Ipstenu once again has a great article that covers some situations in which MultiSite is not the best tool for the job. If you’re thinking that you need to use MultiSite to accomplish a certain task, make sure that task is not on her list. ∞
Sites, Blogs, Networks Oh My
Andrew Nacin who is one of the core developers of WordPress has published a post that should have come with a package of Tylenol. The post goes into the reasons behind why the terminology within WordPress MU was changed and why it’s created a soup of confusion. I’ve read the post three times in a row and it still hurts my head to try and make sense of it all.
When the merge began, the core developers began to use multisite internally to mean many blogs (well, sites), shortened to “ms” where possible, thus removing the “mu” and “wpmu” prefixes on files and functions.
Surely, we can make this more difficult. And so, just as the UX decision was made to call a blog a site, we decided to call a multisite a network.
So if you’re wondering why things are named the way they are in the merged edition of WordPress MU, give his article a read. Bonus points if you can read it once and not get lost.
Multi-Site Is Just A Feature Set
As we’ve geared up towards the merge between WordPress MU and WordPress, the word multi-site has popped up a number of times thus giving the impression that WordPress MU would be called multi-site after the merge. I’m one of the few who ended up spreading information that this would be happening but after more discussion, I’ve come to realize that multi-site is not a separate product as WordPress MU was. Instead, it will just be a set of features in WordPress after the merge is completed. This became especially apparent from the discussion revolving around someone in the community registering domains tied to the multi-site features in WordPress. So I just want to say for the record that in due time, WordPress will be known for having a feature that enables multi-site functionality. Jane sums it up pretty well in her forum post in the linked discussion.
Frankly, I’d rather it didn’t have a name at all. It should just be “WordPress.” As in, “I run my 6 sites on WordPress.” Administrative permissions for multiple sites should not drive an artificial product name, IMO. Using ms_ to delineate functions shouldn’t influence how we refer to the application in the wild. I vote we all just call it WordPress, and the stuff that is specific to administration privileges (super admin) not muddy up the product naming.
Think about it. Someone using WP after 3.0 who never knew MU existed will not even think about a separate name for the MU functionality. Movable Type has supported multiple sites forever, as has Blogger. We’re making a big deal out of naming something that should be seamless and not require a name at all. No one talks about “the multisite function” on MT or Blogger, do they? The ability to have multiple blogs is just part of the software, and that’s what it will be like for WP too, after we get used to it.
At the end of the day, it will simply be WordPress with multi-site capabilities.
WPMU 2.9.1 The Last Version Of MU?
WordPress MU version 2.9.1 has been released to the public. This means that features such as the trash can, image editor, and bulk plugin upgrades can be used in WordPressMU. Before you upgrade though, be sure to read this IMPORTANT post regarding adding the commentmeta table to your install.
However, I can’t help but wonder if for Donncha this release is bittersweet as barring any security problems, this is most likely the last release of the software known for a few years as WordPress MU. The merge has already started and should be completed by the time WordPress 3.0 rolls around. From that point forward, the MU features will be known as Multi-Site in WordPress. Donncha ends the release post with the following:
Thank you to everyone who has helped make WordPress MU better over the years, either by helping on the forums, writing plugins, contributing code, working on Trac tickets or any of the other hundred and one other things that go into an open source project.
I’m guessing that Donncha will continue to play an active role on the Multi-Site capabilities of WordPress but he’ll have to let us know for sure. Congrats Donncha for sticking it out for as long as you did. I hope this merge provides you with a renewed sense of energy to continue development.
*UPDATE*
Figures. Soon after this post was published, Donncha released WordPress 2.9.1.1 which can be found here. This release contains some important bug fixes, including a bug in the installer that has existed for quite some time.