Subdomain multisites

Should I use a subdomain or subdirectory multisite?

Formally, VIP Go supports only subdirectory multisites, but this still allows for all the scenarios you need to cover:

• A pure subdirectory multisite, with sites addresses like example.com/one and example.com/two
• A site using custom domains, with site addresses like example-another.com and example-further.com
• A site using a mix of both, with site addresses like example.com, example.com/one, example-another.com, and example-another.com/two

To achieve the same effect as a subdomain multisite, you could map a number of custom (sub)domains, e.g. one.example.com, two.example.com, etc.

We allow up to two segments in a subdirectory multisite path, so example.com/one (a “one segment” path) and example.com/one/two (a “two segment” path) are supported, but example.com/one/two/three (a “three segment” path) will not work, nor will adding further segments. Configuring a WordPress multisite to allow paths with two segments requires a small amount of code, see below for more details.

Configuring a custom domain, including TLS certificate

Configuring a custom domain requires a few steps, and the site using the custom domain will not be accessible at that domain until all have been completed:

1. VIP support is required to launch a subsite within a multisite. Following the guidelines in the Launch Day Playbook, please open a ticket at least 5 business days in advance to discuss your plans.
2. Add the site in the multisite using a temporary path, then edit the site to change the path to / (or up to a two segment path), and to change the domain to your desired custom domain.
3. If you’re using more than one domain per site, set up your vip-config.php file to handle redirecting secondary domains to the desired primary domain for each subsite. Note that for multisite, redirects between non-www domains and www variants need to be specified in vip-config.php. Read more on multisite domain mapping.
4. From the VIP Dashboard, map the domain.
5. Configure the DNS to point to your site. See the documentation on Managing Domains and DNS for more details.
6. Install a TLS Certificate. There are two options:
   • A Let’s Encrypt TLS can be activated directly from the VIP Dashboard as soon as the DNS is pointed to our infrastructure and mapped to your application (see steps 1 & 2 above).  This is the most preferable option, as all updates are automated and your team doesn’t need to worry about renewing the certificate.
   • A custom TLS certificate can be procured. Please read the TLS documentation for further information.
7. Following launch, we will activate the Jetpack connection and optionally, VaultPress connection for the new site.