Sites, Blogs, Networks, Oh My!

[chipbennett]

So, here's my attempt to clarify, in tabular form, what confused Jeff regarding Nacin's terminology post:

(attaching as a GIF, since I can't figure out how to do tables)

Clear as mud?

[andrea_r]

"or a single subdomain containing multiple sites"

That's what we call a site now. Subdomain can be the sub or a domain or whatever. In MU now, we call that multi-site. In 3.0, there's no official terminology other than maybe multiple networks. Nacin says this is a "rare" case useage, but my experience is that it's fairly common with the MU world.

[chipbennett]

"or a single subdomain containing multiple sites"

That's what we call a site now. Subdomain can be the sub or a domain or whatever. In MU now, we call that multi-site. In 3.0, there's no official terminology other than maybe multiple networks. Nacin says this is a "rare" case useage, but my experience is that it's fairly common with the MU world.

How does that work?

How does mysubdomain.mysite.com contain multiple sites?

(Note: I'm simplifying the definition, such that "subdomain" and "subfolder" are essentially equivalent. So, mysubdomain.mysite.com/site1 and mysubdomain.mysite.com/site2 are each considered separate sites under the same definition, as if they were mysubdomain1.mysite.com and mysubdomain2.mysite.com)

[andrea_r]

Well, it doesn't do it out of the box, but it IS possible.

From a technical perspective, there's a table in the db with a site_id. That refers to the whole network. If you wanted more than one network in the whole install, well... there's plugins for that. ;)

(disclaimer: we sell one)

So, here's a pratical example using the new terms:
- I have wpmutuorials.com as a site in my network
- ronandandrea.com is also a site in my network
- atypicalife.net is another network in my install. It also has sites in a subfolder structure. /blog/ , /mam/ /recipes/, each of those being separate Sites/blogs.

All in one install.

Another network on the system can be a separate domain OR it could be a subdomain. Additional sites on that network dpeends on what you chose on setup. If you pick subdomains, you can have sub.subdomain.yourdomain.com, and if you pick subfolders you can have subdomain.yoursite.com/sitename/. The original network will still create the subdomain or subfolder sites.

Again, this is via plugin, but the functionality is there. The plugin adds the interface.

[Jeffro]

Thanks for trying to clarify but here is the confusing part when looking at that chart.

get_option - Site
get_site_option - Network
get_blog_option - Site

It's confusing because get_site_option has the word site in it yet it's for Network. Blog option is for site which I sort of get and get_option is also for site. So what's the difference between get_blog_option and get_option?

Is this what they mean by having the developers bridge the gap between function names and their purpose?

[chipbennett]

Well, it doesn't do it out of the box, but it IS possible.

From a technical perspective, there's a table in the db with a site_id. That refers to the whole network. If you wanted more than one network in the whole install, well... there's plugins for that. ;)

(disclaimer: we sell one)

So, here's a pratical example using the new terms:
- I have wpmutuorials.com as a site in my network
- ronandandrea.com is also a site in my network
- atypicalife.net is another network in my install. It also has sites in a subfolder structure. /blog/ , /mam/ /recipes/, each of those being separate Sites/blogs.

All in one install.

Another network on the system can be a separate domain OR it could be a subdomain. Additional sites on that network dpeends on what you chose on setup. If you pick subdomains, you can have sub.subdomain.yourdomain.com, and if you pick subfolders you can have subdomain.yoursite.com/sitename/. The original network will still create the subdomain or subfolder sites.

Again, this is via plugin, but the functionality is there. The plugin adds the interface.

So, basically, it means that networks can consist of sites, or other networks...

[chipbennett]

Thanks for trying to clarify but here is the confusing part when looking at that chart.

get_option - Site
get_site_option - Network
get_blog_option - Site

It's confusing because get_site_option has the word site in it yet it's for Network. Blog option is for site which I sort of get and get_option is also for site. So what's the difference between get_blog_option and get_option?

Is this what they mean by having the developers bridge the gap between function names and their purpose?

I think, exactly. Nacin didn't clarify whether get_site_option() and get_blog_option() would be renamed or not. I infer that they're being left alone for the time being.

And yes, it's terribly inconsistent, which leads to obvious confusion.

[andrea_r]

Right, but it's not a good idea to change *everything* (in terms of internal function names) before we get everyone integrated & merged properly. :)

I mean, if you dig deep enough, there are other confusing functions like user_id and user_ID. :D Takes time, can't do it all at once.

Most users will never know see or care about any of those things. All it concerns now are plugin devs for anything that relates to multiple blogs/sites/networks/.

Or, you know, if you're a member of the dev team. ;P

[nacin]

I think, exactly. Nacin didn't clarify whether get_site_option() and get_blog_option() would be renamed or not. I infer that they're being left alone for the time being.

And yes, it's terribly inconsistent, which leads to obvious confusion.

You're right, the post wasn't explicit. No, we will not be changing get_option(), get_blog_option(), or get_site_option(). Not just for the time being -- there are no plans to do so.

It's not inconsistent if you have your head at all soaked in the code. A blog is still a blog everywhere in the code, a site is the MU definition of a site everywhere in the code. (multisite, network, and site are synonymous in the code.) I used get_option() et al. as an example, but we also have variables, globals, functions, etc., that all rely on these well-grounded conventions.

(When I mention get_option(), I am actually referring to a very sprawling API. It not only includes get/add/update/delete_option, get/add/update/delete_site_option, and get/add/update/delete_blog_option, but also get/set/delete_transient and get/set/delete_site_transient.)

Changing it will lead to way more inconsistencies than not changing it. Not to mention the amount of time we'd need to spend in changing everything and the stuff we'll break.

Also, as Andrea said, there is no core terminology for multiple networks (they aren't in core; a plugin is needed to expose it). So the chart needs tweaking -- but thanks for trying to illustrate my post.

[andreasnrb]

I found the whole naming scheme confusing. And the function names really need to change down the road. The hooks also. Its a complete mess now and there is a bunch of old MU bugs that hasnt been fixed either and everything goes into 3.0 now.
So you got old WP 2.9.2 bugs and now you got WP MU 2.9.2 bugs also.
One platform twice the fun =).