Multi-Site Is Just A Feature Set

As we’ve geared up towards the merge between WordPress MU and WordPress, the word multi-site has popped up a number of times thus giving the impression that WordPress MU would be called multi-site after the merge. I’m one of the few who ended up spreading information that this would be happening but after more discussion, I’ve come to realize that multi-site is not a separate product as WordPress MU was. Instead, it will just be a set of features in WordPress after the merge is completed. This became especially apparent from the discussion revolving around someone in the community registering domains tied to the multi-site features in WordPress. So I just want to say for the record that in due time, WordPress will be known for having a feature that enables multi-site functionality. Jane sums it up pretty well in her forum post in the linked discussion.

Frankly, I’d rather it didn’t have a name at all. It should just be “WordPress.” As in, “I run my 6 sites on WordPress.” Administrative permissions for multiple sites should not drive an artificial product name, IMO. Using ms_ to delineate functions shouldn’t influence how we refer to the application in the wild. I vote we all just call it WordPress, and the stuff that is specific to administration privileges (super admin) not muddy up the product naming.

Think about it. Someone using WP after 3.0 who never knew MU existed will not even think about a separate name for the MU functionality. Movable Type has supported multiple sites forever, as has Blogger. We’re making a big deal out of naming something that should be seamless and not require a name at all. No one talks about “the multisite function” on MT or Blogger, do they? The ability to have multiple blogs is just part of the software, and that’s what it will be like for WP too, after we get used to it.

At the end of the day, it will simply be WordPress with multi-site capabilities.