WordPress 4.4 has been a very productive release for multisite Used to describe a WordPress installation with a network of multiple blogs, grouped by sites. This installation type has shared users tables, and creates separate database tables for each blog (wp_posts becomes wp_0_posts). See also network, blog, site. In addition to some exciting new enhancements, we were able to resolve some long standing bugs. Check out the full list of multisite focused changes on Trac An open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress. if you want even more wonderful reading material. 💖
Introduce WP_Network
The $current_site global has been maintaining a stdClass object representing an assumed description of a network (versus site, blog) since the original merge of WordPress MU with WordPress. With the introduction of WP_Network, we give a network a bit more definition and open up possibilities for working with a network (or networks) in a more sane way.
Take a look at ms-settings.php if you are using a custom sunrise.php to populate the $current_blog or $current_site globals. We now create a WP_Network object from the existing $current_site if it has been populated elsewhere. This is a backward compatible change, though should be tested wherever your code interacts with $current_site, especially if anything has been done to extend its structure.
See #31985 for more discussion while this was built.
Introduce *_network_option functions
During the introduction of WP_Network, we needed a way to populate network options (stored in wp_sitemeta) for a network other than the current.
add_network_option(), update_network_option(), get_network_option(), and delete_network_option() are all new functions in 4.4. Each takes the network ID as its first argument, matching the structure of the *_blog_option() functions.
*_site_option() functions remain as the proper way for working with a current network’s options. These now wrap the new *_network_option() functions and pass the current network’s $wpdb->site_id.
In a future release, likely 4.5, we can look at the introduction of network 0 as a way to store global options.
See #28290 for more discussion.
New actions and filters
before_signup_header fires before the signup header The header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes. in wp-signup.php. #17630ms_network_not_found fires when the $current_site global has not been filled and ms_not_installed() is about to fire. #31702invite_user fires immediately after a user is invited to join a site, but before the notification is sent. #33008
Other enhancements of note:
- WordPress has always enforced a
/blog prefix for the main site’s permalink structure to avoid collisions with other sites in a subdirectory configuration. This was always changeable in the network admin (and super admin), though the permalinks UI User interface in the site admin never reflected the change and could cause confusion. Now, thanks to #12002, WordPress forgets that /blog was ever assigned if it is changed in the network admin to anything else. When changing this value, choose something that won’t conflict A conflict occurs when a patch changes code that was modified after the patch was created. These patches are considered stale, and will require a refresh of the changes before it can be applied, or the conflicts will need to be resolved..
manage_network_users is now used to determine edit_users caps rather than is_super_admin. In preparation for 4.4, take a look at how you’re using the manage_network_users capability in your code to be sure access is set as intended. #16860- Network activated plugins are now visible as “network activated” in an individual site admin if the user can manage network plugins. These are not shown to site administrators. #20104
- Recently active plugins are now displayed as such in the network admin. #20468
- Language selection is now available when adding a new site through the network admin. 🌍 #33528
- Language selection is also now available when signing up for a new site through
wp-signup.php. 🌏 #33844
- Network user searching has been improved by wrapping search terms in asterisk for looser matching. #32913
Bugs of note fixed:
- It was previously impossible to set the upload limit for an individual site to 0 as it would then fallback to the default of 100MB. In 4.4, 0 is a respected number. #34037
- When a site’s home, siteurl, or page_on_front option was updated in the network admin, rewrite rules were previously flushed incorrectly, causing rewrite rules for the main site on the network to take the place of the rewrite rules for the site being changed. #33816
- Subdirectory sites created on an HTTPS HTTPS is an acronym for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure. HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP, the protocol over which data is sent between your browser and the website that you are connected to. The 'S' at the end of HTTPS stands for 'Secure'. It means all communications between your browser and the website are encrypted. This is especially helpful for protecting sensitive data like banking information. network are now set to HTTPS rather than the incorrect HTTP HTTP is an acronym for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. HTTP is the underlying protocol used by the World Wide Web and this protocol defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands.. 🔒 #33620
- A site’s title can now be longer than 50 characters! #33973
Deprecated functions:
Both get_admin_users_for_domain() #34122 and create_empty_blog() #34120 have never been used by WordPress core Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. and are now deprecated. 🍻
#4-4, #dev-notes, #multisite
