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   1  WordPress Multi User
   2  --------------------
   3  
   4  WordPress MU is a multi user version of WordPress.
   5  
   6  If you're not comfortable editing PHP code, taking care of a complex
   7  webserver and database system and being pro-active about following
   8  developments of this project then run, don't walk, to 
   9  http://wordpress.com/ and sign yourself and your friends up to free blogs.
  10  It's easier in the long run and you'll save yourself a lot of pain
  11  and angst.
  12  
  13  
  14  Install
  15  =======
  16  1. Download and unzip the WordPress MU package, if you haven't already.
  17     The unzipped files will be created in a directory named "wordpressmu"
  18     followed by a version number.
  19  2. Create a database for WordPress MU on your web server, as well as a 
  20     MySQL user who has all privileges for accessing and modifying it.
  21  3. Unzip to an empty folder, either in the main directory, or in a
  22     subdirectory. If you want subdomain blogs, you must use the root of
  23     your site.
  24  4. Make sure your install directory and the wp-contents directory are
  25     writeable by the webserver.
  26  5. Run the WordPress MU installation script by accessing index.php
  27     in your favorite web browser.
  28     * If you installed WordPress MU in the root directory, you should 
  29       visit: http://example.com/index.php
  30     * If you installed WordPress MU in its own subdirectory called 
  31       blogs, for example, you should visit: http://example.com/blogs/index.php 
  32  (Adapted from http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress)
  33  
  34  If you're upgrading, skip to the end of this document.
  35  
  36  
  37  Apache
  38  ======
  39  Apache must be configured so that mod_rewrite works. Here are 
  40  instructions for Apache 2. Apache 1.3 is very similar.
  41  
  42  1. Make sure a line like the following appears in your httpd.conf
  43  LoadModule rewrite_module /usr/lib/apache2/modules/mod_rewrite.so
  44  
  45  2. In the <Directory> directive of your virtual host, look for this
  46  line
  47  "AllowOverride None"
  48  and change it to
  49  "AllowOverride FileInfo Options"
  50  
  51  3. In the <VirtualHost> section of the config file for your host there
  52  will be a line defining the hostname. You need to add the following 
  53  if you want virtual hosts to work properly:
  54  "ServerAlias *.domain.tld"
  55  Replace domain.tld with whatever your one is, and remove the quotes.
  56  
  57  
  58  DNS
  59  ===
  60  If you want to host blogs of the form http://blog.domain.tld/ where 
  61  domain.tld is the domain name of your machine then you must add a 
  62  wildcard record to your DNS records.
  63  This usually means adding a "*" hostname record pointing at your 
  64  webserver in your DNS configuration tool.
  65  Matt has a more detailed explanation:
  66  http://ma.tt/2003/10/10/wildcard-dns-and-sub-domains/
  67  
  68  
  69  PHP
  70  ===
  71  1. Don't display error messages to the browser. This is almost always
  72  turned off but sometimes when you're testing you turn this on and forget
  73  to reset it.
  74  
  75  2. If your PHP is compiled with memory limit checks, the default is 8MB
  76  which is much too small. You should increase this to at least 32MB or 64MB
  77  to avoid PHP out of memory errors. Look for "memory_limit" in your php.ini
  78  file.
  79  
  80  3. GLOBAL variables must be turned off. This is one of the first things
  81  any security aware admin will do. These days the default is for it to
  82  be off!
  83  
  84  The easiest way of configuring it is via the .htaccess file that is
  85  created during the install. If you haven't installed WPMU yet then edit
  86  the file htaccess.dist in this directory and add these two lines at the
  87  top:
  88  
  89  php_flag register_globals 0
  90  php_flag display_errors 0
  91  
  92  This is NOT included in that file by default because it doesn't work on
  93  all machines. If it doesn't work on your machine, you'll get a cryptic
  94  "500 internal error" after you install WPMU. To remove the offending lines
  95  just edit the file ".htaccess" in your install directory and you'll see
  96  them at the top. Delete and save the file again.
  97  Read here for how to enable this: http://ie.php.net/configuration.changes
  98  
  99  If you don't want to edit your .htaccess file then you need to change your
 100  php.ini. It's beyond the scope of this README to know exactly where it is
 101  on your machine, but if you're on a shared hosted server you probably
 102  don't have access to it as it requires root or administrator privileges
 103  to change.
 104  
 105  If you do have root access, try "locate php.ini" or check in:
 106  
 107  /etc/php4/apache2/php.ini
 108  /usr/local/lib/php.ini
 109  
 110  Once you have opened your php.ini, look for the sections related to 
 111  register_globals and display_errors. Make sure both are Off like so:
 112  
 113  display_errors = Off
 114  register_globals = Off
 115  
 116  You'll have to restart Apache after you modify your php.ini for the 
 117  settings to be updated.
 118  
 119  4. If you want to restrict blog signups, set the restrict domain email 
 120  setting in the admin.
 121  
 122  ERROR LOGGING
 123  =============
 124  If you are developing a site based on WPMU it is recommended that you
 125  turn on PHP error logging. Look in your php.ini for the section marked
 126  "Error handling and logging" where you can configure it.
 127  
 128  Mysql database errors are logged to the PHP error log if enabled or it
 129  can also send error reports to a file of your choice. After installing,
 130  edit wp-config.php and define a constant, "ERRORLOGFILE", pointing at
 131  your MySQL error log. This file must be writeable by your webserver.
 132  Please don't log to a file visible by your webserver or people may 
 133  figure out they can download it.
 134  Example definition:
 135  define( "ERRORLOGFILE", "/tmp/mysql.log" );
 136  
 137  
 138  UPGRADING
 139  =========
 140  Please see this page for instructions on upgrading your install:
 141  http://codex.wordpress.org/Upgrading_WPMU
 142  
 143  
 144  PERFORMANCE
 145  ===========
 146  WordPress MU has a caching framework which allows third party developers
 147  to create cache engines that improve performance. 
 148  There are two types of caching plugins available for WordPress. 
 149  
 150  1. Object Cache.
 151  These work by storing commonly accessed data in a rapid access storage
 152  container such as RAM or directly on the filesystem. 
 153  To install these plugins copy them into your wp-content folder.
 154  Memcached: http://dev.wp-plugins.org/browser/memcached/trunk/
 155  
 156  2. Full page cache. 
 157  These work by storing complete web pages and are generally faster than 
 158  object cache plugins at the expense of less flexibility. On a busy
 159  WordPress MU site these may in fact slow down your server due to 
 160  limitations in how the cached files are stored. Clearing out the cached
 161  files on a regular basis will alleviate this problem. YMMV.
 162  WP Super Cache: http://ocaoimh.ie/wp-super-cache/
 163  
 164  
 165  SPAM
 166  ====
 167  On WordPress MU sites spam signups can be a major problem. Akismet (http://akismet.com/)
 168  protects against spam comments but the following will help defeat
 169  spammers using automated scripts to create blogs:
 170  http://ocaoimh.ie/cookies-for-comments/
 171  http://wordpress-plugins.feifei.us/hashcash/
 172  http://www.darcynorman.net/2009/05/20/stopping-spamblog-registration-in-wordpress-multiuser/
 173  
 174  
 175  Support Forum and Bug Reports
 176  =============================
 177  Please read http://codex.wordpress.org/Debugging_WPMU before
 178  asking any questions. Without all the information required there
 179  we'll just ask for it anyway or worse, your request will be ignored.
 180  
 181  http://mu.wordpress.org/forums/
 182  
 183  Trac is our bug tracking system. Again, please read the above link
 184  before submitting a bug report.
 185  http://trac.mu.wordpress.org/report/1
 186  
 187  You can login to both sites using your wordpress.org username and
 188  password.
 189  
 190  Links
 191  =====
 192  1. Download Page
 193  The latest version of WordPress MU is available at http://mu.wordpress.org/download/
 194  
 195  2. Plugins
 196  Many WordPress plugins and almost all themes work fine in MU. The best 
 197  place to look for them is the WordPress Plugin Directory at 
 198  http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/
 199  The "WordPress MU" and "WPMU" tags list plugins made specifically for MU:
 200  http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tags/wordpressmu
 201  http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tags/wpmu
 202  
 203  3. Themes
 204  The only site you should download WordPress themes from is the
 205  Themes Directory at http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/
 206  If you download themes from other sites, please make sure they don't contain
 207  sponsored links that would put your site at risk of being banned by Google.
 208  
 209  4. News
 210  http://ocaoimh.ie/category/wordpress/
 211  http://planet.wordpress.org/
 212  http://mu.wordpress.org/forums/