Mapping more domains to one subsite, best practice?

  • Hello!
    Trying to setup a redirect from a .com to a .org, I’ve recently screwed up a personal multisite, where all the subdomains (parked domains) still work quite fine, but the primary site (the one with the more important content) is broken. So I’m rebuilding everything. You can see the mess on https://carlorizzante.com and https://lesstools.org and https://lesstools.com (other subdomains are empty and not interesting for the topic).

    Sadly I ended up at this point when I tried to setup the redirect.

    To better explain, lesstools.com should have redirect to lesstools.org, where the latter is part of the network, and the .com is just a parked domain, with a redirection assigned through the cpanel (Hostgator).

    Now, I’ve two questions. First, is the WordPress MU Domain Mapping plugin still necessary to map domains in a network? Or, as I’ve read in this forum since WordPress 3.1, is it no more necessary, having WordPress 3.1 built in all the necessary mapping thing?

    Second question, what is the best practice for setting up a redirection? If I want subdomain.com to redirect to subdomain.org, should I manage the two domains internally the network, mapping both of them with one specific subsite and choosing which one of the two has to be the primary domain for that subsite, or should I redirect one of the two via cpanel?

    Thanks in advance,
    kindly, Carlo

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
  • Thread Starter Carlo Rizzante

    (@carlorizzante)

    I realize I perhaps did not describe the nature of the problem.

    When I open https://carlorizzante.com, I get the correct homepage. Smooth if I wish to open a page, like /about or /contact, no problem there. But when I try to open a post, then I’m redirected on https://lesstools.com, which should redirect to https://lesstools.org, intead. And it does not.

    I don’t understand why that parked domain breaks my primary site.

    On the other hand, all the subdomains still behave nicely, for what I can tell. So https://lesstools.org still loads fine (it’s broken since I’ve just moved and lost one or two files, no big deal, and not related problems with the broken redirection).

    Thanks again for your consideration,
    Carlo

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    ?????? Advisor and Activist

    To better explain, lesstools.com should have redirect to lesstools.org, where the latter is part of the network, and the .com is just a parked domain, with a redirection assigned through the cpanel (Hostgator).

    https://lesstools.com/ has a redirect loop

    https://lesstools.org/ does not.

    Is (or was) .com the URL for a site on the network?

    Thread Starter Carlo Rizzante

    (@carlorizzante)

    Well, my intention is to use lesstools.org and have visitors redirected to lesstools.org when they hit lesstools.com – I’ve messed up with permalinks and such, but now I resolved that issue. It was enough to re-save the permalink structure a couple of times (which always puzzles me).

    Now, my big doubt is how should I manage the redirection of a domain to an other domain inside a network. Should I map both .com and .org and set one of the two as primary? Or should I avoid the mapping of the one I’m not using except for redirection and set instead the redirection via cpanel?

    Thanks for your support,
    Carlo

    Thread Starter Carlo Rizzante

    (@carlorizzante)

    I indeed realize I’ve probably an other issue. Perhaps is not properly a problem, but just to stay on the safe side.

    I mapped lesstools.org as primary domain for that site. When I created it it was lesstools.carlorizzante.com – Now, if I try to open lesstools.carlorizzante.com I’m actually redirected to https://carlorizzante.com/wp-signup.php?new=lesstools

    There is a way to be redirected to lesstools.org, avoiding the signup template? Thanks, again! ??

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    ?????? Advisor and Activist

    You never answered me if you were using lesstools.com on the network before. I’m going to assume no. Leave .com alone for a minute, until you sort out .org ?? You SHOULD just be able to add it as a secondary domain.

    Which plugin are you using for mapping? My mapped domains correctly redirect around.

    Thread Starter Carlo Rizzante

    (@carlorizzante)

    Hello Ipstenu,
    sorry, I did not understand your question before. I’ve never used lesstools.com on that nameservers before.

    But first, I resolved the permalink and redirection issues re-saving the permalink structure a couple of time, and using the WordPress MU Domain Mapping plugin (that’s the plugin I’m using).

    Before mapping the second domain with the plugin, I tried a redirect via cpanel. It did not work that well.

    I would like to understand more about it, specially after I’ve read that’s basically just an interface for something WordPress has already built in.

    The problem related to permalinks was more tricky to figure it out for me. After I enabled the network all permalinks had been reset with the additional “blog/” path. I did not realize that I had to update the .htaccess. Once done, it worked just fine.

    Thanks for your comments!
    Carlo

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    ?????? Advisor and Activist

    It’s not ‘just’ an interface for something WP has built in. It circumvents what WP does and allows domains. It’s not as simple as changing the URLs, there’s backend stuff.

    After I enabled the network all permalinks had been reset with the additional “blog/” path.

    Uh. No. Not unless you’re saying “My main wordpress site, using subfolders, now has /blog/ in the URL.”

    @carlorizzante,

    Here’s detailed instructions, for WordPress 3.3, with a subdomain (vs subfolder) installation, on shared hosting accounts, to map domains. Every field, every configuration item, with examples so you’re not wondering what to do.

    WordPress 3 Multi-Site Domain Mapping.

    I also documented how I installed WordPress itself so I can have all my non-WordPress domains work right with WordPress multi-site, https://lcblog.lernerconsult.com/2012-wordpress-3-multi-site-installation-existing-web-sites/

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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