Migrating static bilingual site to WP multisite

  • RCCM

    (@rccm)


    11 years, 2 months ago

    Hello,

    I am considering the migrate of my current html-static website into a multisite WordPress but many questions raise.

    My website has the current characteristics:
    – bilingual: one french and one english version of each article sharing common images
    – english only for one specific and separate section of the website
    – one unique graphic theme for all (except header for the specific site)
    – no social interaction (no comments, no likes etc) and I don’t want these features in the future
    – hosted by a provider (if that matters)
    – one unique person to admin and publish (me, myself and I)

    As far as I could read and test using the WP.com free service (thanks!), this would turn into one multisite installation (using subdirectories):
    – EN site
    – FR site
    – specific separate site
    – shared content (images, or medias as per WP naming)

    The above would actually represent the directory structure on my server, the root hosting a isolated custom index page allowing the users to choose their preferred language and redirect them to the selected language site.

    Now, the “WP-core” questions:
    1. is WP suited for what I need?
    2. is the overall above multisite structure correct?
    3. will this structure be movable in case I need to change the server?

    Next, the “WP-theme” related questions:
    My current website is static and I want it to remain like this, including its graphical aspect, but I also need to turn it into responsive (currently, it is responsive as a stone). I understand this will require to seriously review the writing (=content) of my articles. Currently I am using pure static html (wrapped into php to ease some aspects): no need for security updates, only updates are content updates. Also, I consider the lesser “extra”, the better because I think an extra is a potential security breach: change “extra” by anything like “plugin” or “top-cool-feature”.
    I understand a CMS works very differently: it is mainly made to ease the content creation by users, making most of the coding process “automatic”. Which is great, and which is part of why I am considering moving to a CMS actually.
    But this means a CMS needs regular updates (security, features, etc), which consequently means changes to the theme. Which is a problem for me.

    So, concrete questions:
    1. based upon the above multisite architecture I imagined, is it possible to use the same theme layout for the FR/EN site and an alternative (header change) for the 3rd?
    2. what about WP-core updates and theme durability in time?
    3. are the default WP themes durable over core version updates?
    4. is there such thing as a “table of contents” in themes?

    Sorry for the long message: I tried to be exhaustive in my explanations and questions.

    Thanks in advance for your advices.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Axel13

    (@axel13)

    11 years, 2 months ago

    Hello RCCM,

    1. Sure, except that content in a multisite is not shared by default. You could use the URL of course, or a plugin like network shared media.

    2. While you can (I think, but did not try it), you do not need multisite to create a multilingual website.

    3. It’s movable, some hosts will move it for you, but it’s not as movable as a HTML website. You need to move both the files and the database.

    —

    1. Yes, there are multiple ways to achieve this. Some themes allow headers to change on a per page / site basis. Else you can look for a plugin to achieve this.

    2. For security reasons, it’s highly recommended to always keep WordPress + themes + plugins up to date. To make sure you do not lose changes to your theme, you can make changes in a child theme, or you can use a plugin to add CSS.

    3. Most themes will not break when WP updates. Best pick one that gets updated regularly.

    4. Not sure what kind of table of contents you mean, but if you can think of something that is not yet possible with WordPress (somehow), you have great imagination.

    I’d recommend to give it a try, see how far you get and when you’re stuck, come back to the forum for help. It’s easier when questions are more specific. GL!

    Thread Starter RCCM

    (@rccm)

    11 years, 1 month ago

    Hi Axel

    Thanks a lot for your reply!
    I still have to study and perform tests in order to sort things between what I need, how I need it and what it possible with WP (that seems pretty unlimited actually).
    The one thing that worries me a lot is WP’s versatility highly relies on third party plugins. By definition, I do not trust plugins/features that are not part of the core software. As the core changes, plugins may or may not change too, not necessarly at the same speed (the network shared media plugin you mentionned is the perfect example since it is currently compatible up to 4.0.1 version only: 4 months and 2 versions old already).

    Anyway, your answers help a lot. I will study this carefully and re-orient some of my initial thoughts.

    Thank you

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist

    11 years, 1 month ago

    By definition, I do not trust plugins/features that are not part of the core software

    Then your life on WordPress will suck. There’s no way around that. We live by the Plugins.

    I personally would not use Network Shared Media, but not because it says it’s “currently compatible up to 4.0.1 version only” – That’s not something to really be concerned about. Sharing media is complicated and messy.

    WPML and qTranslate (and ztranslate) all work on Single Site. I would lean that way.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

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