User:Pumpkinslayer/WordPress MU

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1 WordPress MU Features
- 1.1 WordPress Mu Host Benefits
- 1.2 WordPress MU User Benefits
2 WordPress MU Support and Installation

Support for WordPress MU is at WordPress MU and [WordPress MU Forums]. Support for WordPress.COM blogs is in the WordPress.com Support Forums

WordPress MU, or WordPressµ, is the multi-user version of WordPress. It is ideal for people who want to set up a large network of blogs. WordPress MU is the underlying software that powers the WordPress.com hosted blogging service. WordPress MU is also used by newspapers, magazines, blog networks, universities and large companies running corporate blogging systems behind firewalls.

Using the WordPress multi-user edition, you will be able offer users an opportunity to sign up for a new blog. They will be able to securely manage their templates and settings without affecting any other users. You can have unlimited users with unlimited blogs, and users can have various roles (administrator, editor, author, contributor, subscriber) on each other's blogs. One or more Site Administrators can perform site-wide management tasks, including adding users and blogs, altering permissions and granting access to themes.

WordPress MU Features

WordPress MU Plugins and Themes are controlled by a central system administrator. Unlike the single-user version of WordPress, individual WPMU bloggers cannot upload their own WordPress Plugins and Themes. The users can only select from the ones made available by the system administrator. Individual themes can be made available to all blogs or just to specific ones.

WordPress Mu Host Benefits

Ability to create a hosted "community" of users.
Ability to host thousands of users on one site.
Opportunity to provide free hosting as an alternative to paid hosting services.
Ability to limit sign-up to specific email domains if required.
Various options for adding Plugins and administration features.
Customization of the administration panels.
Ability to add WordPress Themes, increasing user choices.
Ability to control WordPress Themes, limiting user choices per site needs.
Security precautions and protections in place.
Easy addition of comment spam protection through Plugins.

WordPress MU User Benefits

While WordPress MU users are blogging with a restricted version of WordPress, able to choose from WordPress Themes and Plugin options as set by the Administrator, there are still a lot of benefits.

No installation or setup. Enter user name and password and blog.
A chance to test drive WordPress at little or no risk.
Choose WordPress Themes that have been tested and are ready for use - no fuss, no muss.
Part of a community, with potential for community relationships through competition and awareness.
Comment spam protection built-in.

WordPress MU is designed for hosts to offer hosting of WordPress blogs to individual users. WordPress MU is free, as is the single hosted version of WordPress.

WordPress MU Support and Installation

For information on installing and setting up a WordPress MU site, see Installing WPMU.

For support and information on installing and using WordPress MU, visit the WordPress MU website and WordPress MU Support Forum.

If you are a WordPress MU user click on the Feedback button in your Dashboard. Some help may be found within the WordPress Codex in the articles listed on WPMU or in Donncha's FAQ.

There are some special WPMU Plugins and not all WordPress Plugins work with WPMU, see WPMU Plugin Compatibility
Not all themes work with WPMU, see WPMU Theme Compatibility
There are WPMU Functions and WPMU Global Variables that should use to interact with WPMU's multiuser features
WordPress Plugins and Widgets can be modified to become WPMU Widgets.
The code can be checked out from the WPMU SVN Repository.
There is the WPMU IRC Channel for real time help and chat.
Information is available about how the tables are set up in WPMU Database Description.

For more information, see the Codex Table of Contents for WPMU or the Category:WPMU.

Codex