WP Multisite htaccess not working?

  • Hello
    I want to create a network of my blogs. But I am stuck right now.

    I did everything according to instructions, and the main WP install works fine. BUT I cannot make the subdomains work. Instead I get the message “503 Service Unavailable”. I asked my web host if this was due to the wildcards being incorrectly configured, but they said that in fact 503 indicates that the * subdomain is correct and that it probably was due to the .htaccess file.

    Any idea what I can do to fix this?

    My current .htaccess that I got off of Internet since the one I copied during the install procedure didn’t work either:

    RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]

# uploaded files
RewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?files/(.+) wp-includes/ms-files.php?file=$2 [L]

# add a trailing slash to /wp-admin
RewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?wp-admin$ $1wp-admin/ [R=301,L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule ^ - [L]
RewriteRule  ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?(wp-(content|admin|includes).*) $2 [L]
RewriteRule  ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?(.*\.php)$ $2 [L]
RewriteRule . index.php [L]

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

  • I have the same problem as well. It is the .htaccess problem. When you upload the file using filezilla, you can see a blue icon of the .htaccess file uploaded and not the plain color .htacess file.

    Hope this helps.

    BUT I cannot make the subdomains work. Instead I get the message “503 Service Unavailable”. I asked my web host if this was due to the wildcards being incorrectly configured, but they said that in fact 503 indicates that the * subdomain is correct and that it probably was due to the .htaccess file.

    Did you also set up the wildcards in your DNS records?

    Because that’s the right htaccess file. If ti’s not being read correctly, then that’s a hosting issue.

    Thread Starter althalos

    (@althalos)

    Set up the DNS record was what I did. I sent another message to my web host about this, asking him specifically about the WordPress Multiuser feature. He said that because I’m on shared hosting, WordPress Multiuser with subdomains cannot work, not for this web host or for another web host.

    He maintained that the subdomain wildcard pointer is correctly set up, but that in order to make it work I would need root priviliges and shell access. Is this true? Is the only way of setting up WP multiuser with subdomains if I buy a dedicated server?

    (the reason being that I need to be able to edit vhost files)

    He said that because I’m on shared hosting, WordPress Multiuser with subdomains cannot work, not for this web host or for another web host.

    Not true.

    He maintained that the subdomain wildcard pointer is correctly set up, but that in order to make it work I would need root priviliges and shell access. Is this true?

    If it wasn’t set already, then yes.

    But there are MANY webhosts who set this up automatically, even on shared hosts. they put the wildcard in the vhost entry when the account is set up.

    Sorry, your web host is trying to pass the buck and discourage you. It’s perfectly within their rights to not support the network feature.

    But it is entirely incorrect for him to tell you it can only be done on a dedicated server.

    Thread Starter althalos

    (@althalos)

    Alright, yes, I guess it is their right not to provide this feature. But it is good news that it is not impossible to provide it. I will have to look for another host I guess. Thanks a lot for your help.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
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