Manage your Multiple Businesses with Drupal Multisite Extension

The first thing that strikes our mind is why should we care about the multisite extension? How is it helpful?  The multisite extension allows you to manage several websites from a single database installation. Dealing in multiple businesses is a common practice nowadays and every business is bound to have a website. To manage each website separately involves extra resources, extra time and extra management. However, success in business world today demands smart utilization of time and resources.

Drupal  multisite Plugin is one way of working smart. Tailored account management is the major benefit that the extension provides. It reduces the management burden of maintaining code for a range of sites, irrespective of the number of websites you are running from a single database.

How the Drupal multisite system was set up?

The Drupal multisite module is to provide ease of management to business owners who deal with different websites of their businesses. If you are running a number of websites on different CMS or on the same CMS, each time you will have to update each site every time you want to change design or make any addition. Features and other modules will have to be updated differently for each website. So the idea was to build a multisite system where all the websites can be accessed through a single database, without having to handle each of the website separately regardless of the number of website present.

Implementing multisite configuration on Drupal Content Management System is the easiest configuration to set up and maintain.

Steps involved setting up Drupal multisite Plugin

• Download the module and its dependent modules
• Enable the modules from modules listing
• Go to structure> Domains, add any domain name and assign any `available domain to this entry (As many we can add)
• Configure access level and theme to control the display of the site

The Drupal multisite module enables you to share theme functionality, updates and upgrades across all the websites in no time reducing maintenance and overhead costs.

Features of Drupal Multisite Plugin

These are the various features and benefits of Drupal multisite Plugin that eases the process of website management:

• Provide access level at once: If you have a group of websites that are quite closely related to each other. Different users would require different access levels for every website say, editor or contributor. You will have to grant different logins to users on different websites. However, with Drupal multisite set-up, you just need to define roles and grant logins at once for all the websites. The registration/login management would become relatively easy.

• Controlled content and display handling: Content on different websites can be added simply by going to the core database and editing the content. You can set up the type of content and display you wish to, by just accessing the same core database. Content changes to any website can be done independently, without affecting the content on the other websites. The content on each website will be displayed as per the requirements.

• Easy Management of Users: It grants easy code management, it is cost effective and streamlines the development process. Managing users across multiple websites is also made easier with Drupal Multisite. If the users perform any action on any of the websites viz. making payments, add to cart he will ultimately be directed to single webpage. This will help admin to handle payments and other user activities from a point.
• Quick Loading Time: As compared to hosting a group of separate Drupal websites, websites take less time to load. This is simply because admin is using a single installation of Drupal to manage all the different processes.

How it works?

The Drupal multisite set-up works from a single codebase to operate multiple sites. It does not require running separate installation of Drupal for different websites. A single Drupal installation will host several Drupal-powered sites, each with its own individual configuration. The websites are handled through one database with different prefixed tables. You just have to develop once and can deploy any changes, updates, features and functionalities n number of times. It eases the website management by providing controlled access to the users. Also, it provides admin with ease of managing users from different websites.

The Drupal multisite set-up works phenomenally irrespective of the number of websites involved. If you are the owner of multiple websites and are going through the pain of managing them separately, we can help you with it.

For more information on this multisite set-up, you can REACH OUT TO US HERE.