WordPress MU

Hi,
At the suggestion of many people in the forum, I created a hosting account with Bluehost.com. So I have installed the files and created the database. In the setup process, I also selected to have the subdomain option running for my site.

I have the lastest version of WordPressMU installed (downloaded 11/1/06).

The main blog I created works like a champ, but when I create a new blog, I get the email sent to activate the new blog, but the links contained. xxxx.myblogs.com fail to load. I renamed htaccess-dist to .htaccess. I changed the RewriteBase BASE/ to RewriteBase / because I have wpmu installed at the root.

I've read where I may need to add a *.mydomain.com alias, but I am not sure where to make that change or if that is a related issue..

Any Ideas?? It's taken 3 days and 3 hosts to get this far.. Godaddy = bad.

Are you sure you can dynamically create subdomains at Bluehost? I thought Bluehost has a limit for subdomains.

If that is the case, is there a host that someone can recommend that works well with subdomains?

This seems to be an impossible feat.

Thread about hosts.

Hope this helps,
-drmike

I have the same problem but i have unlimited Subdomains
haw can i Activation the xxxx.myblogs.com ?

Did you ask your hosts (Blue host) to activate wildcard subdomains for you? This is not included in a subdomain limit in any host AFAIK.

It has to be "turned" on in Apache - unless you have access to the server (ie, you're on a shared system etc...) you are going to have to ask your host to do that part.

Just called bluehost. They don't offer that service *.domain.tld.

Time for a refund and a new host. I'll be trying Site5.

I could have sworn I made a post about nine months ago warning people that bluehost will not allow wildcard subdomains but for some reason i can't find the post.

Hi
I´m with bluehost and they DO allow wildcard subdomains. You have to pay extra for a dedicated IP address, but once that was sorted - no problems at all.

I cancelled my account and went with Site5.com and did their $5/mo deal and WPMU works right out of the box perfect.

Hi, cafespain

can you tell me more information about how to run WP MU in sub-domain mode on Bluehost? I contact with Bluhost but they said even dedicated IP address can not reslove the problem, it need wildcard subdomains, but they do not support it. thanks!

Hi, I've recently signed up with HostMonster.com, and I had been getting the run around regarding the wildcard DNS setup for my domains until Level 2 technician replied with this:

In order to have wildcard subdomains setup, you will need to have a dedicated ip. The cost for a dedicated IP is $30 per year ($2.50/mo prorated to the end of your agreement). If you would like to purchase the dedicated IP, please reply with either the password or the last 4 digits of your credit card number.

Now, I am not sure about httpd.conf changes.. I haven't gone that far yet with them. However, I've decided on subdirectory method, and it's working fine for me so far.

WestHost is an outstanding Host. I have been very happy with their performance and customer support.

This is depressing news about Blue Host. A sponsor for my sites has paid for a year's worth of hosting through them. I upgraded my blogs to MU 2.7, and now only the main blog works, but not the sub-domain blogs.

I don't know that I can switch hosting companies because it's already paid for the year.

Did anyone find a solution? You would think if Blue Host is being recommended for WordPress users, then Blue Host would do whatever they could to keep us.

It's being recommended for regular Wordpress, not wpmu.

The only things I can think of is switching to a subdirectory install (which make limit your options further down the road) or try to get an upgrade out of your sponsor. They may be willing to do it for you.

Here is how BlueHost tech support went for me. I'm frustrated. I learned about BlueHost through the WordPress site, but didn't know MU was not supported.

Hopefully I can get my money back.

Colleen [9:16:07 AM]: Why don't you allow wildcard sub domains when you promote WordPress, don't you guys know there are sub blogs that are added to an MU version of WordPress?
Erik [9:18:58 AM]: They aren't supported due to the way our web server is configured. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Colleen [9:19:48 AM]: When will you allow this service? I'm on the WordPress forum and they are promoting your company. Don't you guys want to keep WordPress users as your
customers?
Erik [9:21:31 AM]: We have not plans as far as I'm aware to start allowing them. I'm not going to argue with you over whether or not we want wordpress customers.
Colleen [9:22:19 AM]: It isn't an argument. I was asking you when the service would be allowed. I have a right to ask, considering I have paid you for a year's worth of service and you advertise WordPress as a product you support.
Erik [9:23:18 AM]: Is there anything else I can help you with today Colleen?
Colleen [9:23:28 AM]: Can I speak to your supervisor please?
Erik [9:24:11 AM]: They do not take chats. You'd have to call in if you'd like to speak with a supervisor.
Colleen [9:24:28 AM]: What's the number and are they open right now?
Erik [9:25:07 AM]: it's the standard support number and yes we're here 24 hours. 888-401-4678
Colleen [9:25:10 AM]: By the way, I'm going to post your rude "customer service" chat on the WordPress forum so other people will be warned about wasting their money on your services when you call it argumentive.
Erik [9:27:56 AM]: I apologize for anything I said that could be viewed as rude. Do you have anything else I can help you with?
Colleen [9:28:30 AM]: Yes, I would like you to put it on your web site in clear wording that you do not support WordPress MU.
[9:29:02 AM]: And whom should I tell Bluehost you are? Do you have an employee ID?
Erik [9:29:27 AM]: Erik from chat will identify me.
Colleen [9:29:50 AM]: And what about the wording to warn MU users that BlueHost does not support it?
Erik [9:31:08 AM]: Technically it's the customers responsibility to find out which scripts are supported on the server by checking the server requirements and then comparing them to our hosting service. However I will let my superiors know that is a great inconvenience.
Colleen [9:31:56 AM]: A great inconvenience? Most of us probably go to your autoscript installation service, and don't realize you don't allow subdomains.
[9:32:36 AM]: There are people in the WordPress forum trying to figure out a solution to the subdomain. Can you refer me to a better hosting company?
Erik [9:33:21 AM]: You can try hostmonster.com I hear good things about them.
Colleen [9:33:33 AM]: Thank you
[9:33:38 AM]: Have a good day.

Erik hung up. I called back and got Chad.

Chad [9:36:34 AM]: Hello. Welcome to our real-time live chat. Please have your domain, password, and a detailed description of your problem; please note that I am chatting with several other customers as well, so my responses may be delayed.
Colleen [9:37:45 AM]: Hi Chad, what do I do when one of your tech support people are rude to me, and I've already paid for a year's worth of service, only to find you guys don't support WordPress MU version?
Chad [9:39:11 AM]: Hello I'm sorry to hear that, what's the tech's name and I will check his chat logs later. I apologize but we do not support Wordpress MU entirely. There are a few functions, such as Dynamic DNS and dynamic database and user creation that is not permitted on our systems. If that's a problem, you're welcome to request a refund by contacting billing@bluehost.com or calling our Billing department at 1-888-401-4678, toll-free.
Colleen [9:40:02 AM]: His name is Erik, and I'm sending his entire chat to billing. I want my money back so I can get a new host company.
[9:40:27 AM]: Can I paste what MU needs and you tell me where to go from here, even if it's to say that's not going to happen with BlueHost?
Chad [9:42:25 AM]: OK, billing won't be able to do anything about Erik ,he's my responsbility, but I'll go ahead and take that into account when I do my weekly review. As for the system requirements, I cannot--Wordpress MU is not a Bluehost supported software, so I am not 100% familiar with all it's needs; You can check with the developer of the software here; http://mu.wordpress.org/faq/
Colleen [9:43:44 AM]: It isn't going to do me any good for you to do anything about Erik right now. I have paid a year's worth of service for nothing. I have a Sheriff's office site that I was setting up, as well as three other companies. Two of which are hosted right now. I've moved all my domains to your DNS.
Chad [9:45:04 AM]: OK Colleen, what do you need help with then? We do not support the software you wish to use, and if doing anything about Erik doesn't help either, I am not sure how to proceed.
Colleen [9:45:21 AM]: How do I get my money back?
Chad [9:45:37 AM]: you're welcome to request a refund by contacting billing@bluehost.com or calling our Billing department at 1-888-401-4678, toll-free.
Colleen [9:46:01 AM]: Okay, thank you. I'll let WordPress users know to remove the BlueHost logo from their site.
Chad [9:46:11 AM]: You're welcome--But you're mistaken in that.
Colleen [9:46:16 AM]: How so?
Chad [9:46:19 AM]: We support Wordpress; Wordpress MU is totally different software.
[9:46:36 AM]: It uses a few core things with Worpress, but it is an extension and different software from Wordpress blogging tools.
Colleen [9:46:42 AM]: If you don't support WordPress MU, why should your logo remain? People want to upgrade their WordPress...like me.
[9:46:55 AM]: It's only fair to warn them not to use BlueHost if you don't support it.
Chad [9:47:04 AM]: OK. Feel free to do so.
[9:47:07 AM]: anything else for today?
Colleen [9:47:14 AM]: That's all.
[9:47:16 AM]: Thank you

"Most of us probably go to your autoscript installation service, and don't realize you don't allow subdomains."

Their auto script installs the *single* User* WordPress. WordPressMU is *always* referred to as MU.

The bluehost recommendation is on the single WordPress portion of the site, not here in the MU section.

He even told you MU was different.

I understand that andrea_r. That's not the point. The point is I already paid for a year's worth and there was nothing to tell me that MU was not supported.

I realize MU is different. I simply asked when the service would be added, since I already paid for the hosting. He comes back with a reply that that's arguing?

There was nothing to tell me MU was not supported.

It is too bad you didn't check around the forums here since there are hundreds of threads on Bluehost. Sorry to hear about your situation since they are not recommended for WPMU for other reasons up and above the subdomains issue. The main reason is that WPMU is server software and not recommended to run on shared hosting as it is server resource intensive. I personally made the mistake of trying WPMU on bluehost 3 or 4 years ago and ran into the same issue as you.

Trent

I contacted hostgator.com as a possible solution to BlueHost situation. Does anyone use them, and if so, what are the pros and cons?

They said they support MU.

Thanks Trent. I regret that too. Now I'm checking and doing my homework. Lesson learned. *grin*

hostgator & dreamhost both support MU.

That being said, they are still shared, and MU can outgrow that pretty quickly.

What do you mean by outgrowing it? Do you mean by the number of sub-blogs I add?

Who REALLY supports MU the way it should be?

"Who REALLY supports MU the way it should be?"

Dedicated, or at a bare minimum a VPS to start out.

Some shared hosts may support it for a little while with a few low traffic blogs, but that quickly ceases with a few dozen blogs.

Dreamhost included. They may not catch it right away, but they will catch it and turn your site off.

The number of blogs isn't a good way to figure it out. If you had a handful of popular blogs, that would do it to. It's all about the processing.

if you plan on having a site of any size, shared ain't gonna cut it. If you're testing it out, maybe - but if you're setting up clients on it? Get a VPS at the very least.

Only one of my blogs might be considered a "problem child" to a hosting company, simply because it's a political/litigation blog that is getting the attention of the Pentagon, House and Senate. The rest of the blogs are just common blogs with sub-domains.

andrea, got any suggestions of who can host a dedicated domain that will allow several other dedicated domains under one main account?

You've just described what any reseller account will do. On a VPS or dedicated, you have have hundreds of domains.

futurehosting.biz is a VPS place I use.

LOL... I just looked at futurehosting. They're a Washington D.C. hosting company. Um...no. I get enough from that area of the country.

hostgator said they'll host WordPress MU blogs on a dedicated IP for an additional $2 per domain.

With hostgator shared hosting you are limited to 25 simultaneous processes running. I hit this limit with one fairly busy site and one normal blog. So don't be surprised once you get busy you start getting 500 internal server errors on pages that work fine most of the time when you check them. It is because too many processes are running at the same time.

That's a sign you need to upgrade or move to a VPS.