This article is another one for the search engines and the two to three people who might find this useful. A while back I needed to install a WordPress network (or multisite installation) for a client on Bluehost. As explained on WordPress.org, there are two types of installations: subdomain and path. The subdomain option lets you install a different website on every subdomain, and the path options lets you install a different website in every subdirectory.
I needed to install two sites on two different subdomains (x.baizmandesign.com and y.baizmandesign.com). The instructions on the WordPress site were clear enough, but Bluehost’s server configuration is a bit wonky. They store all subdomains as subdirectories of ~/public_html. (It’s one of innumerable reasons I prefer DreamHost to Bluehost.)
Anyway, here’s what to do on the domains > subdomains page:
- Create your first subdomain, x.baizmandesign.com, and map it to the folder
~/public_html/x.baizmandesign.com. - Create your second subdomain, y.baizmandesign.com, and map it to the same folder,
~/public_html/x.baizmandesign.com.
That’s it. It’s so obvious in hindsight, but I couldn’t find documentation about this anywhere at the time I needed it.