Manage a WordPress Multisite network

WordPress Multisite lets a single WordPress install host many sub-blogs, each with its own URL, authors, and active plugin set — but all sharing the same filesystem. Manage GPL pairs the whole network with one token; you don't pair each sub-blog separately.

How it works

• One Manage GPL Connect plugin install, network-activated on the multisite.
• One pairing token in wp_sitemeta (shared across every sub-blog), so one Manage GPL site row represents the whole network.
• Sub-blogs are discovered automatically after pairing and appear in the blog picker inside the site's page.
• The whole network counts as one site against your plan limit.

Adding a multisite network

1. Install Manage GPL Connect on the network via Network admin → Plugins → Add New → Upload plugin.
2. Click Network Activate (not the per-blog Activate link). Per-blog activation is rejected at pair time because the pairing credentials need to be shared across the whole network.
3. Open Network admin → Settings → Manage GPL Connect and copy the token.
4. In Manage GPL, click Add site and paste the network's URL plus the token. Pair as you would for any single site.

If you accidentally activate the plugin per-blog instead of network-wide, the pair attempt fails with This is a WordPress Multisite network, but Manage GPL Connect is activated per-blog…. Go back and Network Activate from the network admin, then retry.

Updates: filesystem-wide

WordPress Multisite shares one plugins/themes folder across every sub-blog. When you click Update on the network row in Manage GPL, the new version is installed on the filesystem once — every blog sees the new code the instant it finishes. There's no way (or need) to update just one blog; the filesystem doesn't support it.

Installing with a specific activation target

When you open the Add plugin modal on a network's page, a Target blog selector appears next to the Activate after install checkbox. Your choices:

• Main blog only — plugin is installed on the filesystem (visible to every blog) and activated on blog 1. Other blogs see it in Plugins → Installed but have to activate it themselves.
• All blogs (network activate) — the plugin is activated network-wide via wp_sitemeta. Every sub-blog runs it automatically without needing per-blog activation.
• On [specific blog] — the plugin is only activated on that one sub-blog. Useful for sub-blog-specific functionality (e.g., a per-blog contact form).

SSO into a specific sub-blog

The WP Admin button on a network's page is a dropdown: click it to see every sub-blog and pick which one's admin to land in. Clicking the main label drops you on the network admin; picking a sub-blog takes you to that blog's admin. The SSO session is authorized across the whole network, so you can switch between blogs from the top bar in WP once you're in.

Themes

WordPress themes are always per-blog on multisite — there's no "network-active theme". The Switch theme action on Manage GPL (under Themes) takes a blog target when run against a network. Any theme you install on the network is visible to every blog, but activation is always scoped to a single blog.

Maintenance mode

Toggling maintenance mode on a network covers every sub-blog at once — all of them serve the same maintenance page until you turn it back off. Our dashboard doesn't expose a "put only this blog into maintenance" shortcut; for that, use the WP core maintenance flow.

Limitations

• Per-blog uptime monitoring is not supported. Uptime is per-host, and a multisite is one host — one ping covers every blog.
• Per-blog history tabs are not split out yet. Actions logged against a sub-blog show the blog_id in the activity entry but the page is combined.
• Whitelabel is per-network (same filesystem ⇒ same plugin file ⇒ same branding everywhere).

Removing a network

Deleting a network row in Manage GPL removes its sub-blog entries too (they cascade). The Manage GPL Connect plugin stays installed on the WordPress side until you manually remove it; when you do, re-pairing is just Network Activate → copy token → paste.