How to Set Up a WordPress Multisite Network

A WordPress Multisite network lets you run several WordPress sites from a single WordPress installation, with one set of core files and one dashboard to manage them all. It's useful if you run more than one website for example separate sites for different branches, campaigns, or language versions and want to update WordPress core once instead of many times.

Before You Begin

• Multisite only works on a brand-new or very lightly customized WordPress install. Converting a site with many plugins already running is riskier.
• Take a full backup of your files and database first. Enabling multisite changes your database structure and is not easily reversed.
• Decide whether your network's sites will use subdomains (site1.yourdomain.com) or subdirectories (yourdomain.com/site1). Subdomains need an extra DNS record, covered below.

Enabling multisite is a one-way step for your database. Don't attempt it on a live, business-critical site without a tested backup in hand.

How to Enable Multisite

1. Open your site's files using File Manager (or an FTP client) and find wp-config.php in your site's root folder.
2. Edit the file and add this line just above the line that says /* That's all, stop editing! */:
   define('WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE', true);
3. Save the file, then log in to your WordPress Admin dashboard and go to Tools, then Network Setup.
4. Choose Sub-domains or Sub-directories for your network, enter a network title, and click Install.
5. WordPress will show you a block of code to add to wp-config.php and another to add to .htaccess. Copy each block into the matching file exactly as shown.
6. Log out of WordPress and log back in. You'll now see a My Sites menu and a Network Admin dashboard.

If You Chose Sub-domains

A subdomain-based network needs a wildcard DNS record (*.yourdomain.com) pointing to your hosting account, so that any new site you create on the network resolves automatically. See our guide on wildcard DNS records for how to add one.

Adding Sites to Your Network

1. From the Network Admin dashboard, go to Sites, then Add New.
2. Enter the address for the new site (a subdomain or subdirectory, depending on your network type), a title, and an admin email address.
3. Click Add Site. The new site is created instantly and appears in your network's site list.

Managing Plugins and Themes Across the Network

From Network Admin, you can install a plugin or theme once and either leave it available for individual site admins to activate, or Network Activate it so it runs on every site automatically. Updates to core, plugins, and themes only need to be applied once from the network dashboard, rather than on each site separately.

Not every plugin is written to work safely across a network. Check a plugin's description for "multisite compatible" before activating it network-wide, and test on one site first if you're unsure.

If you decide multisite isn't the right fit, note that there's no simple one-click way to turn it back into a single site; restoring your pre-multisite backup is the most reliable way to undo it.