How to Make and Maintain a Successful Installation of WordPress Multisite

A case study of using WordPress Multisite at the OSU Libraries.

Transcript

1. How to Make and Maintain a Successful Installation of WordPress Multisite by David Ensinger
2. About Me • Front End Developer • Formerly OSU Libraries • Currently CITYTECH
3. OHIO OHIO Welcome You
4. Outline • OSU Libraries • WordPress Multisite • Underscores Theme
5. OSU Libraries
6. Courtesy of broken thoughts | http://www.flickr.com/photos/brokenthoughts/4325451872/
7. Courtesy of broken thoughts | http://www.flickr.com/photos/brokenthoughts/4325448506/
8. Courtesy of broken thoughts | http://www.flickr.com/photos/brokenthoughts/4324703229/
9. Courtesy of broken thoughts | http://www.flickr.com/photos/brokenthoughts/4325446276/
10. The Facts • Total Enrollment: 64,077 • Library Locations: ~12 • Volumes: 7,117,102 • Special Collections: 9 • Departments: 30 • Faculty and Staff: ~ 450
11. Vision • Advance student and faculty success • Deliver distinctive content • Foster intellectual connections
12. Blogs Facts • 35 blogs • ~50 plugins • More than 400 users • 6.78% of traffic to library.osu.edu • 79,775 pageviews for the quarter ended June 30th
13. The Process
14. Focus Group • Met with half dozen site owners • Discussed their blogs • Came away with great feedback
15. Strengths • Great content • Frequent posts • Enthusiastic site admins • Support from Administration
16. Weaknesses • Infrequent posts • Under utilization of WordPress features • Poor engagement with visitors • Outdated theme
18. Goals • Use WordPress better • Upgrade theme • Integrate with Social Media
19. WordPress Multisite
21. Why Use? • Quick access to many blogs • Common plugins • Common themes • Shared users • Advanced settings • One upgrade
22. Multisite Requirements • PHP version 5.2.4 or greater • MySQL version 5.0.15 or greater • Apache mod_rewrite module (for Permalinks) • More Info: http://codex.wordpress.org/ Hosting_WordPress
23. Activate Multisite • wp-config.php: define('WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE', true); • Pick subdomain or subdirectory • site.example.com or www.example.com/ site/
24. Activate Multisite (cont.) • Add the specified lines to your wp- config.php file • Add the specified lines to your .htaccess file • More Info: http://codex.wordpress.org/ Create_A_Network
25. Sites • List all sites in network • See when a site last updated • Overview of users
26. Users • Add and edit users throughout the network • Roles and capabilities are roughly the same as single site installations • Super Admin gets some capabilities normally reserved for Admin • Tip: Assign an Admin to each site and offer both encouragement and support
27. Plugins • Activate across the whole network or specific to individual sites • Display Plugins administration menu for Admins to activate/deactivate plugins • Curate plugins and add theme support as desired
29. Favorite Plugins • Akismet • Tip: wp-config.php: define('WPCOM_API_KEY','your_api_key'); • Network Latest Posts • Network Plugin Auditor • Simple Feed Stats • Sitewide Google Analytics
30. Themes • Network Enable or Disable • Activate on a per site basis • Admins can’t activate/deactivate themes
31. Underscores
33. Underscores • A starter theme, not a parent theme • All the good stuff: templates, functions, and theme options • Passes theme-check • 1000-hour head start • More Info: http://underscores.me/
34. Goals • Responsive design • Support for post formats • Theme options • Curate plugins • Good documentation
37. Tools • HTML5 Boilerplate • Modernizr • Sass • Underscores Theme
38. Useful Plugins • Debug Bar • Developer • Log Deprecated Notices • Monster Widget • RTL Tester • Theme-Check • User Switching
41. Post Script • Blog skills more difficult to teach than expected • Few blogs have switched to new theme • No one to resume my work (yet)
42. That’s It!
43. Contact • David Ensinger • @DavidEnsinger • hello@davidensinger.com
44. Thank You • Attendees • Speakers • Organizers
45. Questions?