WP Multi Network plugin – compatibility, known issues and problems

[AITpro Admin]

Plugin Firewall|WP Multi Network compatibility pending additional testing:  This is a low priority task that has been scheduled for more research and testing and will be performed when time permits.

See test results below:  https://forum.ait-pro.com/forums/topic/wp-multi-network-compatibility-and-known-issues-and-problems/#post-32565

[Max]

Any plan/timetable re compatibility for the Plugin Firewall?

Same Q re ARQ?

I think that it was mentioned awhile back that DB features were in the works to support multiple databases… still true?/will likely work with WP Multi Network?

Cheers, Max

ps. best of my knowledge, WP Multi Network: https://github.com/stuttter/wp-multi-network does not create separate databases…

[AITpro Admin]

Plugin Firewall|WP Multi Network compatibility pending additional testing:  This is going to require additional testing to see if we can create some sort of custom solution for the WP Multi Network plugin.  Once again this plugin is very advanced/custom and only used by a handful of people – current active installs is only 500 installations.  So it is a lower priority task to be looked at after top priority tasks are completed.

Oops yep you are correct that the WP Multi Network Plugin only creates 1 database.  So I will correct that information above in the beginning of this forum topic since both DB Monitor and DB Backup should work ok with this plugin.

I see from this forum topic several months ago that you wanted to know if DB Monitor additional capability would be added to monitor multiple separate databases:  http://forum.ait-pro.com/forums/topic/unable-to-create-some-db-tables-during-setup/  These tasks are still in our Task List, but both DB Monitor and DB Backup additional features to handle additional databases have been put on the backburner for now.  The reasons for that are these:  The amount of coding work and time involved to do these things would be very extensive.  The number of people using advanced level setups or plugins that create mulitiple databases is very low.  I think we are leaning more towards this:  If someone is using/doing something advanced/custom that is not typical/normal WordPress functionality/usage then another custom solution should be found to be used with that advanced/custom solution.  This is not set in stone and we are still evaluating and researching an economical/practical approach/method to create additional things in BPS Pro for these features and still stay on track with our website security focus/features/priorities.

Reference WP Multi Network Plugin:  https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-multi-network/

Turn your WordPress Multisite installation into many multisite networks, surrounding one global set of users.  WP Multi Network allows global administrators to create new networks with their own sites and domain arrangements.

[Max]

Your positions make sense, hope to soon see the plugin firewall become fully functional in multi network context.

FWIW, the 500+ install count only reflects people who have installed via wp.org – many folks may be installing from github files.

Also, there is at least one other major (relatively widely known and used) plugin that exposes the multi-network functionality of WP called Networks+ by Ron Rennick http://wpebooks.com/networks/ which is often used by folks who want a commercially supported solution.

[fun note: Ron Rennick also offers a database drop-in for multiple databases called Shardb http://wpebooks.com/free-plugins/shardb/ – similar to WP Multi Network author JJJ’s LudicrousDB https://github.com/stuttter/ludicrousdb]

IMO multi-network instances are becoming increasingly common – I have worked with several new clients lately who are running such… also, guides like this https://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/network-of-multisite-networks/ are now being offered to the wild…

Finally, here is a link to a WC video http://wordpress.tv/2014/07/26/john-james-jacoby-multisite-and-multi-network/ where JJJ makes the point that “WordPress Multisite is great, but what most people actually want is multiple networks.”

Keep up the great work, please advise if I can be of help with any specific testing =)

Cheers, Max

(ps. for even more fun, scale-oriented WP stuff check this…http://engineering.hmn.md/platform/plugins/)

[AITpro Admin]

WP Multi Network Plugin Testing results:
Testing Environment:
demo1.local: Primary Main First Network
demo2.local: New Network Created
IP Address: Same for both Network Domains: 127.0.0.1

Primary Main First Network Site: The Primary Site contains the full BPS Pro menus and option settings. All subsites of the first Network site have BPS Pro subsite menus.
New Network Site: The Primary site and all subsites contain the BPS Pro subsite menus. New Network sites are treated like they are subsites in a standard Network|Multisite site.

BPS Pro Plugin Firewall AutoPilot Mode:
Plugin Firewall AutoPilot Mode has a conditional HTTP_REFERER Domain matching condition in order to automatically create Plugin Firewall whitelist rules.  If a New Network site has a different Referer domain then Plugin Firewall whitelist rules will not be automatically created by AutoPilot Mode since the Referer Domain does not match the domain of Primary Main First Network.
Solution: UPDATE:  Plugin Firewall Test Mode (BPS Pro 12.9+ versions) can be used instead of using the cURL scanner Pro-Tools to get Plugin Firewall whitelist rules.  Please read the Plugin Firewall Read Me help button for how to use Plugin Firewall Test Mode.  The BPS Pro cURL Scan Multi Page Scanner Pro-Tool can be used to scan other Networks to get Plugin Firewall whitelist rules to add manually in the Plugin Firewall Plugins Script|File Whitelist Text Area box.
Example Usage: Enter the URL to scan in a cURL Multi Page Scanner tool text box: http://demo2.local/multi-network-2-gallery/nggallery/
Example cURL Scan Results: /nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/ajax/static/ajax.min.js
Note: If the cURL Scanner does not detect all frontloading scripts that need to be manually added/whitelisted then any additional Plugin Firewall whitelist rules will need to be manually copied from the BPS Security Log into the Plugin Firewall Plugins Script|File Whitelist Text Area box.
See the Plugin Firewall – Read Me First Troubleshooting forum topic for help information on manually adding Plugin Firewall whitelist rules: https://forum.ait-pro.com/forums/topic/plugin-firewall-read-me-first-troubleshooting/

Possible additional scenario issue/problem: I am not sure if the WP Multi Network plugin allows or works if Network Domains have different IP addresses.
Solution: If additional IP addresses are used for different Network Domains then the IP addresses of the different Network Domains would need to be added in the Plugin Firewall Additional Whitelist Tools > Whitelist by Hostname (domain name) and IP Address text box.

BPS Pro Maintenance Mode:
Maintenance Mode works on all additional Networks, but an inaccurate error message is displayed after turning On MMode, which can be disregarded.
Error: Unable to get/find the site root index.php file for this Network GWIOD – Giving WordPress Its Own Directory – website.
Network GWIOD Site Root index.php File Path Checked: [path-to-file]/index.php
Please copy this error message and send it in an email to info@ait-pro.com for assistance.

All other BPS Pro security features work normally with the WP Multi Network Plugin.

[AITpro Admin]

@ Max – We looked into creating an additional option in BPS Pro DB Backup to allow backing up additional databases and doing something like that would require creating extensive additional code that would allow someone to connect to any other additional databases so that they could be backed up.  Due to the additional complexity of doing something like that we have decided not to go ahead with adding that additional option in BPS DB Backup.  So phpMyAdmin should be used instead to backup multiple databases in cases where someone is using multiple databases for one particular website.  And the same applies to BPS Pro DB Monitor.  The additional complexity is just not worth the time and effort required to do this.

[Author]

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