Title: How do subdomains work?
Last modified: August 24, 2016

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# How do subdomains work?

 *  [andoru1](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andoru1/)
 * (@andoru1)
 * [11 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-do-subdomains-work/)
 * 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/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/polylang/)

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

 *  Plugin Author [Chouby](https://wordpress.org/support/users/chouby/)
 * (@chouby)
 * [11 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-do-subdomains-work/#post-6126521)
 * 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/](https://polylang.wordpress.com/documentation/setting-up-a-wordpress-multilingual-site-with-polylang/settings/)
 *  Thread Starter [andoru1](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andoru1/)
 * (@andoru1)
 * [11 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-do-subdomains-work/#post-6126537)
 * 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](https://wordpress.org/support/users/yoroshi/)
 * (@yoroshi)
 * [11 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-do-subdomains-work/#post-6126570)
 * 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](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andoru1/)
 * (@andoru1)
 * [11 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-do-subdomains-work/#post-6126572)
 * > 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](https://wordpress.org/support/users/chouby/)
 * (@chouby)
 * [11 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-do-subdomains-work/#post-6126575)
 * > 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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## Tags

 * [language](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/language/)
 * [subdomain](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/subdomain/)

 * 5 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [Chouby](https://wordpress.org/support/users/chouby/)
 * Last activity: [11 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-do-subdomains-work/#post-6126575)
 * Status: not resolved