WordPress MU

I've searched high and low for a solution without success. I'm hoping someone has the answer to what I feel should be a common problem.

I register a user to a non-public blog from my WP MU admin. Once that user is logged in s/he can read any blog set up within WP MU. I want to register users for a blog and prohibit them from visiting other blogs in the system. So each blog restricts access to its own users.

I don't understand the purpose of registering users at a blog level if they can access any blog in the system. If that's how MU functions, you'd think users would be managed at the admin level?

In any case I would LOVE for anyone to help me understand how to restrict users to the blogs for which they are registered. Thanks a million in advance to anyone who can help.

Normally, anyone on the Internet can read any blog set-up in Mu. My understanding of the private/public setting is just whether or not the user wants the blog listed in search engines, not whether they are available for others to read.

Unless I'm misunderstanding, it sounds like you want a private blog set-up where no one can read the blogs except for the blog owner?

You register users at the blog level for many things like being able to contribute to the blog in one of the roles (contributor, editor, admin, etc.) that is available. They can also comment as registered users.

Steve

"I don't understand the purpose of registering users at a blog level if they can access any blog in the system. If that's how MU functions, you'd think users would be managed at the admin level?"

They are managed at the site_admin level. The reason is, as a user, they are them logged in everywhere and when leaving comments to many sub-blogs, still have their info (including avatar) follow them. For a blog farm this makes perfect sense.

The default privacy options only leave the blog out of serch engines and public listings. If someone knows the blog address *anyone* can access it.

So you are looking to tweak MU a little further than it is built for. I do have some suggestions though, if you're looking for that level of privacy.

Get a further privacy-options plugin:
http://wpmudevorg.wordpress.com/project/More-Privacy-Options
bump up the blog to "show only to registered users"
Then a user has to be logged in even to *see* the blog in question.

Get *another* privacy plugin on top of that.
http://fortes.com/projects/wordpress/postlevels/
(Note: I haven't tested this plugin in MU.)

Assing the specific users to that specific blog. (By default, a new user is assign to the main blog so they have a profile page.) Bump up their level to be able to read the posts.

*whew*

Yeah, lot of work, but but default anything on the Internet isn't really all that private and you're deviating from default behaviour for MU.

HTH