www in path-based URL

Does it mean that, when someone access my homepage, this person will see https://www.wheelofcommerce.com and, when going to any other place inside the website, will see wheelofcommerce.com (without www)?

Yes.

I want to know if, using the path-based URL with the www, the URLs of the “sub-sites” will be something like “www.wheelofcommerce.com/example1”, which is exactly what I want the URLs to be, or “www.wheelofcommerce.com/www.example1” (with the www. before example1).

They’ll be wheelofcommerce.com/example1 actually, but yes, the www is on the MAIN domain ?? Not the subfolder.

So, there is absolutely no way to have the https://www.wheelofcommerce.com/whatever in my entire network? If I want to work with path-based URLs I will be forced to have my URLs like wheelofcommerce.com/whatever?

Thanks!

You can do it. You just may need to put something like this in your .htaccess.

# Redirect non-www urls to www
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example\.com [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) https://www.example.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Though I suppose the question is why? As long as both work, does it matter?

First of all, thanks! You are really fast in answering my questions. It looks like a paid support service.

Here is how my .htaccess file is now:

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).*) $1 [L]
RewriteRule  ^[_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/(.*\.php)$ $1 [L]
RewriteRule . index.php [L]

Where should I insert the code you gave me?

There are two reasons that make me want to keep the www in the entire network:
1-I’ve already paid for a professionally signed SSL certificate from DreamHost, and the certificate works only for the exact URL I’ve purchased it for (which in the case includes the www). I need the SSL cause I’m going to work with e-commerce.

2-Considering that I’m going to work with e-commerce, I really need to make people know that my website is absolutely safe. I know that the www in my URL has absolutely nothing to do with safety, and I know this is something VERY silly, but people generally don’t feel safe in front of a thing they are not used with. If someone goes to a website to buy a product and don’t see the www (which is the standard), this person could feel unsafe and don’t buy. Again, I know it sounds silly, but it’s not a question of real safety, just a question of marketing.

Thanks again! You are giving me a huge help with my questions!

Put the code I gave you ABOVE the WordPress lines. Always have your personal tweaks, and put WP at the bottom. This will prevent extra calls to WordPress and keep your memory usage down ??

By the way, reason #1 is possibly the ONLY decent reason I’ve EVER heard. ?? So thank you for giving me one reason I’ll cheerfully accept.

#2 is … less so. So long as www and non www display the same content, users don’t care. There are studies on that from Google and others. Now that browsers are hiding https:// in their address bars, people are relaxing a little.

Hi! Thanks again!
Sorry for my lack of knowledge, but by “wordpress lines” do you mean that I have to put the code you gave me right above the beginning of my .htaccess (right above the “RewriteEngine On”)?

Yes. If it helps make things more clear, use this:

# Redirect non-www urls to www
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example\.com [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) https://www.example.com/$1 [R=301,L]

# Begin WordPress
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).*) $1 [L]
RewriteRule  ^[_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/(.*\.php)$ $1 [L]
RewriteRule . index.php [L]
# End WordPress

Hi! Sorry for the delay. Thank you, I’ve already put the code in the .htaccess. It will take some days till I configure my network with the theme I want and with all the plugins. If something related to the www in the URL goes wrong and I can’t resolve on my own, I come back here to ask for help.

Thanks again!

Hi! I’m having another problem with the www, but this time in my email addresses. Yesterday a new user had registered in my site and I received a message in my network admin email ([email protected]) about this new registration. The weird part is that the message came from [email protected], which I presume is the email address WordPress created automatically to notify me each time a new user register at my network. When I go to my network settings, in the section about Network admin email, there’s also a message under the space to put the admin email address, “Registration and support emails will come from this address. An address such as [email protected] is recommended.” I want these email addresses to look like [email protected]. How can I remove the www from [email protected] or any other email address the WordPress system can automatically create?

Despite I’ve already enabled my coming soon page to work in my entire network, it’s just working in the home page, which is why a new user were able to register -I’m contacting the guys who made the plugin to solve this.

Thanks again!

WordPress DOES NOT create any email accounts. At all. Period. The noreply thing is a server default for Apache.

“Registration and support emails will come from this address. An address such as [email protected] is recommended.”

Okay. So you did notice the text box that you can enter any email you want in there? Just enter what you want. And yes, it’s thinking it should be www. because you forced that in.

Thanks! About the coming soon page issue, I already contacted the plugin support and they told me the plugin doesn’t work in multisite. I searched for a plugin that allows me to create the coming soon page in the entire network, but didn’t find one so far. Do you know a customizable coming soon page plugin that can be activated for the entire network?

Thanks again!

I’ve never bothered with one.

Hi – I am trying to attempt the similar task and have problems

In Softaculous I edited the WP installation to show https and put the code in the .htaccess file as well. I cannot get the www. to appear anywhere though. When I attempt to add another rewrite at the top of the file, it just loops and keeps redirecting back and forth.

I also dont see the option to force the https for admin logins using multisite. Where do I change that?