Your Guide to Using WordPress Multisite
There are various ways your organisation can establish and manage multiple websites, but using a solution like WordPress Multisite is generally the smartest way to go.
Mark Perry is a Digital Project Manager at Itineris, dedicated to fostering strong client relationships and driving success through innovative digital solutions. With a focus on clear communication and collaboration, he ensures every project aligns with client goals, delivering exceptional results and creating long-term value for all stakeholders.
The name “Multisite” is pretty straightforward, and so is the idea behind: you manage multiple websites from a single WordPress dashboard.
Although it’s a straightforward idea, there are various considerations to make when planning a Multisite setup.
Here’s what you need to know about applying Multisite to your organisation and why we think it’s a smart choice for a large digital presence.
What is WordPress Multisite?
WordPress Multisite is a feature that lets you run multiple websites from a single WordPress installation. Instead of managing each website separately, you can control them all from one central dashboard.
Pretty straightforward.
This is particularly useful for businesses, organisations, or universities that need to manage several websites under one system. For example, you might have separate sites for different branches, departments, or regions.
With Multisite, you can create and manage these sites easily. Each site can have its own unique domain, subdomain, or subdirectory, depending on your setup.
Despite sharing the same WordPress core, each site can have its own themes, plugins, and users. Think of it as a tree, with each site branching off of the main trunk. They’re connected, but separate.
Setting up Multisite requires you to enable the feature in your WordPress files, but once it’s active, you gain a powerful tool to simplify website management. This is something you can do with WordPress VIP too (we’ll cover how below).
Overall, it saves time, reduces hassle, and ensures consistency across all your sites.
Why Use WordPress Multisite?
WordPress Multisite is an excellent solution if your organisation manages multiple websites. Here are some of the main reasons to use it.
Easy Website Management
With Multisite, you can manage all your websites from a single dashboard. No need to log in to each site separately.
Updates to themes and plugins can be applied across all sites at once, which saves a lot of time and effort.
If your organisation is a large group with multiple location sites, you’ll likely want each site to be unique while having them all share certain elements – like branding and certain pages. With Multisite, this is simple to set up and control.
Cost-Effective
All the sites in a Multisite network share the same WordPress installation. This reduces costs for hosting, plugins, and themes compared to managing each site individually.
Especially if you have a substantial network of websites, you’ll save by using Multisite.
Scalable
Multisite makes it easy to grow.
You can add new websites quickly without needing separate installations. So, as you take on new locations or expand your brand, scaling up your digital presence becomes a lot easier. This is particularly valuable for enterprise-level sites.
It’s perfect for businesses with multiple locations or projects that often require new sites.
Improved Security
Super admins can control updates and permissions across the network. This gives you better security control by keeping everything consistent and up to date.
What this provides is greater security over your entire network of sites, instead of having to individually control security measures for a whole fleet of websites. If you do the latter, you could easily miss out on updates or skip certain security protocols for some websites.
Overall, with Multisite, security is far more consistent and seamless to control.
Streamlined User Access
Users only need one login to access all their assigned sites. This means admins can easily manage permissions and user roles, simplifying collaboration.
Imagine the alternative, where you have to manage users across a whole network of disconnected sites. From roles to password management, things can get very messy very fast.
Consistent Branding
Multisite lets you maintain a consistent design and structure across all your websites. Changes to branding or layouts can be applied network-wide, ensuring consistency while still allowing for site-specific customisation.
Without this, you could quickly see brand discrepancies take place across your site network – as different users apply their own branding elements.
Better Control
One of the main advantages of Multisite is that you get a far clearer picture of what goes on across your website network.
Super admins have full control over the network, while individual site admins can manage their specific sites. This balance ensures efficient management without risking the integrity of the entire network.
“Itineris are a fantastic agency to work with. They take the time to really understand your organisation’s goals, and ways of working and they consistently deliver work that is really considered but also challenges you to think bigger and go further than you might have done without them.”
Key Features of WordPress Multisite
WordPress Multisite isn’t much different from running a single WordPress website. Really, it’s just a matter of having more websites under a single WordPress dashboard.
Here are the features that make this possible.
Single Installation, Multiple Websites
As we’ve already covered, with Multisite, you can run a network of websites using one WordPress setup.
These websites can exist as subdomains (eg, blog.example.com), subdirectories (eg, example.com/blog), or even as entirely separate domains.
Centralised Control with Super Admins
A Super Admin has overarching control of the entire network.
They manage who can create sites, install themes and plugins, and make them available across the network. This makes it easy to maintain consistency.
Underneath the Super Admin are the various other levels of WordPress admin, which the Super Admin can assign and control.
Customisation for Individual Sites
Each site on the network can be customised to suit specific needs.
This includes having different themes, settings, and even plugins. Site admins can manage their individual site’s content and settings while the Super Admin oversees the whole network.
Simplified Theme and Plugin Management
Super Admins can install and update themes and plugins once and share them across the network. This saves time and ensures all sites remain consistent and up-to-date.
With Multisite, you can apply plugins and themes to all websites across your network, or you can assign them individually.
Super Admins can control content and plugins network-wide, but individual site admins also have the freedom to enable or disable plugins and decide what content to display on their specific site.
Multi-Region or Multi-Language Networks
Multisite is ideal for creating regional or language-specific websites. This is one of the main use-cases of WordPress Multisite for large organisations.
Each site can cater to different audiences with localised content, currencies, and languages, while still being part of the same network. This makes it far easier to keep your website, content, and brand consistent, while still personalising each site to each geographic audience.
When Would You Use WordPress Multisite?
Here are a few specific scenarios where Multisite is necessary.
Managing Multiple Locations or Branches
If your organisation operates in multiple locations, you might need separate websites for each branch.
For example, a chain of restaurants, retail stores, or regional offices can use Multisite to manage these sites centrally while tailoring each one to its local audience.
Educational Institutions
Universities, colleges, or schools often need individual sites for departments, faculties, or campuses. Multisite allows them to standardise branding and functionality while giving departments the ability to manage their own content.
Franchises or Networks
Franchises benefit from consistent branding and design across all sites.
Each franchisee can still manage their specific website, but the central team retains control over overall updates and features.
Large-Scale Content Projects
Media outlets, blogs, or news organisations that run multiple sites (eg, different publications, languages, or content categories) can use Multisite to streamline management while keeping sites distinct.
Language-Specific Websites
Multisite is ideal for organisation that need to offer their site in multiple languages but want each language version to function as an independent website with its own URL structure.
For example, you could have a global membership body with a presence across multiple countries. Each site in the network can be customised for local SEO, language, and accessibility requirements, while maintaining a consistent brand identity.
Event or Campaign Microsites
If your organisation regularly creates microsites for events, campaigns, or special projects, Multisite allows you to spin up new sites quickly and manage them efficiently.
These sites remain part of your main digital presence, and are easy to keep up to date.
Testing and Development Environments
Multisite is also useful for developers creating sandbox environments. You can test different themes, plugins, or configurations without separate installations.
When to Avoid WordPress Multisite
While Multisite has its major benefits, it obviously isn’t necessary for a single website or a small number of unrelated sites.
It also requires careful management since updates and issues can affect all sites in the network. This means you need to have clearly defined admin roles, with your network;’s Super dmin being particularly tuned into your organisations digital presence.
But for the right use cases, it’s an excellent choice to simplify and scale your operations. To understand this in more detail, let’s break down the pros and cons of using WordPress Multisite.
Pros
Centralised Management: Manage multiple websites from one dashboard. Perfect for organisations with many sites under one umbrella, like international e-commerce stores or educational institutions.
Flexible Admin Roles: You can assign a different admin for each website. This keeps responsibilities separate while still allowing central control.
Streamlined Updates: Themes, plugins, and WordPress updates can be installed once and applied across the whole network. This saves time and ensures consistency.
Efficient Resource Use: Since all websites share the same installation, it’s easier to maintain than managing multiple separate installations.
Cons
Shared Resources: If one site experiences high traffic or technical issues, it can slow down or affect all other sites in the network.
Vulnerability to Hacks: If one site gets hacked, the entire network can be compromised.
Plugin and Hosting Limitations: Not all plugins are Multisite-compatible. Additionally, not all hosting providers support Multisite, so you may need to upgrade your hosting plan or change providers.
Technical Challenges: Managing server resources and traffic spikes can be tricky, especially for beginners.
Network Downtime: If the network goes down, all the sites in the network will go offline too.
Requirements and Considerations for WordPress Multisite
Setting up WordPress Multisite is relatively straightforward. However, you’ll need to meet certain technical requirements.
Here’s what you need to get started.
Suitable Web Hosting
Most importantly, you’ll need to have a hosting provider that supports Multisite.
Shared hosting could work for small networks with low traffic, but for larger or high-traffic networks, you’ll need VPS hosting or a dedicated server. A high quality hosting environment really can’t be overlooked, as multiple sites come with greater traffic and performance demands.
Importantly, you’ll also need to make sure your hosting can scale with your network’s growth.
Your hosting plan should also support multiple domains if you plan to use them.
A WordPress Installation
Needless to say, you’ll need a functioning WordPress installation. If you already have one, back it up before enabling Multisite.
FTP Access
Access to your site’s files via FTP is essential. You should know how to edit files using an FTP client.
Pretty Permalinks
Permalinks must be set to a user-friendly structure, such as https://example.com/my-page. Avoid using default URLs like https://example.com/?p=123.
Deactivate Plugins
Before enabling Multisite, deactivate all active plugins to prevent conflicts during setup. Otherwise, your new network of WordPress sites can get messy.
Basic Technical Knowledge
You don’t need to be an expert to manage WordPress Multisite, but understanding how to install WordPress and edit files will obviously make the process easier.
However, there’s a lot of responsibility involved in managing an entire network of websites. Unlike managing a single site, one mistake on the network can cause a far greater issue to your organisation’s digital presence.
This is why working with WordPress experts is so important.
Using WordPress Multisite With WordPress VIP
WordPress VIP provides the ideal platform for managing enterprise websites, and combining it with WordPress Multisite unlocks even more possibilities.
With WordPress VIP, the advantages of Multisite are enhanced by enterprise-grade performance, security, and scalability – all essential features for a network of websites.
As we’ve established, one of the key benefits of Multisite is the ability to maintain a large network of sites under centralised control. WordPress VIP further streamlines this process by offering a highly optimised infrastructure and a shared GitHub code repository for efficient deployments.
It’s a perfect solution for global organisations with multiple regional sites or multilingual setups, as it simplifies workflows while ensuring each site meets local needs.
However, running WordPress Multisite with WordPress VIP does require careful consideration.
Not all plugins and themes are compatible with Multisite, and using VIP-approved options is essential to avoid conflicts. Hosting is also critical; WordPress VIP ensures the stability and scalability needed for high-traffic environments, but some initial setup complexity and costs can be higher compared to managing single sites.
Security is a shared responsibility – while WordPress VIP provides powerful protection, any vulnerability in one site could potentially affect the entire network.
Despite these challenges, the combination of WordPress Multisite and WordPress VIP is ideal for enterprises looking to efficiently manage multiple websites with minimal overhead.
The platform’s flexibility, enhanced security, and optimised performance make it a strong choice for organisations aiming to scale and streamline their web presence.
Is WordPress Multisite Right for You?
If you’re running several connected websites and need centralised control, Multisite can save time and effort while offering a stronger web presence – it’s as simple as that.
However, it’s not the best choice if your sites need to be independent or if you’re on limited hosting resources. Make sure your hosting provider supports it and consider the technical requirements before making a decision.
Need help establishing your organisation’s WordPress presence? Get in touch.
