Merged 3 Installs into Multisite but Unable to Share Userbase

  • Resolved superbear

    (@superbear)


    11 years, 3 months ago

    I think I’ve turned a relatively simple task into a nightmare, and after days of trying to find answers on here and elsewhere, really could use some help.

    Briefly, I was developing 3 separate WP website installs with 3 MySQL databases (www.example.com, major.example.com and minor.example.com). Just before launch I realized that users who register on a domain are not recognized on another. This meant I would have a massive fragmentation of user data.

    After a lot of searching on here and discussion with Godaddy support, I decided to merge the 3 installs to Multisite on the understanding that the userbase would become shared across domains, thus resolving the fragmentation issue.

    Unfortunately, it appears I have the exact same problem with Multisite!

    To my chagrin, I have just discovered that there was an alternative solution:
    Merging the 3 databases into one,
    Modifying wp-config:
    define(‘CUSTOM_USER_TABLE’, $table_prefix.’my_users’);
    define(‘CUSTOM_USER_META_TABLE’, $table_prefix.’my_usermeta’);
    and installing WP-Orphange Plugin.

    My question is this:
    Can I use the above solution with Multisite now, or do I need to revert to 3 individual installs and then apply the fix?

    I would be ever so grateful for a response as this has become a real nightmare and I desperately want to get my websites up after 3 months development.

    Thank you 🙂

Viewing 11 replies - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • ndsailor

    (@ndsailor)

    11 years, 3 months ago

    Not sure about this as I’ve only toyed around with multi-site a couple times, never tried to take an install live…

    That said, I think you may have got some bad advice from GoDaddy, or perhaps hadn’t yet found this…http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/multisite-user-management/

    Or here’s another paid option that doesn’t require multi-site… http://premium.wpmudev.org/project/wordpress-user-synchronization/

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist

    11 years, 3 months ago

    After a lot of searching on here and discussion with Godaddy support, I decided to merge the 3 installs to Multisite on the understanding that the userbase would become shared across domains, thus resolving the fragmentation issue.

    Actually … yes. The userbase is shared across the sites. When you import all the data, you bring the users over, and everything’s shared. Now the users may not be members of the other sites, but that’s not the same as not being on the same network.

    Thread Starter superbear

    (@superbear)

    11 years, 3 months ago

    Hi ndsailor,
    I’ve looked at the Multisite User Management plugin and tried it now. I installed it from the Network Admin/Plugins panel and did the following:

    1) Registered a new user with a registration form (Formidable Pro) on the www domain.
    Logged in as Admin, I can see the new user in “Users” on the www domain Dashboard/Users, and also in the Network Admin/Users list.
    I cannot see the new user in either of the subdomain Dashboard/Users.

    2) Manually added a new user on a subdomain. I can see the new user on the subdomain Dashboard/Users, but not in the Network Admin/Users list, nor on the www domain or other subdomain Dashboard/Users lists.

    So, it looks as though the userbase is still not being “shared” across the network 🙁

    Thread Starter superbear

    (@superbear)

    11 years, 3 months ago

    Hi Ipstenu,

    Sorry, I don’t really understand your response.

    1) What is the difference between a member and a user across the network? Not that I have a membership program or member database on any of the sites.

    2) Are you saying that by “importing data” I can only have one MySQL database for all 3 websites?

    3) Does my response to ndsailor above better help to illustrate what I am trying to achieve?

    4) Interestingly, I after runing the Multisite User Management plugin tests mentioned above, I disabled the plugin and then disabled All New Registrations in the Network Admin Settings panel, but was still able to register a new user using the registrations form (Formidable Pro) on the www domain. This suggests to me that there may be a disconnect between Network admin and the various sites, which could explain the userbase not being shared?

    Ongoing Thanks 🙂

    ndsailor

    (@ndsailor)

    11 years, 3 months ago

    I’ve never used the plugin, I just know that it exists and it felt like a solution to your problem.

    If I were you I’d start from a fresh install and start testing because I think a MU set-up with the plugin is designed to do what you want. Best guess culprits…

    1) Formidable does something a little outside the normal Wordprss process that prevents MU plugin from functioning…

    2) A Corrupted Install from playing with to many different ideas, plugins etc — perhaps the previous User Table hack

    3)Some Core/Basic WordPress control that you’re missing somewhere… I’ve lost hours searching for control that I had somehow overlooked in the Settings Menus.

    Good Luck. I don’t think there’s more I can offer here, but would love hearing about the solution you come to.

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist

    11 years, 3 months ago

    1) What is the difference between a member and a user across the network? Not that I have a membership program or member database on any of the sites.

    User – Users live in wp_users and wp_usermeta and those tables are shared across the entire network of sites.

    Members – A user who was added with a specific role to a site on the network

    2) Are you saying that by “importing data” I can only have one MySQL database for all 3 websites?

    Yes, that’s how Multisite works. One instance of WP, one DB, multiple tables 🙂

    3) Does my response to ndsailor above better help to illustrate what I am trying to achieve?

    Yes, but you’re using Multisite wrong if you’re making separate DBs per site. Multisite has ONE database, and ONE user table. Anything else ain’t right (or is a split DB, and you’re not ready for that yet).

    4) Interestingly, I after runing the Multisite User Management plugin tests mentioned above, I disabled the plugin and then disabled All New Registrations in the Network Admin Settings panel, but was still able to register a new user using the registrations form (Formidable Pro) on the www domain. This suggests to me that there may be a disconnect between Network admin and the various sites, which could explain the userbase not being shared?

    Yes, and it goes back to you’re doing it wrong.

    1. Install WP
    2. Activate Multisite
    3. Build out a site
    4. Import content and users via the WordPress export/import utility
    5. Repeat till done
    6. Beer

    🙂 That’s IT. I do it almost every day now.

    Thread Starter superbear

    (@superbear)

    11 years, 3 months ago

    Hi Ipstenu,

    Everything you say makes sense and explains the “anomalies” I’ve experienced. Although it’s been a painful learning curve, better now than further down the line, I suppose!

    I’ll follow your six point plan and, hopefully, get this thing finished without any further ado.

    I’ll post here again when I’ve resolved it, or add further questions if I get stuck 😉

    Many Thanks for your help and advice.

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist

    11 years, 3 months ago

    And tell us what drink you decide on! 😀

    Thread Starter superbear

    (@superbear)

    11 years, 3 months ago

    Ipstenu,
    I can see that it’s going to be a triple G&T (steady on the tonic!) Just having fun with my DNS settings at the moment. Getting an Internal Server Error when trying to access Dashbord for the 2 original subdomains, although, I was able to create a wildcard subdomain without any problems. So went to the server and removed the 2 subdomains from the hosted domains settings…

    … Think I’ll start on that G&T while I wait for the new settings to be recognised… Hic!

    I’ll keep you posted 🙂

    Thread Starter superbear

    (@superbear)

    11 years, 3 months ago

    Dear oh dear! This is a very painful process and no doubt I’ve done something wrong again 🙁

    I followed these instructions to the letter, including Create A Network etc., http://codex.wordpress.org/Migrating_Multiple_Blogs_into_WordPress_3.0_Multisite

    Everything looked promising and I was having “fun” until I discovered how much plugin data was missing after the imports. So, now having to do the dreaded manual rebuild of all that data. Fortunately, I have a development copy locally, but still a mountain of settings and missing files to wade through.

    I think that drink will have to be a bottle of Jack Daniels by the time I get finished!

    Here I go…

    Thread Starter superbear

    (@superbear)

    11 years, 3 months ago

    8 hours later and the deed is done!

    I now have a fully functioning WordPress Network running my www domain and 2 subdomains, with all users shared across the network. Yay!

    The lesson for an inexperienced (but keen to learn) entrepreneur like myself is: ASK MORE QUESTIONS on this forum, because the answers ARE out there, providing you ask about your specific issue(s).

    I also recommend checking the plugins you are using BEFORE the WXR export and find out if the developer has a method for moving data between installs (I forgot to do that too! Lol).

    Anyway, all’s well that ends well. A BIG Thank you to Ipstenu for the advice and liquid motivation. It always helps 😉

    Good luck everyone 🙂

Viewing 11 replies - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
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