If you’ve been running your website on WordPress CMS, there’s a chance you might look for multiple sites. If your websites have common features, you might wish for an efficient way to run them with a single install? WordPress Multisite is the perfect technique offering functionality to create a network on your single WordPress installation, allowing the creation of multiple sites. In this blog post, we will discuss everything to know to install WordPress Multisite and to leverage its benefits.

What is WordPress Multisite?

WordPress Multisite helps to add multiple sites to your WordPress installation. This feature has become a key element of WordPress website development among business enterprises to reduce operational cost. The feature can be added to either your existing or newly-designed website. To activate this feature, a few lines of code are added to a couple of files in your WordPress installation. Next, you create websites in your network. The existing website remains as it is, with its URL unchanged, while the new websites are added on top.

How WordPress Multisite is different from WordPress Installation?

• The user roles.
• The higher number of individual sites.
• Access to themes and plugins.
• The Multisite adds screens to manage the network.
• The Multisite adds extra folders for uploads to every individual site.
• The Multisite creates extra database tables for each site.

What are the benefits of WordPress Multisite?

1. Efficient Coding

Running multiple sites on one network helps to reduce coding work. No matter how many sites you want to run, there’s only one set of core WordPress files is required. A single copy of each theme and plugin is needed. This clearly reveals that the network consumes less server space than running a separate installation for every site. This method saves you money on hosting and the time required for code maintenance.

2. Smooth Development

If you’re building websites with custom themes, you need a core theme to start development. This could be a framework theme, a simple parent theme, or a starter theme. But with the Multisite feature for WordPress website development, you can install the theme once, use it as a parent theme for the themes activated on individual websites, and save yourself time. This is particularly beneficial if your websites will have common design elements. If you’re building websites for different divisions, simply create a parent theme with common design and layout elements. Next, design and activate a child theme for each website.

3. Proficient Management

The best thing about WordPress Multisite network update is the efficiency & low cost in comparison to doing the same for different WordPress installations. The themes & plugins need to be updated once, regardless of how many websites they’re active on. Testing is highly crucial when a theme or plugin is implemented on different websites, as you’ll need to see its functionality on all the relevant sites. Kinsta’s staging environment can be implemented to test updates on your staging network and then make it live when you’re happy everything is perfect.

Key Parameters for WordPress Multisite Implementation

1. Work with a Professional WordPress Developer

We advise that you hire or consult an experienced WordPress developer who is an expert in WordPress Multisites implementation. If the multisite network scales, it is important to keep an eye on the number of server resources acquired, as well as the maintenance of the database. It’s completely fine as long as you are positive, and it helps to work with a professional who can assist you through the scaling phase of your multisite.

2. Pick a Good Hosting Provider

For successful WordPress Multisite implementation, it’s quite important to use a secure hosting provider. Select a hosting provider who already supports multiple features of multisite. Look for customer reviews, portfolios, and work styles before making a selection. A hosting provider with a great track record in hosting multisite will simply boost the likelihood of overall success for your projects.

We hope this information makes it simpler for you to identify if multisite is perfect for you.

Wrapping Up:

The multisite functionality offers numerous benefits as discussed earlier, especially for large enterprises having similar websites with different user bases. In addition to that, several aspects of this feature-rich platform can be further expanded using plugins that can be installed on all websites simultaneously. As long as admin does not exceed it by overpowering the system with unnecessary elements, this setup can end-up in a tightly integrated network managed via a single dashboard. If you have questions about your specific multisite configuration, we’d be glad to help.

This article is contributed by Abha Reddy, senior website developer at WordPressindia – WordPress Development Company