Title: Multisite with subdomains Last modified: August 20, 2016 --- # Multisite with subdomains * [jeffcherry](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeffcherry/) * (@jeffcherry) * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/) * OKay, I have been at this for a week now and reading through the various suppoort posts and still cannot figure out how to make what I want to do work… The goal… I need to have a WP main site that I develop as the base main site. I then need to have subdomain sites for each unique community group of users that I can make each private to their respective sub sites. So for instance I have mydomain.com as the main site then users1.mydomain.com, users2.mydomain.com, etc. I wanted to use Multisite since all the sites will have the same plugin’s and theme to ease management. I have installed multisite, have the main site working fine and the network/site menu and such but I have been told the hosting company does not support wildcard subdomains even though they told me they did at first. They suggested I make a subdomain in the DNS zone file then use .htaccess to redirect to the main site. I have done this and created the subdomain site in WP but I still cannot get the subdomain site to work. What am I missing? I have WP 3.4 installed. * Thanks for any assistance. Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 16 total) 1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/page/2/?output_format=md) [→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/page/2/?output_format=md) * Thread Starter [jeffcherry](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeffcherry/) * (@jeffcherry) * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/#post-2848326) * my hosting company does not support wildcard subdomains or allow you to change the path on subdomains that you create… ugh… * As I think this redirect they told me to do likely does not do the trick I need since it just sends the subdomain to the main site and nothing more… unless I am missing something… * Anyone using a hosting company with Multisite/Network that does support wildcard subdomains and work well? * Moderator [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ipstenu/) * (@ipstenu) * 🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/#post-2848446) * Yeah the redirect won’t work. * We don’t get into hosting recommendations here for a variety of reasons (primary is they become spam-fodder). There are some sites listed here: [http://wordpress.org/hosting/](http://wordpress.org/hosting/) which I can neither recommend you use or avoid. Generally I ask my friends what they use (or look at people’s sites as they often have a link to their host). * Thread Starter [jeffcherry](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeffcherry/) * (@jeffcherry) * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/#post-2848452) * Thanks… I told them the redirect was useless… I will check out that link. * If I cannot use wildcard subdomains and cannot change the path of created subdomains then is there anyway around that to make multisite work? That was the only two ways I saw as solutions in the forums. * Does anyone have multisite working in the manner I am trying to do and does it work okay? I just don’t want to spend even more time moving to another host and setting it all up again to find out this multisite does not work well. * I am wondering now if I should just bail and stick to mulitple installs and just deal with the admin overhead… * Thanks again at any help and advise… * Moderator [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ipstenu/) * (@ipstenu) * 🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/#post-2848454) * Use the subfolder install instead of subdomains? * So you get domain.com/subsite etc etc. * If you’ve had your site for more than a month, it’ll bleat at you about how it’ll‘ break’ your links, but really you can still force it. * Your mainsite links _will_ change to domain.com/blog/postname, but if you have an easily regexable URL string (like domain.com/year/postname), a simple .htaccess redirect will transparently adjust your visitors. * Thread Starter [jeffcherry](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeffcherry/) * (@jeffcherry) * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/#post-2848456) * This is a brand new site under development so no big deal trashing and starting new if needed… I am however running out of time and need to get it launched. * I was trying to stay away from the subfolder option… for what I am trying to do I prefer the subdomain… I guess I just have to find a host that suppoorts it. From reading the forums here all the hosts suck so it should be interesting to find one. * Thanks again. * Moderator [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ipstenu/) * (@ipstenu) * 🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/#post-2848460) * *heh* Yeah, keep in mind the posts people put up are generally skewed towards dissatisfaction 😉 * Thread Starter [jeffcherry](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeffcherry/) * (@jeffcherry) * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/#post-2848482) * Before I go through all the trouble of moving all of my hosting… * Can you confirm that Multisite does work well on the proper hosting and it will do this… I am trying to have a network of sites similar to wordpress.com or like what yammer.com does… I have a base site with all the plugin’s and setup then for each community of users I give them their own subdoamin site which they can create their own private content and collaborate among just their members after they register and login. So my main site, mydomain.com is the base and then each community would get their site as community1.mydomain.com, community2. mydomain.com, etc… I will create the sites for them and set it up intially instead of letting them create the sub sites on demand. * Thanks again for the help and advise… * Moderator [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ipstenu/) * (@ipstenu) * 🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/#post-2848484) * Yep 🙂 That’s pretty much exactly what WP Multisite is and does! 😀 * The plugins and themes are installed on the network, and can be activated for all sites (or just some). * Thread Starter [jeffcherry](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeffcherry/) * (@jeffcherry) * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/#post-2848486) * Cool thanks… off to move all my hosting somewhere that will do the subdomain things… it is going to be a long week. * Moderator [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ipstenu/) * (@ipstenu) * 🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/#post-2848489) * FWIW, we’re not allowed to give you hosting recommendations (turns into spam + he said/she said things). * I will point out that my sites are running Multisite as you describe (sites for me, my wife, my grandmother and my brother… and my nephew, but he’s a month old, so mostly thats for the rest of us to go ‘awwwww!’). I made the sites for them 😉 So I know that it can and does work just like that. * There are some nice Multisite how-to guides out there. * Thread Starter [jeffcherry](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeffcherry/) * (@jeffcherry) * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/#post-2848491) * Thanks… the support from an un-named host said I could use either their shared or VPS hosting to do this and that they allowed it to work on either… would you do one over the other? Of course the VPS is 4 times the cost monthly though… * Moderator [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ipstenu/) * (@ipstenu) * 🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/#post-2848494) * I use a VPS but then again I’ve got 2 multisites, 2 large (busy) single installs, 2 massive forums, 3 add-ons (yourls etc). I needed the extra oomph 😉 * I’d start with shared, in general, if they say they support subdomains there. You can always upgrade. * Thread Starter [jeffcherry](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeffcherry/) * (@jeffcherry) * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/#post-2848495) * Yeah, that is what I am in the process of doing… thanks again for the advise.. * [MoveForwardMedia](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moveforwardmedia/) * (@moveforwardmedia) * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/#post-2848537) * OK, this thread is intriguing to me in that I am not certain if MU is what I need or not. * I am developing a network of site and want the bones of each site to be the same, by bones I mean the plugins, themes, some graphics (minus the header) and some content. * Is MU the thing I need? * I plan on having each subsite (is that right?) the landing for masked domains… so how they display is not so important too me but I am curious to know if a MU install will do the trick without having to build a couple hundred sites? * Thanks so much for any input, insights or direction. * Moderator [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ipstenu/) * (@ipstenu) * 🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/#post-2848540) * MoveForwardMedia – That depends (and you should probably make your own topic, since it’s not quite the same thing as jeffycherry’s) * You can map multiple domains to one subsite on a network, but only one domain will be ‘primary.’ But … yes, you can do that. * If you need more help, do make your own topic 😀 Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 16 total) 1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/page/2/?output_format=md) [→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/page/2/?output_format=md) The topic ‘Multisite with subdomains’ is closed to new replies. * In: [Networking WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/multisite/) * 16 replies * 3 participants * Last reply from: [MoveForwardMedia](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moveforwardmedia/) * Last activity: [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multisite-with-subdomains/page/2/#post-2848543) * Status: not resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics