monsters of wordpress strategies for taming wordpress multisite july 26, 2015 @trenchbucket

MONSTERS OF WORDPRESSStrategies for Taming WordPress Multisite

July 26, 2015@trenchbucket

I WAS IN THE US NAVY

ONCE UPON A TIME…

WASP CLASS AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT SHIP“MULTI-PURPOSE”

WE HAD A PRINTER

AND ON THAT SHIP…

HP CLASS LASER PRINTER“MULTI-PURPOSE”

THIS HAPPENED

BUT ONE DAY…

BURNING HP CLASS LASER PRINTERNOT “MULTI-PURPOSE”

SOME THINGS ARE NOT MULTI-PURPOSE

AND KNOW YOU KNOW…

MAN OVERBOARD DRILLVERY NOT “MULTI-PURPOSE”

WHAT IS A MONSTERWORDPRESS MULTISITE PRIMER

MONSTER PRIMER@trenchbucket

WHAT IS A MONSTERWORDPRESS MULTISITE PRIMER

Experienced Single

Installers

Thinking about

Building a Monster

Already Built a

Monster

WORDPRESS MULTISITE PRIMER

THIS IS A FISH

MOST WORDPRESS SITESARE BEST AS ONE-OFF FISH SITES

Experienced Single

Installers


THIS IS A FISH

Experienced Single

Installers

MOST WORDPRESS SITESARE BEST AS ONE-OFF FISH SITES

WordPress (Fish Sites)• Regular Installation• Single Site Deployment• Single Code Base• Single Database• Single Theme


THIS IS A MONSTER

Thinking about

Building a Monster

WordPress Multisite (Monster Sites)• Specialize Installation• Sub-Site Configurations• Single Code Base• Single Database• Multiple Themes


THIS IS A MONSTER

MONSTER SITES REQUIRE SACRIFICE


MONSTER LEARNING

Mika EpsteinAndrea Rennick

Mika Epstein Rob Hardie

PLANNING AND PREPARATION

EXISTING MONSTER STRATEGIES

PLANNING AND PREPARATION

Already Built a

Monster

Already Built One• Know why they are “Monsters”• Special Issues and Uses• Planning and Scaling

Monster Survival Strategies#1 – Great White Vortex#2 – Hydra Divergence#3 – Giant Squid Incursion


STRATEGY #1 – GREAT WHITE VORTEXT

Problem• No Scaling Plan

Symptoms• Have More Sites then Admins• Lots of Orphans and Stale Content

Solutions• Audit and Plan Site Growth• Link Growth to Admin Resources• Prioritization: Fish or Cut Bait


STRATEGY #2 – HYDRA DIVERGENCE

Problem• No Separation Plan

Symptoms• Difficulty Migrating Sites• Dividing Monster Networks

Solutions• Spawn a New Monster Network• Backup, Clone, then Migrate• Build Fish Tanks before Head Chops


STRATEGY #3 – GIANT SQUID INCURSION

Problem• No Recovery Plan

Symptoms• Single Point-of-Entry Hack• Update Bug Crash

Solutions• Backup Early and Often• Become a Hard Target• There is always a Bigger Fish


FUTURE MONSTERSSTRATEGIES FOR BUILDING YOUR NEXT MONSTER

MONSTER PATTERNS

MONSTER PATTERNS

Thinking About Building a Monster• Not for Land Lovers• Get Smart on Monster Admin• Nothing Wrong with Fish Sticks

Consider Your Plans For• Purpose• Administration• Scaling & Separation • Security• Recovery

STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING YOUR NEXT MONSTER

MONSTER PATTERNSNETWORK CONFIGURATIONS

Multi-Branch

Jelly Cloud

Multi-Functional

Wakemaker

Multi-Linguistic

Sea Dragon

Multi-Tenant

Colossal Croc

Multi-Focus

Kraken

MONSTER PATTERNSPATTERN #1 – JELLY CLOUD

MULTI-BRANCH


Type• Multi-Branch

Audience• Companies with Industry Segments• University Colleges and Departments

Implementation• Single Theme Deployment• Unified Design and Brand• Finite Number of Branches


Primary Branch Site(Trunk)

Secondary Branch Site

TertiaryBranch Site


Corporate HQ

Mobile Sector

Defense Sectorwww.ditchlight.com

mobile.ditchlight.com

defense.ditchlight.com


Advantages• Simple Network• Easy to Administer• Content Specific

Challenges• Branch Site Judgement Call• Clear Linking Strategy• Should Not Duplicate Content

MONSTER PATTERNSPATTERN #2 - WAKEMAKER

MULTI-FUNCTIONAL


Type• Multi-Functional

Audience• Member Associations• Sport Clubs

Implementation • Multiple Theme Deployment• Similar Design and Brand• Room for Growth


Main Site

Event Site

Secured Site


Join Us Site

MTB Event

Members Onlywww.potomacvelo.com

waw.potomacvelo.com

club.potomacvelo.com


Advantages• Clear Separation of Functions• Club Name in all Domain Names• Asymmetric Content Connections

Challenges• Scope Creep• Managing Member Accounts• Organization Staffing

MONSTER PATTERNSPATTERN #3 – SEA DRAGON

MULTI-LINGUISTIC


Type• Multi-Linguistic

Audience• Companies with Global Markets• Multi-Lingual Organizations

Implementation• Single Theme Deployment• Unified Design and Brand• Professionally Translated Content• Sub-Folder Based Network


Primary Language

Site

SecondaryLanguage Site

TertiaryLanguage Site


English (N. America)

Portuguese (Brazil)

Spanish (S. America)

at-riskinternational.com

at-riskinternational.com/br

at-riskinternational.com/es


Advantages• Better Translation Control• Better Analytics• Add/Remove Specific Pages• Language Specific Admins

Challenges• Content Translators Required• Software Language Crossover

MONSTER PATTERNSPATTERN #4 – COLOSSAL CROC

MULTI-TENANT


Type• Multi-Tenant

Audience• Event Management Companies• Music or Game Developers

Implementation• Multiple Theme Deployment• Similar Design and Brand• Customer Specific Sections


Studio Site

Application Site

Studio Group Site

Studio Group Site

Studio Group Site


Studio Profile

Auditions/Events

GPW Band Sitegrandpianowafare.com

talent.grandpianowafare.com

fairgrounds.grandpianowafare.com

GPW Band Sitevaccaro.grandpianowafare.com

GPW Band Sitebigpipe.grandpianowafare.com


Advantages• Semi-Autonomous Admin• Parent/Child Theme Control• Aggregated Content

Challenges• Content Monitoring• Slow or Asymmetric Publishing

MONSTER PATTERNSPATTERN #5 - KRAKEN

MULTI-FOCUS


Type• Multi-Focus

Audience• Application Startups• Software Companies

Implementation• Multi-Theme Deployment• Unified Design and Brand• Customer Focused Content


Main Site Updates

Self Help

Feedback

ExperienceTeaching


Product Intro

Blogs

Support

Community

Product SaaSConcept Site

trailgrinder.com

blogs.trailgrinder.comProduct, Users, Company

support.trailgrinder.comFAQ, Tuts, Docs

forums.trailgrinder.comBugs, Features, Issues

mytrailgrinder.com

pathcaptain.com


Advantages• Customer Focused Sections• Segmented Metrics• Product Feedback Channels

Challenges• Manage Customer Channels• Requires Orchestration• Product Specific

Monsters of Monsters• Multi-Community (Customer Created Blogs)• Multi-Development (Developer Labs)

Monster Takeaways• Know Your Monster’s Purpose• Educate Yourself• Plan for Growth• Avoid Separations• Small Monsters First• Backup, Backup, Backup

MONSTER CONCLUSIONSLOOKING FOR NEW MONSTERS

MONSTER CONCLUSIONSLOOKING FOR NEW MONSTERS

IS A GREAT WHITE SELFY“MULTI-PURPOSE”?

THANK YOUCOMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

MONSTERS OF WORDPRESSStrategies for Taming WordPress Multisite

July 26, 2015

Kyle BondoTrenchbucket, [email protected]@trenchbucket

@trenchbucket

monsters of wordpress strategies for taming wordpress multisite july 26, 2015 @trenchbucket

Documents

monster adminnothing

new monster networkbackup

fish sticks

taming wordpress multisitejuly

plan site growthlink

migratebuild fish tanks

monstermonster sites

stale content solutionsaudit