You can host three WordPress sites as subdomains on one server without merging their content or surrendering control of each site. The key decision is whether to run one domain-based WordPress Multisite network or three independent WordPress installations. Multisite centralizes code, updates, and administration; separate installations keep databases, configuration, plugins, and failure domains isolated.
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A safe migration moves both files and databases, prepares DNS and web-server routing, handles changed URLs without corrupting serialized data, adds certificates for every hostname, and tests each site before DNS is switched. Follow the runbook below in that order, and keep the original server and verified backups until all three sites have completed a normal operating cycle.
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Both designs can serve addresses such as site1.example.com, site2.example.com, and site3.example.com from one physical or virtual server. They differ substantially in administration, isolation, and recovery.
| Decision area | Domain-based Multisite | Three separate installations |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress code | One codebase serves all sites. | Each site has its own WordPress directory. |
| Database model | One database containing network tables and site-specific tables. | Each site has a separate database and credentials. |
| Administration | Network administration can coordinate updates, users, themes, and plugins. | Each site is administered and upgraded independently. |
| Plugin and theme policy | Versions and availability are governed centrally, although individual sites can have different activations. | Every site can use different versions and release schedules. |
| Failure blast radius | A faulty core, plugin, database change, or server rule can affect the network. | A problem is more likely to remain confined to one installation. |
| Backup and restore granularity | Restoring one site requires network-aware backups and care with shared tables and code. | Each database and file tree can be backed up or restored independently. |
| Domain routing | All hostnames must resolve to the network and be mapped to the correct site. | Each hostname is routed to its own document root. |
| Operational skill | Requires familiarity with network administration, domain mapping, and shared upgrades. | Requires maintaining three complete WordPress stacks. |
Use Multisite when governance is shared
Choose domain-based Multisite when the sites have a common owner or team, should receive coordinated core and security updates, and can accept a shared administrative and technical failure domain. WordPress defines a domain-based network as different domain names mapped to the same installation directory. The network administrator controls the common codebase, while each site remains a separate blog within the network.
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Use separate installs when isolation is the priority
Choose three independent installations when the sites need different PHP or plugin policies, separate administrator groups, independent maintenance windows, or simpler per-site restores. This model uses three directories, databases, and wp-config.php files. It consumes more administration time, but a change on one site is less likely to alter another.
Decide whether you are converting or simply relocating
There are two migration patterns. You may be moving three existing standalone sites into three standalone directories, or converting those sites into blogs inside a new Multisite network. You may also be relocating an existing Multisite network whose domains are changing. Identify the pattern before exporting anything because the transfer and URL work differ.
Inventory the three source sites and freeze changes
Create a per-site migration sheet. Record the current domain and path, hosting document root, PHP and database versions, active plugins and themes, media volume, scheduled jobs, email forms, redirects, analytics, administrator accounts, and any integrations that call the site by URL.
- List every hostname, including
www, administrative subdomains, API endpoints, and media or download domains. - Record where cron jobs run and whether they are real server cron jobs or requests to
wp-cron.php. - Note form recipients, SMTP settings, webhooks, payment callbacks, OAuth redirect URLs, and other external allowlists.
- Export a list of active plugins and themes and note licenses or configuration files that are not stored in the database.
- Measure the uploads directory and identify files generated outside
wp-content, such as server-side caches or protected downloads. - Capture administrator accounts and the intended owner for each site after the move.
Announce a content freeze or maintenance window. A freeze prevents a final database export from missing comments, orders, form entries, user registrations, or other writes made while files are being copied. If a full freeze is impossible, record the exact time of the final database export and plan a final synchronization for data changed afterward.
Make backups that can actually restore the sites
Back up each complete WordPress directory and its database before changing DNS or editing URLs. WordPress migration guidance explicitly calls for backing up the WordPress directory, images, plugins, other site files, and the database.
- Export each source database using a tool that preserves tables, indexes, character sets, and routines that the site depends on.
- Copy the entire WordPress file tree, with particular attention to
wp-content/uploads, active themes, plugins, must-use plugins, and the currentwp-config.php. - Store an untouched copy separately from the destination server. Do not overwrite it during testing.
- Open the archive and inspect representative uploads, theme files, and configuration files. A backup that cannot be read is not a recovery plan.
- Write down the database name, database user, table prefix, site URL, and backup timestamp for each source.
Keep the old server online and unchanged through the cutover. The original files and databases are your fastest rollback if a redirect loop, missing upload, broken form, or failed import appears after DNS changes.
Build the destination server
Destination for three separate installations
Create three document roots, three databases, and three database users. Give each user access only to its own database. Install the required PHP and database versions, configure the web server to serve each document root, and copy each site’s files into the matching directory.
Use a distinct wp-config.php for every site. Set the database credentials, table prefix, security salts, and file permissions separately. Do not reuse one site’s configuration file without checking that it does not retain the old database name, absolute paths, cache settings, or domain-specific constants.
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Destination for a domain-based Multisite network
Install one WordPress codebase and create the network from the administrator dashboard at Tools > Network Setup. Select the subdomain option, then apply the generated changes to wp-config.php and the web-server rewrite configuration exactly as shown by WordPress.
Multisite requires rewrite rules that pass requests for each hostname to the same installation directory. Apache normally uses the generated .htaccess rules; Nginx requires equivalent server-block rules because it does not process .htaccess. Confirm that the chosen PHP handler, filesystem permissions, uploads directory, and object or page cache all support a network rather than a single site.
Create an empty destination blog for each source site before importing content. Record the blog ID and assigned hostname so that later database checks and redirects are unambiguous.
Prepare DNS and hostname routing
Create DNS records for all three subdomains and point them to the new server. Explicit records limit the names that resolve to the server. A wildcard such as *.example.com can cover additional subdomains, but it also makes unintended hostnames reach the server, so use it only when that behavior is deliberate.
DNS is not sufficient by itself. The web server must also recognize each Host header and route it to the correct WordPress installation or to the Multisite directory. In a separate-install design, each hostname maps to its own document root. In Multisite, all mapped hostnames reach the shared directory and WordPress selects the matching blog.
Lower the DNS TTL before the planned cutover when your DNS provider permits it. This can shorten the period during which resolvers continue using the old address, but it cannot force every resolver to refresh immediately. Leave the old server able to answer requests during propagation.
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Before public DNS changes, point your own workstation’s hosts file at the new server for each hostname. This lets you test the destination while ordinary visitors still reach the old server. Test from more than one network when possible, because a local override proves only that your workstation can reach the destination.
Transfer the sites and their content
Moving three standalone sites into three standalone installs
Import each database into its matching empty database, then copy the corresponding files. Keep the original table prefix unless you have a specific reason to change it; changing it adds another variable to URL and configuration troubleshooting.
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After importing, verify the database credentials and table prefix in each wp-config.php. Check that the uploads directory ownership allows the web server to read files and that WordPress can write where it needs to create thumbnails, updates, and temporary files. Do not enable caching until the uncached site works, otherwise stale responses can conceal routing or URL mistakes.
Converting separate sites into Multisite blogs
For a conversion into Multisite, export each source with WordPress eXtended RSS (WXR), create the destination blog, and import the WXR into that blog. Copy or install the required themes and plugins in the network, then activate them where appropriate.
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During each import, map authors deliberately. A WXR file can refer to users who do not yet exist in the network; importing without review can create duplicate accounts or assign posts to the wrong owner. Check categories, tags, featured images, attachments, custom post types, menus, widgets, and theme settings after the import.
WXR imports can exceed PHP upload or execution limits. If an import stops partway through, raise the relevant limits for the maintenance window or split the export into smaller files, then check for duplicate posts before retrying. Settings stored outside standard content exports may need to be recreated manually.
Relocating an existing Multisite network
For an existing Multisite move, import the network database and copy the complete network file tree. Review the wp_blogs and wp_site tables, then inspect every site-specific wp_x_options table. The home, siteurl, and fileupload_url values must match the new hostnames and paths.
Do not assume that changing the main site’s URL updates every blog. Multisite domain moves require deliberate database editing and a check of network-level and site-level URL fields.
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A domain or path change affects links in post content, attachment metadata, widgets, options, redirects, and plugin settings. It may also affect serialized PHP values, where a stored string includes its character length. A plain text replacement across an SQL dump can leave those lengths wrong and make the affected option or metadata unreadable.
- List every old hostname and path variant, including protocol changes from HTTP to HTTPS and any
wwwform. - Set the destination’s canonical site and network URLs in the appropriate WordPress settings or database fields.
- Use a search-and-replace method that understands serialized data and can recurse through serialized objects. Run a dry run or equivalent report first.
- Limit replacements to the intended database and tables. In Multisite, include the network tables and each relevant
wp_x_table, but do not alter unrelated data. - Review replacement counts and inspect representative posts, widgets, menus, attachment metadata, and plugin settings.
- Clear caches only after the replacement is complete, then rebuild thumbnails or indexes only when the affected plugin requires it.
Temporary WP_HOME and WP_SITEURL definitions can force WordPress to load at the recovery URL while you repair a broken database. Treat those definitions as an emergency measure: remove them when normal dashboard editing is needed, or the dashboard fields may appear locked or misleading.
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Issue HTTPS certificates for every hostname
Obtain certificates covering the primary domain and all three subdomains, either with individual certificates or a suitable wildcard certificate. The primary domain needs its own certificate when it serves the network or redirects; other mapped domains require certificates that match their hostnames. Server Name Indication (SNI) allows one server to present the correct certificate for multiple hostnames.
Install the certificate chain and private key in the web server, then test each hostname independently. Redirect HTTP to HTTPS only after confirming that the HTTPS version loads the front end and dashboard, sets cookies correctly, serves media, and accepts REST or API requests.
Mixed content can remain after a protocol change because old HTTP URLs may be stored in content or plugin settings. Use the same serialization-safe replacement process for protocol changes, then inspect browser developer-console warnings and representative pages.
Test every site before the public cutover
Use the hosts-file override or staging DNS to exercise each hostname as a separate site. Test while logged out and logged in, and test at least one account with the permissions used by editors and administrators.
- Load the front page, a category or archive, a representative post, and a page with an embedded image or download.
- Open the media library and several original-size images. Confirm that attachment URLs use the intended hostname and protocol.
- Run site search and verify that result links stay on the same subdomain.
- Submit every public form and confirm delivery, autoresponders, spam handling, and webhook callbacks.
- Log in, log out, reset a password, and verify that cookies from one subdomain do not grant access to another site.
- Check scheduled publishing, server cron jobs, backups, and any queue workers.
- Call REST and other API endpoints used by themes, mobile clients, editors, or integrations.
- Inspect redirects, canonical links, XML sitemaps,
robots.txt, and pagination for old domains or incorrect paths. - Test cache purging and confirm that a cached response for one hostname cannot be served for another.
- Attempt a request for a nonexistent hostname and verify that it cannot expose another site’s files or database.
Check the web-server access and error logs while running these tests. A successful page load can still hide PHP notices, permission failures, redirect chains, or blocked API calls.
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- Take a final backup of every source database and the files changed since the first copy.
- Put the old sites into maintenance or read-only mode so no new writes occur during the final synchronization.
- Apply the final database and file changes to the destination. Recheck URL replacements if the final export contains newly written content.
- Confirm certificates, web-server host mappings, firewall rules, scheduled jobs, and monitoring on the destination.
- Change the three DNS records, or the intended wildcard record, to the new server.
- Watch requests arriving at both servers while DNS propagates. Keep the old server available rather than deleting it.
- Monitor PHP and web-server errors, uptime, redirect behavior, search-console coverage, and form delivery.
Define rollback criteria before changing DNS. Examples include data loss, cross-site content exposure, inability to log in, failed payment or form callbacks, or widespread HTTP errors. If a rollback is required, restore the old DNS records, keep the destination untouched for diagnosis, and preserve the final backups and logs.
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Troubleshoot the failures that commonly appear
The hostname reaches the wrong site
Check DNS resolution first, then inspect the web server’s hostname mapping. In Multisite, verify that the blog’s domain and path in the network tables match the requested hostname. In separate installs, verify that the request is hitting the intended document root rather than a default virtual host.
WordPress redirects back to the old domain
Inspect network and site URL fields, hard-coded redirect rules, cache configuration, and serialized plugin options. Check both HTTP and HTTPS forms and remove temporary URL constants after recovery.
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Images return 404 errors
Confirm that wp-content/uploads was copied completely, file permissions allow reads, and attachment URLs were updated. For Multisite, check the site’s upload path and fileupload_url value as well as web-server rewrite rules.
The WXR import is incomplete
Review PHP upload, memory, and execution limits and the importer’s progress. Split the export if necessary, then compare post and attachment counts before repeating an import to avoid duplicates. Recreate settings that WXR does not carry.
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Check that the certificate name matches the exact hostname, the complete chain is installed, and secure cookies are consistent. Inspect mixed-content errors and update stored HTTP URLs with a serialization-aware method.
One site’s cache or files appear on another
Stop the cache layer and inspect cache keys, web-server root directives, and filesystem permissions. Test an invalid hostname and a private page on each site. A site must never be able to read another site’s uploads or database credentials.
Operate the three sites after migration
Keep a written map of hostnames, document roots, databases, backup locations, certificates, cron jobs, and responsible administrators. Schedule backups that can restore either one independent installation or the complete Multisite network, depending on the architecture you chose.
For Multisite, test network-level updates on a staging copy and confirm that a plugin works with every blog before network activation. For separate installs, maintain a patch schedule for all three codebases and track security updates independently. In both models, monitor certificate expiry, disk space, database growth, failed cron events, PHP errors, redirect anomalies, and form delivery.
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Retain the old server and untouched backups until each site has passed a complete business cycle that includes its normal publishing, form, billing, scheduled-job, and reporting activity. Only then should you decommission the old environment.
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