How do subdomains work?

andoru1
(@andoru1)

11 years ago

So I’ve set up a WordPress site which I would want to make it available in 3 languages, and I’ve made a subdomain for each of them, so the structure of the site is as follows:

mysite.tld/index.html -> a language selector page I made
en.mysite.tld -> the english version of the site
de.mysite.tld -> german translated version of the site (currently it’s just a subdomain pointing at an empty folder)
fr.mysite.tld -> french translated version of the site (currently it’s just a subdomain pointing at an empty folder)

So far I’ve tried to set up Polylang, and made sure each language points to the right URL, but when I visit the german and french subdomains, all I get is a blank page.
So my question is, how exactly can I make the other two languages work?
The FAQ just mentions that this is possible, but doesn’t mention any details on how it can be done. I’ve also searched these forums and only found two relevant posts, one from 2 years ago where somebody mentioned that this feature isn’t implemented, and another where somebody pointed out that it depends on the host or something of the like without further details.
So can anyone let me know what exactly needs to be done in order for this to work? Do I have to make multiple installations of WordPress, one for each subdomain? Or could it be done with just one installation to avoid bloat?

https://wordpress.org/plugins/polylang/

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

Plugin Author Chouby
(@chouby)

11 years ago

Hi!

de.mysite.tld -> german translated version of the site (currently it’s just a subdomain pointing at an empty folder)
fr.mysite.tld -> french translated version of the site (currently it’s just a subdomain pointing at an empty folder)

So far I’ve tried to set up Polylang, and made sure each language points to the right URL, but when I visit the german and french subdomains, all I get is a blank page.

This is expected if your subdomains point to an empty folder.
As stated in the doc, all your subdomains must point to the WordPress directory. https://polylang.wordpress.com/documentation/setting-up-a-wordpress-multilingual-site-with-polylang/settings/

Thread Starter andoru1
(@andoru1)

11 years ago

I don’t have the possibility to change the folder the subdomain points to. Is there any other way, or could you recommend another plugin that could help me in this case?

yoroshi
(@yoroshi)

11 years ago

Thank you Chouby for supporting your users. I had had the same issue like andoru1 before but when I pointed by your advice my subdomain to the same folder as my WordPress site all is working fine now.

I tried earlier to configure DNS adresses of my domain, e.g. by adding new pointer to it with en. at the beginning, but it didn’t works.

I don’t have the possibility to change the folder the subdomain points to.

I haven’t the same choice as you because hosting company does not giving me an option to modyfying virtual hosts adresses but the best way I found is to delete all subdomains and create new one.

Thread Starter andoru1
(@andoru1)

11 years ago

I haven’t the same choice as you because hosting company does not giving me an option to modyfying virtual hosts adresses but the best way I found is to delete all subdomains and create new one.

I tried that, but I really don’t have any choice to which folder any of the created subdomains point to. All I get is a folder with the same name as the subdomain (so for example de.mysite.tld makes a folder named “de”)

Plugin Author Chouby
(@chouby)

11 years ago

Is there any other way, or could you recommend another plugin that could help me in this case?

No plugin will help you. If your subdomain doesn’t point to your WordPress install, WordPress is not even loaded.

I don’t have the possibility to change the folder the subdomain points to.

You should ask support to your host provider to sort out this. If you can’t choose the directory your subdomain is pointing to, then move away as you wouldn’t be able to have different subdomains managed by a single WordPress install.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

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