We can’t really get very accurate stats, because we only know about *installs* that phone home, not number of users on each one who might need the multisite menus. We know of about 60,000+ multisite installations, half of which have more than two sites. The average is 58.7 sites per multisite install (that gets us into the 3.5 million sites mark, times however many users per site). Then, 31 installs have more than 10k sites. Edublogs, for example, has over a million sites. Universities like CUNY have thousands/tens of thousands of users per install.

And a bit later:

Better stat courtesy of @nacin:

“Chop off the 31 sites > 10,000 sites, chop off the 30,000 sites <= 2 sites.

96.3979 average for the remaining 30,000 networks."

I actually talked to Nacin about these numbers back in July at WordCamp Montreal, so these stats are not surprising to me. Seems a little low though – what do you think?

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Interestingly enough is the pricing model: each sub site needs its own license. On a network with a huge number of sites this could be quite financially limiting. But you could use Vaultpress on the main site only, in conjunction with regular backups of your own. After all, the biggest benefit of VaultPress that I can see is the file scanning, and there’s only one copy of core files in a network.

What do you think?

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On Day Two we did a 3 hour session on setting up multisite. We also walked through the network admin area and squeezed in at the end some of the more common plugins in use for common tasks they might want to accomplish.

The workshop was *awesome* and we very much would like to do that again. Ron & I got some great feedback, and I know I learned a few things about how I might want to do these in the future, as well as pacing, material to cover – etc. Ron and I took turns speaking and helping attendees with specific issues.

I wanted to post here to let the multisite-interested people find more good information and see how people *are* talking about it at WordCamps everywhere. Apparently at WordCamp Philly there was a session on multisite as well, on the same day.

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Over the last year plus, I’ve been collaborating with the BP core development team to add the ability to have multiple separate BuddyPress social networks in the same WordPress install. Over the last week a number of changes have been rolled into BP trunk to support separate networks. However, by default, BP will continue to function as a single network across WP networks consistent with the current behavior. A plugin is required to enable multiple distinct BP networks.

You also need to have a plugin to create multiple WP networks in your install. For that you can use either WP Multi Network or Networks+.

You can download an alpha version of my BP multi-network plugin below. This is currently only for testing and should be used on a test site. Once BP 1.3 is released I’ll be adding this to the plugin repository at wordpress.org. Instructions for using this are:

• install the latest version of BuddyPress trunk http://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/browser/trunk. You need at least revision #4392.
• install bp-multi-network.php in the mu-plugins folder (must be installed there to work correctly)
• create your second WP network with one of the plugins above
• activate BP on the sub network and go through the installation wizard
• for forums you need to tweak your bb-config.php a bit – see below

Download the plugin here.

bb-config.php changes

Your bb-config.php has a line similar to

$bb_table_prefix = 'wp_bb_';

Change that line to

if( function_exists( 'bp_core_get_table_prefix' ) )
	$bb_table_prefix = bp_core_get_table_prefix() . 'bb_';
else
	$bb_table_prefix = 'wp_bb_';

A few lines below that you’ll see a line similar to

$bb->uri = "http://domain.com/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-forums/bbpress/";

change that line to

if( function_exists( 'get_current_site' ) ) {
	$current_site = get_current_site();
	$bb->wordpress_mu_primary_blog_id = $current_site->blog_id;
	$bb->uri = BP_PLUGIN_URL . '/buddypress/bp-forums/bbpress/';
} else
	$bb->uri = "http://domain.com/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-forums/bbpress/";

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Post tags: buddypress, mu-plugin, multiple

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I would rate this release as “critical.” – Matt

Update ASAP. You can also check the changed files between 3.0.3 and 3.0.4.

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While I think it would drive me nuts on a single install, when you are running a network of sites, there’s a couple handy things that will make your job as a Super Admin that much more super. Kinda like added enhanced super powers.

Now you, as Super Admin can easily access the site’s Dashboard, the site’s options if you need to edit something, or even mark the site as mature (keep out of public listings) or spam it.

There is also a Snack Menu which is a flyout of all the regular menu items in the backend of the site you are on. Old timers: note the choice of icon.

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Network Admin link in the upper right area of the WordPress dashboard

In terms of usability, this makes more sense than just an extra box on the left side wherever you are. As a separate admin area, it forces home the idea that the network itself is global and special. When you are in the Network Admin area, the link changes wording to say Site Admin to get back to the site you were on.

If you have a lot of plugins that add menu items to the Super Admin menu, they will now be their own top-level menu item in Network Admin.

The new Network Admin area menus

Actually, I think this is rather cool, as now you could have whole sections of things pertaining to the entire network in their own handy menu area. Right now things are a little spotty for installed plugins and where the menu items show up. On my test install, some sub menu items that were under Super Admin show up under Settings or even Posts.

Plugin authors may want to do some testing here, especially if your plugin added submenus to the Super Admin menu.

Edit: and since I was looking at trunk, this has already changed.

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Post tags: changes, multisite, network admin, networks, who moved my cheese

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August 19th I will be giving a webinar on multisite for the guys at webdesign.com. Curious? Then this one is for you. (You need a webdesign.com membership.)

August 21st I will be Skyping in to WordCamp Savannah to talk about some of the best plugins for network installs. This is also awesome, because it opens up HUGE possibilities for other WordCamps that may want a speaker who is unable to be there in person.

August 28th both Ron and I will be speaking at WordCamp Montreal. I’ll be talking about enabling the network and domain mapping, while Ron will be digging deep into code and go over how you can write plugins with the network / multisite in mind. We’ll be driving up, as it’s the closest WordCamp to where we live and a “short” 7 or 8 hour drive. Added bonus is we’ll be bringing our daughter Sarah who is studying to be a graphic designer at the New Brunswick College of Craft & Design. So if you see us there, be sure to say hi and give her plenty of advice.

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Andrea & I have had a fantastic time at every WordCamp we have attended and we enjoy meeting other people who use WordPress. If you have never been to one, this will be a great one for you to attend. Whatever you are doing with WordPress, you can be sure that you’ll have a chance to talk to others who have been or are interested in doing the same

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