Drupal Multi-site for Fun and Profit

Drupal Multi-site for Fun and Profit emma jane hogbin HICK Tech

About this talk By using Drupal's multi-site install you can use a single code base to power all of your customers' Web sites. Installing a single code base will also make tech support and security updates a whole lot easier. In this session you will learn:

how to install Drupal,
where to put modules and themes so they show up in the right places,
how ensure your customers have the right amount of control over their own domain.

Emma will use real world examples from her own business network to reveal how Drupal can convert even the smallest clients to pots of gold.

The Game Plan

Why I use multi-site
Which clients are best suited for multi-site
How you can set-up multi-site too

Drupal drupal.org/user/1773 Photo: morten.dk Legs: walkah

Front End Drupal by Konstantin Kaefer & Emma Jane Hogbin

I am IAM

FAIL

jack o’ lantern: 2040 feet

photo credit: calliope

The 100 Mile Client Roster photo credit: melissamaples

Why this works: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reduce : Security updates done once
Reuse : Downloaded themes
Documentation
Answer questions once (Drupal night)
Invoice less frequently for larger amounts

Assumptions 1. Small budgets 2. Content managers are motivated 3. Unique content per domain name 4. Sites have common functionality 5. Low traffic Web sites 1. Small budgets 2. Content managers are motivated 3. Unique content per domain name 4. Sites have common functionality 5. Low traffic Web sites

www.memorygardenretreats.com

www.dickhibma.com

www.gingerpress.com

www.trilliumhealingarts.ca

www.endabusenow.ca

www.the100milemarket.com

www.marketside.ca

www.riversideyarns.com

www.aka-group.net

www.aroundthesoundfood.com

Technical Information www.drupal.org/node/43816

Photo credit: alpha262

Photo credit: jervetson

All sites have:

Shared code base
Shared IP address
Shared modules directory
Unique content in separate databases
Unique directory for uploaded files
Unique themes

Create a common code base

Download and unpack Drupal in a Web-accessible directory.
Download and unpack common modules into:

/sites/all/modules

Common Drupal Modules

CCK + imagefield
Image + img_assist
Views
Upload
TinyMCE
Event
Google Analytics

Contact
Book (pagination and navigation)
(Delete Content Type: Page or Story)

For each new domain name:

Add domain information to host configuration files as appropriate
(or use your Web admin panel)
Add configuration information to Apache's config file using the main Drupal directory for all domains.

For each new Web site:

Create a new database.
Create a new directory in /sites that matches your domain name exactly.
Copy the default settings.php file into:

/sites/example.com

Unpack site-specific themes into:

/sites/example.com/themes

Install Drupal using the new domain name.

Installing Drupal

http://localhost
Pre-configured:

Drupal 6 downloaded
Apache configured
MySQL database created: fosdem

Apache Conf. /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default <VirtualHost *:80> ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost DocumentRoot /home/emmajane/websites/drupal/drupal6/current-cvs <Directory /> Options FollowSymLinks AllowOverride All </Directory> <Directory /home/emmajane/websites/drupal/drupal6/current-cvs> Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews AllowOverride All Order allow,deny allow from all </Directory> ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/error.log </VirtualHost>

Gotchas...

Set directory for new files in the admin area:

admin/settings/file-system

For domain aliases use a symbolic link in the directory /sites .
After updating core files, run update.php for each domain name in the /sites folder.
Offer free group training for all clients at a time that suits your schedule.

Thank you!