We launched BloodhoundBlog.net just a week and a day ago, and already WordPress-MultiUser is changing my approach to everything in the weblogging world.
First, just as a caveat: It’s a bear to set up. Because of BloodhoundBlog, we have an enormous amount of server horsepower, but I think it matters a great deal that we live on a dedicated server. We can customize the host to live the way we need it to live, and we command a lot of tech support attention from Hostgator.com — which has been invaluable.
But as with the discussion of FeedWordPress, living in the Mu universe leads to different ways of thinking.
An example: We’re wrestling with domain mapping right now, but, once we get it working, we will be able to put our affiliated vendors into their own blogs, running under their own domain names, in two wags of a BloodPuppy’s tail. If you think about the agony of setting up unique WordPress.org blogs, the upfront effort of getting WP-Mu to run will be handsomely repaid.
Likewise, both WordPress (dot org) and WP-Mu were upgraded to version 2.6.5 tonight. I already upgraded the BloodhoundBlog.net weblogs. And sometime between now and Sunday, I will get to upgrade a solid dozen WP.org blogs. Between now and the new year, most or all of those will be moving to a new WP-Mu installation.
Here’s the best bet: The ability to set up clone weblogs on demand will permit a very granular kind of hyper-local weblogging. This suggests to me one or two more WP-Mu installations, strictly for real estate purposes.
And here’s a great big what’s more: Give me another week with this software and let’s see what else I can come up with…
Chad A. Johnson says:
My experience with WordPress MU has been much the same. The set-up is a pain, but maintenance is a breeze.
The biggest limitation I found was the fact that not all WordPress.org compatible plug-ins are WordPress MU compatible. It can get quite frustrating.
November 25, 2008 — 11:55 pm
kelley koehler says:
we’ve been running mu for several months now. lovely thing. been running different categories of site visitors on different subdomains and blogs, each with slightly different themes and page templates that can be quickly shared across the whole mu installation. and when we have settled on a format, across each neighborhood we’re targeting, which I can create and launch in a few short hours, if my content is ready.
November 26, 2008 — 12:02 am
Greg Swann says:
> lovely thing. been running different categories of site visitors on different subdomains and blogs, each with slightly different themes and page templates that can be quickly shared across the whole mu installation. and when we have settled on a format, across each neighborhood we’re targeting, which I can create and launch in a few short hours, if my content is ready.
You said a mouthful. 😉
November 26, 2008 — 12:25 am
Greg Swann says:
> My experience with WordPress MU has been much the same. The set-up is a pain, but maintenance is a breeze.
Cheryl Johnson and Chris Johnson have both talked about playing with Mu. My offer is that I’ll help provided I host. I don’t want to learn this on other hardware.
But here’s another cool idea: Imagine this in a big corporate installation, Mu plus FeedWordPress. The workgroup-level blogs could feed to the middle-managers and the middle-manager blogs could feed to the bosses. The best of the best content in the company could trickle up to top management.
In terms of our ability to maximize he value of intellectual capital, we are just about to graduate from the water-wheel-driven mill to the steam engine. Using something like Mu to identify and leverage the power of the best ideas is the overture to an intellectual revolution that will make the industrial revolution look like a kid’s pageant…
November 26, 2008 — 12:33 am
Cheryl Johnson says:
What I need MU for is multiple single property websites, so I can create a separate WP powered site for each listed property with just one WP installation.
Right now I’m using TypePad for this since TypePad allows you to have unlimited blogs running in one account. I just copy my basic design template into each new blog, plug in the text and photos, change the links and map the domain name.
MU would give me the same functionality in a WP environment.
And I would be delighted to give Greg my hosting business. 🙂
November 26, 2008 — 5:02 am
Russell says:
Funny, I find WPMu EASY to install. I have it running on several sites I maintain, no dedicated server etc needed. I considered using it on http://hotretech.com since I am giving real estate agents free websites. IT was the difficulty of assigning unique domains, versus using the built in sub domain assignment in WordPress Mu.
This is a great site, well done.
November 26, 2008 — 8:18 am
Eric Blackwell says:
@Everyone- I find that Mu plays nicer with some hosting companies than others (is it a plesk vs cpanel thingy??)…Greg, yours is HostGator, no? Kelley Chad, and Russell…mind sharing who are you using?
GoDaddy (for me at least), was well…GoDaddy…grin
I love the scalability of mu, though.
Best to all.
Eric
November 26, 2008 — 10:18 am
kelley says:
Eric – we host our own stuff on the amazon cloud.
November 26, 2008 — 10:37 am
Greg Swann says:
> Greg, yours is HostGator, no?
Indeed, which is really ThePlanet.com in Dallas. We live on a dual-core Intel Xeon box running Linux. Believe it or not, on a dedicated server, we’re chewing up 23% of the available bandwidth. I built the Mu stuff into a separable account, in case it needs to move to its own box. For now, BloodhoundBlog is the biggest draw, but that could change.
Witness: There will come a time when every player in the cloud will control immense amounts of server power.
November 26, 2008 — 11:12 am