to have a homepage where these blogs will be listed and other information will also be available like contact, about and other pages.

Please help!

are you sure?

you installed at domain.com so blogs should be at *.domain.com not *.subdomain.domain.com

just verifying...

Yes, it it installed in the root directory (i.e. the WPMU folder is root folder). However, blogs are created at http://blogs.telecomnest.com , for example: http://pakistan.blogs.telecomnest.com .

If I would have created WMPU in a subfolder e.g. http://www.telecomnest.com/blogs then every blog would have been like this: *.blogs.telecomnest.com/blogs/ which I didn't want. I want it like this that every blog's homepage is http://blog1.blogs.telecomnest.com . However, I want to retain my full control of index.php in the root folder (public_html) so that I can have homepage of my own choice. Currently, if I change index.php in telecomnest.com root folder, it modified homepage of every blog.

To make your own special homepage, make a *theme* and use that on the main blog, showing whatever you like.

But will that theme effect every blog or just the homepage? Because, what I want is full control over the homepage of domain (i.e. telecomnest.com) independent of other blogs i.e. on subdomains.

So it's not installed at the root then, it's installed at http://blogs.telecomnest.com, it just happens that your http://www.telecomnest.com does a redirect to the blogs subdomain.

Every blog can have it's own theme. The home blog has a home theme that can show an aggregation of other blogs content (with the correct plugins installed).

See here: http://wordpress.tv/2009/03/16/anatomy-of-a-wordpress-theme-exploring-the-files-behind-your-theme/

I really appreciate you guys' help but still I am unable to do what I want to do.

@cafespain:

--> Do I have to reinstall it in root directory? Because I renamed the WPMU folder to public_html and apparently installed it in root folder (which you are referring as installation somewhere else but redirection of a subdomain).

--> Can you please step by step guide me what should I do?

Here is what I wanna do:

-- Like CNN.com, they have all of their blogs at the subdomain .blogs.cnn.com, for example: http://business.blogs.cnn.com. However, their CNN.com homepage is totally different, they may even don't link blogs on homepage if they want to. I want the same thing. I want total control over index.php in my domain's root folder. I want individual blogs (under WPMU) different from the homepage of telecomnest.com, whereas, I want every blog to be a subdomain e.g. blog1.blogs.telecomnest.com. Please assist! :)

To add another point, I could have installed every blog differently with simple WordPress instead of WMPU installation, but I also want one username for all blogs. There need to be multiple blogs with one login access.

If you want the blogs to be at blog1.blogs.telecomnest.com, then install MU at blogs.telecomnest.com.

Then put whatever you want at telecomnest.com.

Even still, you can *always* have "total control" over the main index of the home blog - which is a THEME.

the index.php in the root of the site is not what you want to change.

@andrea_r

Please guide me how can I install WPMU at blogs.telecomnest.com as you mentioned. I mean, blogs.telecomnest.com is a subdomain rite, whereas, WPMU gets installed in a folder. How can I do it? Do I have to redirect blogs.telecomnest.com to a folder or what?

(Having said that, keep in mind that I don't want blog URLs to be http://blog1.blogs.telecomnest.com/blogs etc. I mean, there shouldn't be anything after ".com". It should be like this: http://blog1.telecomnest.com.)

Also, for some food for thought. Please see whenever I type http://www.telecomnest.com , it redirects me to: http://blogs.telecomnest.com/wp-signup.php?new=telecomnest.com

If you can guide me, which exact file do I need to edit so that:

1. It does not redirect me to signup page
2. I can myself add anything on homepage

"Do I have to redirect blogs.telecomnest.com to a folder or what?"

Yes, that;s how normal subdomains work. then use the subDOMAIN option on install and you;ll get the URLs you want.

"2. I can myself add anything on homepage "

Pick a WP theme. Disable it sitewide and enable it just for your main blog. Edit the heck out of it to contain whatever you like.

Tha;ts how you get your custom content in the index of the site.

:( I have tried all options i.e.

1. I installed WPMU in root folder
2. I installed WPMU in blogs subfolder of telecomnest.com (i.e. http://www.telecomnest.com/blogs)
3. I kept subdomain as well

In all above cases, I configured WPMU so that subdomains are used... but it isn't working..

Please please try to understand and please don't give me generic and short advises. Please I request you to give me a step by step guide for following:

1. I want every blog to be like this: blog1.blogs.telecomnest.com, blog2.blogs.telecomnest.com

2. Where should I install WPMU? in which folder??? When I install in /blogs folder.. it doesn't make blogs as blog1.blogs.telecomnest.com, rather it adds /blogs at the end of URL of every blog e.g. blog1.blogs.telecomnest.com/blogs/... :(

3. I want that index.php in public_html remains independent of everything else and I get every blog setup on *.blogs.telecomnest.com.

(If you think something can be modified to customize index.php in public_html, even in that case, please please tell me which file to edit? When I edit index.php, it changes every blog. I only wana change the homepage. Which file to edit? Which PHP file?)

Please please help me!

And I have failed to understand, why when I type http://www.telecomnest.com , it redirects me to: http://blogs.telecomnest.com/wp-signup.php?new=telecomnest.com

Why? :(

Why doesn't it show homepage? Why does it treat it as if I am trying to register a blog "www" at *.blogs.telecomnest.com. :(

Bahrain - we already answered all your questions.

Don't use WWW.

Don't edit index.php in the root. Edit a THEME and use that on your main blog.

I appreciate your help.

How can I get rid of signup.php redirect loop? Even when I type www or not, it redirects me to signup page (as mentioned above in my reply as well).

Please help me in this. Because it gives me an unending redirect loop on either http://www.telecomnest.com or just telecomnest.com. You can check it.

Pleas tell me in which folder should I install and which exact file of theme should be edited and how can I get rid of this signup.php redirect loop on even homepage (i.e. http://www.telecomnest.com).

Sorry to sound rude, but do you think you are going to be able to support your users if they have problems with plugins or themes?

Just asking because once you have this all up and running, you are going to run across problems as your users create their blogs and someone is going to have to support them.

You basically hosed your Apache web account settings for the main domain.

@cafespin

I appreciate your concern regarding this. However, this would not be a blog for users (signups will not be allowed). blogs at telecomnest.com will just be bunch of blogs under TelecomNest on various topics and according to geographical variations. These blogs will be totally used/managed by ourselves. Users will only be subscribers and will be able to comment. We need WPMU because we need one single user base which will be able to comment over various blogs under TelecomNest.com with the same username.

Also, I don't have problem in using themes for individual blogs, problem is that I can't control the homepage of WPMU based system (not individual blog).

@ others who can help me

Please please try to understand my problem above and help me in what I need i.e. how can I setup such a WPMU in which the homepage does not redirect me to signup page and every blog that I make gets created like this: blog1.blogs.telecomnest.com , blog2.blogs.telecomnest.com etc.

@andrea_r: "You basically hosed your Apache web account settings for the main domain."

Can you please exaplain this? If that is the reason, how can I get rid of it?

"problem is that I can't control the homepage of WPMU based system (not individual blog)."

Yes, you can - the main page for the WPMU sites *IS* a blog. It's the main blog on the system.

For your Apache settings, do you have a sysadmin? Soemone at your web host that can fix it?

Yes, I do have a VPS and I can ask the data center to help me in setting this thing up. But please tell me exactly what should I ask them to do with Apache?

tell them telecomnest.com is redirecting to blogs.telecomnest.com and you don't want it to.

@andrea_r:

I don't think that the domain is redirecting to blogs.telecomnest.com , because to check this, I renamed index.php and then I tried to access homepage i.e. http://www.telecomnest.com and now it is showing index list of files. This means, index.php is doing the redirect loop and not because of any domain settings.

Please guide.

*sigh*

You have MU installed at telecomnest.com.

IF you want the blogs to be something.blogs.telecomnest.com , then you have to *MOVE* your install to blogs.telecomnest.com.

Where you have it now, without whatever editing you did, you are supposed to get something.telecomnest.com .

Which is it you want, exactly?

Because whatever you did, that's what is screwing it all up. Pick one, please.

I want every blog to be like this: blogname.blogs.telecomnest.com, blogname2.blogs.telecomnest.com (Just like NYTimes blogs are hosted on blogs.nytimes.com), whereas I want telecomnest.com to be a homepage where there can be blogs and other pages etc. independent of individual blogs.

Please see if anybody can help me in getting out of this trouble. :(

>>Pick a WP theme. Disable it sitewide and enable it just for your main blog. Edit the heck out of it to contain whatever you like.

Tha;ts how you get your custom content in the index of the site. <<

The main reason we are switching to Wordpress MU as a CMS is because it will (hopefully) make the task of administering multiple subdomains much easier in the long run. Right now for one site http://www.liceoff.com we are using Dreamweaver to administrate about ten subdomains and each one has to have it's own domain both within Westhost, our Web Host and it's own site within Dreamweaver. If we make even the slightest change to one header file we have to open the same header file in all the other sites and then upload them. Having one central theme for all subdomains makes this much easier.

However, creating a separate theme for each subdomain seems like pretty much the same amount of work just a different kind. Isn't there some way to create, say, an "index" post/page for each blog using a plugin? I imagine the plugin would create a table containing the introductory index post/page for each blog and then we wouldn't have to create a separate theme for each blog.

"I imagine the plugin would create a table containing the introductory index post/page for each blog and then we wouldn't have to create a separate theme for each blog. "

What about the actual text in the default post? That is editable within WordPress, not the theme.

And have you look at standard Wordpress themes that have theme options? Seriously, Dreamweaver is not the way to go here.