I'm a multisite newb and have a little Drupal experience but haven't been able to figure out how multisite works with cpanel, directories etc. If i run off a single codebase does that mean i have to use pointers to get the domains to resolve correctly? I use hostgator and have a reseller account so only have .htaccess and no httpd.conf. I want to be able to:
1. have single code base of course
2. different databases users etc. (accept maybe same admin login if possible)
but don't understand how the cpanel would need to be set up. Would I only have 1 main account then and not set up individual sites? My understanding is that this is how cpanel actually works behind the scenes but i can only access the main accounts files and not sub accounts through ssh. If I only use 1 main account, how do i set up the dns to resolve correctly for the other sites and do i even need a reseller account then?
Thanks, Any help is appreciated greatly.!
Comments
You shouldn't have to change
You shouldn't have to change the .htaccess file at all.
It's been a while since I've really used Cpanel, but I believe somewhere in there it should give you the option to "add" another domain name to your site. Set that up, and when it asks you what directory to use as the web root for that domain name, enter the path to your Drupal installation. Repeat for each site's domain name. That should do it.
The Boise Drupal Guy!
Cpanel multi-site
I use Cpanel and run multiple sites within Drupal 6.x and 5.x instals and I also have a separate intranet (Atrium) instal too. I use multiple, separate databases, one per domain.
Each version of Drupal sits in the public_html folder. Multi-site domains are set up as usual within Drupal, using Sites folder etc.
Each domain is set within Cpanel to resolve to the relevant Drupal folder: 6.x or 5.x or intranet in my case. Then drupal takes over and directs traffic using its inbuilt multi-site system.
As for ssh access, this simply gives you root access to the folder structure. It doesn't affect how you implement multi-site. I found I couldn't use it with my hosting account for long though, because my host requires a static IP.
Let me know if that helps / anything else along these lines.
shalom from wales!
John
RE: Cpanel multi-site
Hi jbc,
I have a hatchling w/ hostgator, meaning I don't have any addon domains. I was wondering if it's possible to use subdomains instead and run multiple sites w/ one code base as in: http://drupal.org/getting-started/6/install/multi-site
When I follow the directions, it doesn't take me to an install page, but to the same root page.
Thank You.
Twitter
-Michael
Yes, I've used it with
Yes, I've used it with sub-domains, quite effectively too.
shalom from wales!
John
How about giving us some
How about giving us some details on your set up? More info will help us to help you.
With multi-site, you can point multiple domains to the same IP and use the one codebase but have a database for each domain.
Oops, looks like I am late to
Oops, looks like I am late to the game and others have jumped in already to help you! Super!
Info on Resolution of My Issue
Thank You jbc and nwwoman.
Sorry for not giving any more info, but I had no idea what was originally wrong with my setup.
When setting up my hostgator hosting, I created a subdomain before installing drupal. It thus created a folder under public_html/. I then installed drupal, and unbeknownst to me, added that subdomain to .htaccess file in the root to redirect to that folder. Thus whenever I tried to remove and recreate the subdomain, it would give me errors (cannot find a page). Long story short, I followed the directions for creating the proper subdirectory under public_html/sites/ and it would just not see it.
After reading multiple posts about how the multi-site redirection works, I took a peek at the .htaccess file and saw the entry there for my subdomain. I deleted the entry, removed and recreated the subdomain, redirected to the root (public_html), and now drupal recognizes it and directs me to the subdomain in the directory public_html/sites/....
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-Michael
Cpanel settings
Thanks! I guess my issues is I can't seem to figure out how to how to get Cpanel to resolve to the folder. Do I have to use addon domains at the root reseller account for each domain? Will that cost me any seo points?
I don't know how to answer
I don't know how to answer your Cpanel question, but regarding SEO on multi-site installations, for what it's worth, I run a "fan site" for a magazine on a multi-site installation which outranks the magazine's actual official web site on Google, and is just one and two notches behind on Bing and Yahoo respectively. It looks like the old adage about search engines not liking to see many sites hosted from one IP address is false, or at least overstated.
The Boise Drupal Guy!
Yes, use Cpanel Addon Domain
Yes, use Cpanel Addon Domain to resolve to the drupal folder.
As for SEO points, I wouldn't worry too much. In my experience, Drupal is excellent at SEO on a number of fronts and I don't think this will alter it too much.
Hasn't done me any harm: type "eternal purpose" into google; my site comes up no. 2 right now (no. 1 for UK), out of 12M pages for those search terms. I don't consciously do any SEO, just leave it to Drupal (I have pathauto).
If I enter the name of a client's site, on the same multi-site instal, using the groups name and, out of 1.8M pages, it's also no. 1.
Ok these are not competitive commercial sector terms such as "smart phone" or whatever, but I think this is pretty good results for me and my scale of operation.
shalom from wales!
John
hi JBC
I've followed this route with success:
I needed two subdomains using the same codebase, and I already had subdomain1 set up.
I fiddled a little in cpanel,
Started with cpanel addon domain, with my new domain which was subdomain2.domain.ca
The document root set to subdomain1.domain.ca
then I went to cpanel subdomains and created the subdomain2 (the other way around won't work).
Success.
Shalom Shalom.
Nevo
Think that should do it
Thanks, I think thats what my problem was. I got the addon domain setup now to test it out!