Learn how to create a multisite grid in WordPress from within your site's control panel

Perhaps you once tried creating a free blog from a site or company that provides its users with a free blog creation service for the purposes of blogging and publishing content. These sites build what is called a network of multiple websites, where a large network of sites is created by installing their content management system only once! In this article, you will learn how to create a website network through the WordPress system, based on the current WordPress installation that you are using on your site.

This way, you will not have to install a new version of WordPress every time you want to create a sub-site from the main site. Creating a multi-site network using WordPress When you need to create a number of sites that differ from each other in their specializations and way of working, and you want to manage them, manage their content, and everything related to them from within only one WordPress control panel, then this article will be perfectly suitable for you. In this article, you will learn how to create a subsite network from just one main WordPress installation, after which you can create an unlimited number of subsites that can be managed and controlled from within the control panel of the main WordPress site.

Also, when you create a large network of WordPress sites, you can then manage each site separately, as a separate manager can be appointed for each of the sites within this network. Also, if your site network contains 10 sites, for example, then you can install an add-on only once to work on these 10 sites together through the control panel of the main WordPress site. You can also update WordPress on all sites within the network at once by updating the main installation of WordPress, as all sub-sites within the network follow the main installation.

Certainly, when you own a network of WordPress sites, it is possible that you will encounter some problems, such as slow loading of all sites within the network if one site receives a large number of visits at the same time. This is because all sites share the same resources allocated to them by the hosting company, but this problem can be overcome by obtaining strong hosting with sufficient resources. There are other problems related to multi-site, which are that server resources, although they are consumed if there is a high rate of visits to one of the sites on the network, in return, they decrease on the other hand because we only need to install one WordPress, and it is known that WordPress requires a large amount of resources on the server. Also among the most prominent negatives is the presence of some plugins that do not support the feature of working on multiple sites, and the inability of individual site managers to install or uninstall plugins and templates, and the matter is limited to the main manager, which limits the power of sub-site administrators. Also, the occurrence of an attack or hack on the data of the main site’s server or a failure of the main server will affect all sub-sites.

What hosting is suitable for creating a WordPress website network? Of course, there is no specific hosting that is suitable for the WordPress network. It depends on the good resources and strong capabilities that the hosting company provides you.

Regardless of the company you deal with to obtain hosting, it is important that you obtain strong hosting in order to withstand the amount of visits that will enter each site in the network of sites, which may become very large and complex. We note here the exclusion of small and limited hosting, such as shared hosting, which provides limited resources and may not handle the amount of data and visits that occur within the site’s network, and can only be relied upon if you are creating a network consisting of two sites, for example, and each site receives a small number of visits. If you are planning to create a large network that contains a large number of sub-sites, we advise you to read the guide that we relied on in the criteria for choosing the best reliable hosting company.

Creating a WordPress site network from within the main WordPress installation Before we begin the practical explanation of creating a multi-site network, we must note that we assume in this paragraph that you have already installed WordPress, and if you have not done this step, you can use the article on how to install WordPress correctly before starting. Then, activate the WordPress multisite network system feature, through the hosting control panel (Cpanel), and then enter the file manager: After entering the file manager, enter the WordPress installation folder, inside which you will find a large group of files, including a file called “wp-config.php.” Click on this file with the right mouse button, and choose the “Edit” command to open the page for editing this file. Paste the following code into it: /* Multisite */ define('WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE', true); As shown in the previous image, after pasting the code like this into the file, click the Save changes button to save the changes, and then the WordPress multi-site network system will be activated within the main WordPress site that you are using. Then go to the WordPress control panel < اختر أدوات < تهيئة الشبكة : ملحوظة: تبويبة “تهيئة الشبكة” ظهر بعدما قمت بإضافة الكود السابق، ولم يكن هذا الخيار موجودا سابقًا في لوحة التحكم.

When you enter the “Network Configuration” tab, which is the tab for setting up and configuring the WordPress multisite network, you will notice that a notification appears telling you that you must disable active plugins on the site in order for you to start creating your own site network. So now head to the WordPress control panel < ثم إضافات، ثم قم بتعطيل كافة الإضافات النشطة لكي تتمكن من إنشاء شبكة المواقع، وبعد إنشاء الشبكة يمكنك القيام بتفعيل الإضافات من جديد على موقعك. بعد القيام بتعطيل الإضافات في موقعك، يمكنك الآن التوجه إلى تبويب “ تهيئة الشبكة ” لتجد أنه يفتح أمامك صفحة الإعدادات الخاصة بالشبكة التي تريد إنشائها، والتي تحتوي على 4 إعدادات أساسية يجب أن تقوم بتحديدها كالتالي: إذا قمت باختيار” النطاقات الفرعية ” فهذا سيجعل رابط الموقع الفرعي في الشبكة يكون على شكل نطاق فرعي مثل blog.example.com إذا قمت باختيار “ المسارات الفرعية ” فهذا سيجعل رابط الموقع الفرعي في الشبكة يكون على شكل مجلد فرعي أي بشكل مسار داخل الرابط مثل example.com/blog1 عنوان الشبكة: وهو العنوان الذي سيظهر لك في لوحة التحكم باسم شبكة المواقع الخاصة بك.

Network Administrator’s Email: In this field, you can write the email of the site network manager (Super Admin), who will have all powers over all sites within the site network. After filling in the previous data, click on the “Install” button to begin the installation process, and after a few seconds the following page will open for you: As you can see in the image above, you must add the first code (1) inside the wp-config.php file, and you must also add the second code (2) inside the htaccess file. To do this, you must enter the hosting’s Cpanel control panel, enter the file manager as we explained in the previous paragraphs of the article, then paste the codes into the mentioned files, and finally save those files.

Then, after you have added each code to its respective file as we explained, you can update the WordPress control panel page, and you will notice the appearance of a new tab titled “Network Management” within the WordPress control panel as shown in the following image: Thus, you have already succeeded in creating a multi-site WordPress network, which you can now manage, create sub-sites within, and fully control it as we explain to you in the following paragraphs. Managing the WordPress network of sites, controlling sub-sites, and customizing their appearance. At this step, we have created a multi-site WordPress network, which we can control and create many sub-sites under, and even allow members or visitors to the site to create their own personal sites or blogs. In the following paragraphs, we will review some important tools that help you customize, configure, and manage your network of websites.

1. Controlling site network settings Before you create subsites, or allow members to create their own subsites under the main installation of WordPress, you must first review the general settings of your site network, and make sure that the settings are completed the way you want. To control the settings of the subsite network, you can go to the “Network Management” tab and then enter the “Settings” tab: When you enter the settings page for the site network, you will notice that there are a large number of tools and options through which you can control the site network and customize it exactly the way you want. As shown in the following images: Network address: In this field, you write an address for your network of sites to distinguish it.

E-mail: In this field, you enter the e-mail designated for managing the entire network of sites. Registration settings: In this section, you can specify whether you want to allow members to register and create sub-sites for them under your network of sites, or not allow them by activating the option “Registration is disabled” to prevent people from registering and creating sub-sites for them. In this case, only you can create sub-sites within the network. Registration notification: When you activate this option, an email notification will be sent to the site administrator every time someone registers and creates a new subsite within the network.

Adding new users: You can activate this option when you want to give sub-site owners the authority to add other members and moderators within their sub-sites, but they will not be able to add admins to the main site that is controlled by the network administrator only. 6. Prohibited names: In this field you can write names that members will not be able to use in the addresses of subsites that they create within the network.

7. Allowed mail cards: Here you can specify only the email domain names that are allowed to be registered, for example: gmail.com or yahoo.com 8. Banned Postcards: Here you can specify domain names that cannot be used to register on the site.

9. Website owners welcome message: This is a message that appears to owners of new sub-sites within the network after they create a new sub-site in the network. 10. Allocated upload space: Here you can specify the maximum size of total files allowed to be uploaded to sub-sites within the network.

11. Types of files allowed to be uploaded: Here you can specify the types of files that sub-site managers are allowed to upload within their sites. 12.

Maximum upload file size: You can specify the maximum size of a single file uploaded within the subsite. 13. Default language: You can choose the default language for any new subsite created within the site network.

14. Allowed admin lists: You can activate the “Add-ons” option to allow sub-site administrators to turn on or disable add-ons within their sites. 2.

Create a new subsite within the WordPress site network. In the previous paragraphs, we created and configured a site network within the same current WordPress installation on the site, and we adjusted its settings. In this paragraph, you will learn how to create the first sub-site in the site network, which you can create and customize as you wish. You can also add managers to manage the sub-site only without the ability to control the main site. To create a new subsite within the site network, you can go to the “Network Management” tab, then go to “Sites”: When you enter the Sites tab, a page will open for you containing all the subsites belonging to the network. Certainly, in the beginning, there will not be any subsites, and you will see only one site, which is the main WordPress site: To create a new subsite within the network, you can click on the “Add New” button to open the page for creating a new subsite within the WordPress site network: On the Create a new subsite page that appears at the top, you will find 4 fields. You must fill it out to create the new subsite within the network, which is as follows: Site address: In this field, you write the name of the URL path on which the new site will be installed. For example, you can write site1. In this case, the site’s URL will be as follows: example.com/site1.

Site name: In this field, the curator must write the name or address of the new subsite. Site language: Through this drop-down menu, you can select the default language for the new site. Manager Email: Enter the email of the primary administrator for the new site in this field, and you can later assign other managers or moderators.

After filling out all the information, you can click on the “Add Site” button to publish the new site within the network. This is how the site will look when you visit it, and it will certainly be simple at first. You can change the template and start customizing it however you want, as we will explain later in the article: Now you can enter the “Sites” tab within the network of sites and you will notice the presence of the new site: As you can see in the previous image, there is a link called “Edit” below the name of the new site. You can click on it to open the site editing page, which contains several tabs through which you can modify all the basic information related to this site: The picture above shows you the new subsite editing page within the network, which contains the “Members” tab, which is used to add members or managers to the new subsite.

When you enter this tab, the Add Members page appears to add a new member or manager to the subsite, by filling in the data shown as follows: Username: This is the username of the new member, and it can also be used to log him in to the site. Email: This is the email designated for the new member and can also be used to log in to the site. Rank: Through this drop-down list, you can choose the rank of the new member, and if you want him to be in full control of the subsite, you can choose the rank “Manager.”

After filling out all the data, you can click on the “Add a new member” button, and an automatic message will be sent to this member’s email in which he can log in to the new site’s control panel. 3. Set the default template for sub-sites within the network. As we mentioned previously, the main administrator of the basic WordPress is the person who is able to control the templates and add-ons for all sub-sites that are created within the network of sites. In order to set the default template for sub-sites within the network, you can go to the “Network Management” tab. < ” قوالب” عند فتح تبويب القوالب ستفتح لك صفحة تحتوي على كافة القوالب التي توجد داخل موقعك: كما تشاهد بالصورة السابقة، يمكنك القيام برفع قالب جديد لتعيينه كقالب افتراضي للمواقع الفرعية أو الاختيار من القوالب الحالية المتاحة داخل الووردبريس، وكما تلاحظ أسفل كل قالب تجد مربع اختيار باسم “ تمكين الشبكة ” عند تفعيله سيتم تمكين هذا القالب لاستخدامه على المواقع الفرعية بالشبكة.

You will also find a check box named “Disable in the network” when the template has already been enabled in the network previously and you want to disable it and delete it from sites within the network. Keeping in mind that clicking on the “Enable Network” checkbox for any template is not sufficient alone to set the template on the new subsites, but you must also add the following code within the Config.php file to set any template as a default theme for sites in the WordPress network: // Setting default theme for new sites define( 'WP_DEFAULT_THEME', 'theme name' ); Of course, in the previous code, you must replace “theme name” with the name of the actual template that you want to set as the default template for the website. Thus, you have comprehensively and practically learned how to create a multi-site network using only one main installation of WordPress. Through this method, you can create many sites with just a few clicks.

You can also add and assign people to manage subsites within the main network. And control the templates that run on the website network, and other tools that you can use to set up and customize the website network however you want, as we explained in the article. Leave your comment below the article about how much you benefited, and if you have any questions about the explanation application or some things that were not clear to you.