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Have too many blogs? Do you spend too much time upgrading WordPress installs, updating plugins, and changing themes? Your hosting provider may not be happy with you installing WordPressMU, but Stephen Rider has released a modification for WordPress that allows you to run multiple blogs off of a single WordPress installation.

How Does Virtual MultiBlog for WordPress work?

Stephen made some improvements on a system originally created by Allan Mertner. Per Nerdaphernalia:

WordPress holds all of its data in a MySQL database, and there is a single file called wp-config.php that holds the database login information. Allen looked at this and realized that if you can change that one file, you can completely replace the blog. With this key realization he came up with a cunningly straightforward multi-blog system:

1. Replace the standard wp-config.php file with a new version that calls a different configuration set depending on what directory it’s in.
2. Set up symbolic links that serve as “virtual directories” that all point to the WordPress directory.

Using the example of this site, I have an install of WordPress in my /blog/ directory, and a symbolic link called “nerdaphernalia” (that’s right, you’re soaking in it!) that points to /blog/. The modified wp-config file points to either the blog or nerdaphernalia config file, depending on which of those two directories it thinks it’s in.

…

So first off, I tucked all the files, except for the one modified wp-config.php, into a folder in a safe place. Next, I greatly streamlined the install process. At a minimum, the user only need edit a single configuration file, autoconfig.php. If desired, the various blogs can each have individual config files, but it’s no longer necessary.

What Are The Benefits?

Instead of uploading and installing a new copy of WordPress, your theme(s) of choice, and all 30 of your favorite plugins every time you get a new blogging idea, you can use Virtual MultiBlog for WordPress and all you need do is update a configuration file, set up a symlink, and you can get started. If you’re running up against a limited number of databases from your provider, you can also use the database prefix scheme and run the blogs out of a single database, too. (Note that this is a WordPress feature that you can already do without Virtual MultiBlog.)

When it’s time to upgrade anything, be it WordPress itself, plugins, or themes, you need only do it once and cover your entire blogging empire. Trust me, move beyond a couple blogs and you will drool over this! It also cuts down on necessary FTP navigation when doing updates, since everything is in a single directory structure.

Securing your WordPress is even easier — you don’t have to remember to go through a list of changes for each new blog, and security is able to be applied for all at once.

Potential Downsides

You’ll have to be careful about using domain-specific changes to your .htaccess files. The default WordPress .htaccess rules pose no problems, however, as they are fairly generic.

If you’re doing site-specific modifications to your themes, then you may need to make multiple copies of your themes and use them in different folders. This is something to be aware of, but wouldn’t be more work and hassle than it would be with them in different WordPress directories, and will require less navigation to get in and out of.

While not a downside, you will need to note that most of your configuration options are in the database itself, so these will still need to be manually updated. You can disable or enable plugins individually on each blog, set different themes for each blog, set up widgets, etc. without conflicts. They will be completely separate WordPress installs with reduced file maintenance requirements.

I’ve started doing some work with Virtual MultiBlog for WordPress and it’s gone well so far. I’m quite happy about the simplicity it brings. Sure, you still have to administer each blog separately, but it saves you all sorts of time with updating files.

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