Separate WordPress installation or network

steve-cooke
(@steve-cooke)

11 years, 1 month ago

I already have a WP site running on a domain.
I recently purchased 2 new domains and they are now hosted within a shared hosting package with 1&1.
I’d like to have 2 new WordPress websites running on these 2 new domains. There will be no connection or common content between the domains.
So, question 1 is which is the best route forward: 2 more separate WP installs with separate databases or should I go for a network installation? I’m pretty inexperienced with WP so the simplest, least likely to go wrong option would be best, I think.

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

Moderator t-p
(@t-p)

11 years, 1 month ago

have a read of this codex: http://codex.wordpress.org/Create_A_Network

esmi
(@esmi)

11 years, 1 month ago

If there’s no connection between them, I’d recommend going for multiple separate installs.

Thread Starter steve-cooke
(@steve-cooke)

11 years, 1 month ago

t-p
I’ve read the ‘Create a Network’ Codex several times. I must admit that I don’t understand the difference between a Sub-domain and Sub-directory install so I’m not sure how to pick the right one.
Esmi
I might go down this route with separate installs.

If it helps, my current installation looks like: /logs, /wp-admin, /wp-content.

jakilevy
(@jakilevy)

11 years, 1 month ago

Hi Steve – administering a network will be a better fit if you’re running many sites. You’re only running 2 sites. And even at 4 sites, it’s going to be more manageable to do separate installs.

Brian Casel from CasJam Media has a nice post of when NOT to use WP Multisite : http://mashable.com/2012/07/26/beginner-guide-wordpress-multisite/

Good luck!

catacaustic
(@catacaustic)

11 years, 1 month ago

Running a network is only a good idea if all of the sites are related to each other. This is because a network installation shares the main user-base. Any user on the system is automatically set as a subscriber on every other site in the network. Depending on what your end objective is, this may or may not be a good thing, but in most cases it’s not.

Brendon Brown
(@bigb159)

11 years, 1 month ago

@jakilevy A good read, thanks. I’ve been considering moving all my separate sites to multisite setup for manageability, but that was the reality check i needed.

amda2008
(@amda2008)

11 years, 1 month ago

Since you have only 2 sites, then it would be better you try separate installation for each site.
Point the domains to separate folders and install.

Thread Starter steve-cooke
(@steve-cooke)

11 years, 1 month ago

Thanks all for your help. I’ve gone with separate installs and it seemed to go well.