What went wrong?

Well, on the WordPress side.. nothing. This is all server side unfortunately. I’ve seen this happen mostly on hosting account where the WordPress install was in a folder, as an add-on domain, or basically anywhere other than the root of the account and on the main domain.

The subfolder blogs all work on the basis of htaccess rules. While the setup procedure requires you to add new rules to the folder’s htaccess file (or the file itself if there is none) it actually the server side that needs to be told to actually read that file. Simply being present does not ensure the file is read.\

So yes, Apache can – and does by default in some cases – ignore htaccess files in subfolders, usually following the one in the folder above it.

If you are on a shared host and do not have access to Apache config files via the terminal or ssh or WHM, then you will need to contact your webhost support team and let them know your new htaccess file is not being read properly and they will have to force it.

If you have a VPS or dedicated, or are even working locally and can access Apache confgif files, you need to find the httpd.conf file under /etc/ or the vhost files, and add this line:

AllowOverride FileInfo Options

This should allow the extra htaccess file in that folder to be read properly.

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This issue is becoming increasingly common as more people try out WPMU on their existing servers, with an existing WordPress install in place. You put the files in a folder, go to the URL, and unlike what the instructions say, you get a brief message saying “There doesn’t seem to be a wp-config.php file. I need this before we can get started.” and a big ” Create configuration file.” button.

This is the install message from the single WordPress install. This is not what you should see when installing WordPressMU. Why does it show this? Because within the code of both versions, it looks up a directory for existing installs. This is used in single WP to have the files out of the root, but the blog running off the root. If you do click it, you will wind up in what we call “Install Hell”.

So how do we get around this to install WPMU? Well, you could temporarily remove or rename the wp-config.php file in the other WP install. This will bring down your other site until you put it back. I realize this is not ideal for many people, but it is a quick and dirty way, plus it’s easy.

So! Let’s go hack MU – it’s only used once and doesn’t matter if it gets overwritten on upgrade, as we only use it the once.

Open the file wp-blog-header.php, it is in the root folder of the WPMU files.

Comment out line 9:

“if ( !file_exists( dirname(__FILE__) . ‘/wp-config.php’) && !file_exists( dirname( dirname(__FILE__) ) . ‘/wp-config.php’)) {“

then go to line 24, which is “}” and comment it out too. That’s the end of that particular command.

To comment out these lines, put a // at the beginning of them.

That should allow the real WPMU install screen to show up. Make sure you have deleted any htacess file & wp-config file (if they were created) in the MU root before installing again. Now when you return to your URL, you should definitely see a much longer and different install form.

EDIT: If after doing this, new blogs show the install screen, go back and undo the edits we made above. Everything will run smoothly after that, since you’re already installed.

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Post tags: configuration, create config file, install, Installation, issues, wordpressmu, wp-config, wpmu

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I don’t have a mac, sadly.

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Another step is to decide how you want your blog address to use. If you want subdirectories like http://domain.tld/username/, then you do not need to do anything. Subdomains, addresses in the form of http;//username.domain.tld, are generated virtually and as such, virtual hosts (Vhosts or wildcard domains) have to be enabled on your hosting account. Talk to your webhost if you cannot do this or if you can’t follow the included instructions.

You also need to figure out your intended audience. This will help you customize your site to stand out from the rest and make better decisions regarding what you and your users need for a successfull blogging experience for them, and less work and frustrations for you.

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