WordPress:WordPress MU
WordPress MU, or WordPressµ, is the multi-user version of the famous WordPress blogging application. It is ideal for people who want to set up a large network of blogs. Please see forums at MU.WordPress for discussion.
WordPress MU is the underlying software that powers the WordPress.com hosted blogging service. WordPress MU is also used by newspapers, magazines, blog networks, universities and large companies running corporate blogging systems behind firewalls.
Using the WordPress multi-user edition, you will be able offer your users an opportunity to sign up for a new blog. They will be able to securely manage their templates and settings without affecting any other users. You can have unlimited users with unlimited blogs, and users can have various roles (admin, editor, author, contributor, subscriber) on each other's blogs. One or more Site Administrators can perform site-wide management tasks, including adding users and blogs, altering permissions and granting access to themes.
Features
WordPress MU is a unique WordPress product. Plugins and themes are controlled by a central system administrator. So unlike the single-user version of WordPress, individual MU bloggers cannot upload their own plugins and themes, only select from the ones made available by the system administrator. Individual themes can be made available to all blogs or just to specific ones.
Host Benefits
- Ability to create a hosted "community" of users.
- Ability to host thousands of users on one site.
- Opportunity to provide free hosting as an alternative to paid hosting services.
- Ability to limit sign-up to specific email domains if required.
- Various options for adding plugins and administration features.
- Customization of the administration panels.
- Ability to add WordPress Themes, increasing user choices.
- Ability to control WordPress Themes, limiting user choices per site needs.
- Security precautions and protections in place.
- Easy addition of comment spam protection through plugins.
User Benefits
While WordPressMU users are blogging with a limited version of WordPress, and currently are able to choose from a list of included WordPress Themes and have little customization, there are still a lot of benefits.
- No installation or setup. Enter user name and password and blog.
- A chance to test drive WordPress at little or no risk.
- Choose WordPress Themes that have been tested and are ready for use - no fuss, no muss.
- Part of a community, with potential for community relationships through competition and awareness.
- Comment spam protection built-in.
WordPress MU is designed for hosts to offer hosting of WordPress blogs to individual users. The full version of WordPress is still free and available for download, and it is designed to offer full customization for the single or multi-user blogs and/or multiple blogs by a single administrator.
Support and Installation
WordPress:Installing WPMU has some documentation on installing.
For support and information on installing and using WordPress MU, visit the WordPress MU website and support forum. A WordPress MU system is more complex to maintain than a single-user WordPress system, so timid or casual user beware.
If you are a WordPress MU user click on the Feedback button in your Dashboard. Some help may be found within the WordPress Codex in the articles listed in the next section or in Donncha's FAQ.
- There are some special WordPress:WPMU Plugins and not all WP plugins work with WPMU, see WordPress:WPMU Plugin Compatibility
- Not all themes work with WPMU, see WordPress:WPMU Theme Compatibility
- WordPress:WPMUDEV.org is a repository for uploading special WPMU related contributions
- There are WordPress:WPMU Functions and WordPress:WPMU Global Variables that should use to interact with WPMU's multiuser features
- There are some special WordPress:WPMU Widgets in development
- The code can be checked out from the WordPress:WPMU SVN Repository. Don't ask for check-in rights - like WordPress, WPMU is closed for contributions. Instead please submit your contributions to the WordPress:WPMU Trac as a ticket.
- If you don't want to submit a change to the core, you can share a WordPress:WPMU Hack here on Codex.
There is the WordPress:WPMU IRC Channel for real time help and chat.
This link returns recent changes to WPMU Related Codex pages.
Support Articles for WordPressMU Users
The following is a list of documentation on the WordPress Codex that may help answer your questions about posting, creating categories and WordPress:Pages, and managing your WordPress blog on WordPressMU.
For answers to specific questions on WordPress MU, check out the WordPress MU Support Forum.
To report bugs, see the WordPress:Debugging WPMU guidelines
WordPress:WPMU Adoption Articles pulls together some threads useful for gaining traction on your WPMU site.
WordPress:WPMU FAQs lists various FAQ sources.
For answers to specific questions about using Wordpress.com, visit the WordPress.com FAQ and the Wordpress.com Support Forums.
- First Steps With WordPress
- Introduction to Blogging
- First Steps With WordPress
- WordPress Semantics - Learning the Jargon and Terminology of WordPress
- Writing Posts in WordPress
- HTML to XHTML - Learning the Difference
- Understanding Pseudo-Static Pages in WordPress
- Understanding WordPress Feeds
- How to Write Code in WordPress Posts
- Blog by Email
- WordPress Administration Panels (core content is the same - the look is a little different)
- Podcasting With WordPress
- Linking to WordPress Posts, Pages, and Categories
- Using Smilies in WordPress
- Understanding WordPress Admin Discussion Options for Comments
- Using WordPress Links Manager - The Blogroll
- WordPress Current Events Information
- Finding More WordPress Help and Tips
Other Helpful Resources
- WordPressMU specific plugins and themes
- WordPress MU plugins themes and news
- WordPressMU tutorials and how-to articles
- Using WordPress MU to Power Multiple Blogs at DevLounge (13DEC07)
- Wordpress MU Plugin and Hack
- Attention WordPress Theme Designers and Authors - Designing WordPress Themes for WordPressMU
- Choosing a WordPress Theme
- Lorelle's WordPress Tips and Techniques
- WordPress.com and Blogging Tips, Tricks, Themes, and Plugins
- New to WordPress.com - Tips to Get Started Fast
- Everyman's Guide to WordPress.Com "installation" - Step-by-step guide to setting up a WordPress.com blog
- Step-by-step guide to redirect a WordPress.com blog
- WordPress Mu Magyar Információs oldal (Hungarian)