Enable multisite network

Yeah, I know, most of you know how to do that. But I bet that most of you need to look into documentation. Why? Because it’s not usual. So, why not describe it again… Learning by writing, that’s my point.

Backup your database. I don’t even call it “first” because it must be obvious for all WordPress developers. Of course you don’t need to do that if you have fresh WordPress installation. Then enable prettylinks and see if it works. Multisite may need it. So… when obvious is done, let’s go to the process.

First, we need to deactivate all your plugins. You may activate it after network is enabled but now please just disable it. By the way, I love the way it works. There are some plugins, like Analytics Head that I enable on all sites (network enabled) because I want to see how my traffic goes. And some of the plugins may be enabled only on certain sites (like Post/Page specific custom CSS). You need to setup it but it is very comfortable. And this is also true for your themes. I recommend you to set most modern Twenty* theme before enabling multisite, just in case.

Then you need to edit your wp-config.php file. The line you need to add is:
define( 'WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE', true );

Where to add it exactly? Most of the sources says to put it above the line “/* That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging. */”. You need to remember that this line may be in your language, not exactly in english. The truth is, you must put it above this line: “require_once(ABSPATH . ‘wp-settings.php’);”.

After adding this line, please reload your /wp-admin/ and you’ll see new “Tools” -> “Network setup” menu. Click it and you’ll see nice brand new admin screen with your options.

You should setup it according to your needs and technical capabilities.
After that, you’ll see next screen with exact information what to do next. That would be editing wp-config.php file and .htaccess file. Just do it and then logout and login again. You just have been networked!