Configure

This section is intended for customers who have had a WordPress Multisite upstream created for them by a Pantheon employee. If you do not have a WordPress Multisite upstream, refer to the introduction page of this guide. After you create a new site on the Multisite upstream and visit the Dev environment's site URL, you should be redirected to the WordPress web-based installer.

Install WordPress Multisite Via Terminus

Make sure Terminus is installed and authenticated before you complete the steps below.

1. Set the site's connection mode to SFTP:

   terminus connection:set <site>.dev sftp

2. Use Terminus to execute the wp core multisite-install command. You can refer to the WordPress documentation for more information.

    Note

   The default behavior for this command is to create a WordPress Multisite with the subdirectory configuration. To create your network with the subdomain configuration, add the --subdomains flag.

   terminus wp <site>.<env> -- core multisite-install --title=<site-title> --admin_user=<username> --admin_email=<email>

   After you successfully install a new WordPress Multisite, a message displays that is similar to the following:

   terminus wp sitenetworks.dev -- core multisite-install --title="WordPress Multisite" --admin_user=aghost --admin_email=aghost@pantheon.io
   Admin password: abcdefgnotarealpassword
   Created single site database tables.
   Set up multisite database tables.
   Added multisite constants to 'wp-config.php'.
   Success: Network installed. Don't forget to set up rewrite rules (and a .htaccess file, if using Apache).

   The wp core multisite-install command that you ran modified the wp-config.php file. The modification sets the DOMAIN_CURRENT_SITE constant that assigns a specific URL to your WordPress Multisite which must be updated to work on Pantheon.

3. Navigate to Code in the Dev tab of your Site Dashboard.

4. Click Connect with SFTP to access the credentials for connecting to your preferred SFTP client.

5. Click Open SFTP client, and enter your password when prompted.

   If you run into issues, please refer to Pantheon's SFTP documentation.

6. Open the code folder in your SFTP client, and download your site's wp-config.php file.

7. Locate the configuration added by WP-CLI, and modify the line that sets DOMAIN_CURRENT_SITE from a hardcoded URL to a dynamic URL $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']. This automatically detects the URL in each environment. You must replace this variable. For example:

   wp-config.php

   define( 'WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE', true );
   define( 'MULTISITE', true );
   define( 'SUBDOMAIN_INSTALL', false ); // Set this to TRUE for Subdomains
   $base = '/';
   define( 'DOMAIN_CURRENT_SITE', $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] );
   define( 'PATH_CURRENT_SITE', '/' );
   define( 'SITE_ID_CURRENT_SITE', 1 );
   define( 'BLOG_ID_CURRENT_SITE', 1 );

   Refer to the wp-config-php documentation if you have an environment specific configuration.

8. Save your changes and upload the wp-config.php file to Pantheon's Dev environment.

Install WordPress Multisite Via the GUI

Complete the steps below after spinning up a new WPMS site from the correct Custom Upstream in your workspace.

1. Navigate to the WordPress Admin dashboard, select Tools, and then select Network Setup.

   

2. Select either the Sub-domains or Sub-directories option.

3. Enter the Network Title and Network Admin Email, and then click Install.

4. Finalize the installation by following steps provided from the GUI or by following the next steps.

   

5. Navigate to Code in the Dev tab of your Site Dashboard.

6. Click Connect with SFTP to access the credentials for connecting to your preferred SFTP client.

7. Click Open SFTP client, and enter your User Dashboard password when prompted.

   If you run into issues, please refer to Pantheon's SFTP documentation.

8. Open the code folder in your SFTP client, and download your site's wp-config.php file.

9. Locate the /* That's all, stop editing! Happy Pressing. */ line, and add the following code above this line to enable the WPMS configuration.

   wp-config.php

   define( 'MULTISITE', true );
   define( 'SUBDOMAIN_INSTALL', false ); // Set this to TRUE for Subdomains
   define( 'DOMAIN_CURRENT_SITE', $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] );
   define( 'PATH_CURRENT_SITE', '/' );
   define( 'SITE_ID_CURRENT_SITE', 1 );
   define( 'BLOG_ID_CURRENT_SITE', 1 );
   
   /* That's all, stop editing! Happy Pressing. */

Develop the Multisite

Congratulations on setting up your first WordPress Multisite. When you log in to the WordPress Dashboard, you'll see a My Sites menu item in the toolbar:

You will have one site and you can create another if needed. If you chose to use WordPress Multisite with subdirectories, you'll be able to access the site right away. If you chose to use subdomains, you'll need to map a custom hostname to the environment before you can access the new environment.

Explore the WordPress Network Dashboard to become familiar with the variety of additional settings. You can review the options that are available for each site you create, manage users across WordPress Multisite, and learn about the network settings. After you explore the WordPress Network Dashboard, learn how to use the WordPress Multisite with the Pantheon Workflow.

More Resources

• Environment-Specific Configuration for WordPress Sites

• WordPress Pantheon Cache Plugin Configuration

• WordPress with Composer on Pantheon