Connecting Multiple Domains to a Single WordPress Server (How to Use Additional Domains)
Once you’ve completed setting up your WordPress blog and start running it, you’ll often feel the need for additional blogs. The main reason is that people want to write on various topics and categorize them by blog. Today, we’ll look at how to create blogs using multiple domains on a single server.
Creating Blogs by Connecting Multiple Domains to a Single Server
This post is based on ChemiCloud, the WordPress cPanel hosting server recommended by WPlaybook. There are generally two main scenarios for creating a second blog:
- Creating a second blog with an additional domain that is independent from the primary domain
- Creating a second blog under a subdomain of the primary domain
In this post, we’ll explain how to create a second blog using the first method—by setting it up on a domain independent from the primary domain.
If you’re not familiar with the concepts of primary domains, additional domains, and subdomains, please read our post on “Understanding Domain Naming by Usage.” This will help you clearly understand your situation and properly set up your second blog.
The following instructions assume that your domain's nameservers have been switched over to ChemiCloud for additional domains. If you purchased your domain from NameChip and have not yet switched your domain's nameservers to ChemiCloud, please see how to change your nameservers!
Adding a Domain in Hosting Using cPanel
When using an addon domain to create a blog, the very first step is to register the domain with your hosting account. In the case of ChemiCloud, since it uses the cPanel system, you’ll begin by registering the domain through cPanel.
On the cPanel dashboard, click on Tools on the left-hand side, then navigate to the domain-related section in the middle. Since we need to register a domain, click on Domains.
Next, click the Create A New Domain button located on the left side to add a new domain.
Next, on the domain input screen that appears, the information you need to enter will differ depending on whether you’re registering an addon domain or a subdomain.
How to Register an Addon Domain in cPanel
For example, let’s assume you are registering the domain wp-playbook.com as an addon domain. Here’s how you would fill out the form:
Simply enter wp-playbook.com in all the required fields. Be sure to uncheck the box that appears in the middle of the screen. Also, when filling out the Subdomain section, exclude the top-level domain (like .com)—just input the name portion.
After completing all the fields, click the Submit button. After a short wait, you should see the newly added domain appear in your domain list.
As shown in the image above, you can confirm that the domain wp-playbook.com has been successfully added, and that the root folder (Document Root) for this domain is /wp-playbook.com. Now, all you need to do is install another instance of WordPress in this folder!
Installing WordPress on the Addon Domain
From the left-hand section of the cPanel main screen, select WP Toolkit. This will bring up the familiar WordPress management screen. Click the Install button at the top—since we’re about to install a new WordPress site!
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Then, on the screen that appears, enter the following
One important thing to note when setting the installation path is that you must select your addon domain. Make sure to enter your addon domain correctly!
You can set the WordPress Administrator information however you like, but it’s a good idea to remember these details for future reference.
After clicking the Install button and waiting a moment, you’ll see the Installation Complete message. When prompted about installing recommended plugins, choose No, thanks and exit. You’ll now be able to see WordPress successfully installed on your addon domain.
From this point on, the setup process is the same as with any standard WordPress installation, so we’ll skip the detailed explanation. As a side note, SSL is automatically configured for addon domains, so you don’t need to worry about that!
To complete your WordPress blog setup, simply continue watching from Lesson 3 of WPlaybook “Creating a WordPress Blog” series! 🙂
