Although WordPress and WordPress MU share somewhere around 95% of the same code, there are many more differences between the two than just multi-blog support. Here’s a thorough analysis:
| WordPress | WordPress MU |
|---|---|
|
Supports one blog with multiple bloggers. |
Supports multiple blogs and multiple bloggers. Bloggers can write for multiple blogs. |
|
Famous for its “5 minute install.” |
Setup is more involved. |
|
No advanced hosting requirements. |
Your host needs to support wildcard DNS to use the subdomains feature. |
|
Instant installation (through Fantastico, etc.) supported by many webhosts. |
FTP time! |
|
Each user is assigned a role level (subscriber, contributor, author, editor, administrator). |
In addition to the standard WordPress roles, you can also specify “site admins” who can add/edit/delete all blogs and users. |
|
WordPress receives updates first. |
MU users must wait for WordPress updates to be applied to WordPress MU. |
|
Administrators can edit themes, plugins, and code files from within WordPress. |
The Theme Editor, Plugin Editor, and Manage Files sections are all disabled for security reasons. |
|
Plugins can be enabled/disabled by the blog administrator. |
The site admin can opt to have plugins disabled altogether (the default setting), or allow blog administrators to enable/disable plugins that have been uploaded. Plugins can also be uploaded to a special “mu-plugins” folder, where they will be executed automatically on all blogs. (Some plugins won’t function property when run this way, however.) |
|
If you have multiple blogs running standard WordPress, you’d need to upload plugin updates to each one. |
Plugins for all WordPress MU blogs are stored in one place. Update once, and it takes effect on all the site’s blogs. |
|
If you have multiple blogs running standard WordPress, you’d need to login to each one separately to access the administration. |
You can switch between blog admins using a simple drop-down menu. |
|
Allows you to use most HTML in your posts, but strips out PHP. |
In addition to removing PHP, WordPress MU is more strict in regards to what post HTML it accepts. For example, it will strip out class/ID attributes, inline styles, <span> tags, etc. |
|
WordPress allows posting via email. |
WordPress MU lacks this feature. |
|
WordPress lets you customize its list of update services. |
WordPress MU doesn’t let you specify update services. |
Are there any other differences between WordPress and MU that I missed? Let me know in the comments!
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11 Comments
Nope, I think you got ‘em all.
Hi! One question, how do you add the nofollow tag to the “Rear more” links in the homepage???
@Andrea_R: Thanks for the comment, and the link!
@il maistro: I did it using my WordPress Tweaks plugin. The plugin supports 12 tweaks, one of which is the nofollow’d “Read more” links one.
Hi,
what about multilanguage support ?
is there a way to demo Mu before I install?
@Gilles: Each blogger on WPMU can select a language for their blog. It’s up to the administrator to provide the necessary language files though.
@Joan: To test drive MU, check this site out: testdrivewpmu.com
Being fully aware of the security implications, how do you enable the Theme Editor, Plugin Editor, and Manage Files sections?
@Max: The only way to re-enable those sections would be to alter the WordPress MU source code. There’s no way to re-enable them from within the administration interface.
However, you may want to check out the Custom CSS plugin, which allows users to create custom stylesheets.
Thanks for the information ….. at least now i know which one to choose in setting my intranet wordpress cms project.
Great post. It clearly explained the differences between WP and WP-MU.
Finally a well written comparison of the 2 types of WordPress, which I’ve been struggling with for months. My main site is moving back to “single” while I’ll keep syndicated sites on MU, one per content category.
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