8,000 sites and counting: running a *huge* wordpress service
DESCRIPTION
Web.unc.edu initially launched in 2009 with the goal of providing an easy-to-use self service blogging platform for UNC's students, faculty and staff. Today, that simple idea has expanded to thousands of websites and is now a collaborative initiative between ITS Web Services and the College of Art and Sciences Information Services (OASIS). This presentation discusses the rewards and challenges of managing and supporting a large WordPress multisite installation, including overseeing security, support, multi-site updates and the task of staying current in a rapidly changing and evolving web landscape.TRANSCRIPT
8,000
Sites and CountingRunning a HUGE WordPress Service
Billy Hylton, Miles Fink, William Earnhardt | #UNCCTC
Who We Are
Billy HyltonManager
Also pretends to be a
surfer and skateboarder.
Will EarnhardtWeb Developer
Can code almost as well
as he can fish.
Miles FinkWeb Developer
Likes his rock classic.
#UNCCTC
WordPress at Carolina
Web.unc.edu
Self service web publishing for
Carolina faculty, staff, and
students.
Sites.unc.edu
Enterprise web platform for
divisions, departments, schools,
and more.
#UNCCTC
WordPress at Carolina
Collaborations
Student Organizations
Greek Community
DH Press
Instructional Resources
Services
Faculty CVs
Portfolios
Much More!
Homepage
Departments
Divisions
Schools
Campus Units
Centers & Institutes
Research Labs
Programs
Student Government
#UNCCTC
WordPress at Carolina
WordPress at Carolina
WordPress at Carolina
WordPress at Carolina
A Few Numbers
Pageviews: 2013-2014
50 Million
#UNCCTC
Sep 20, 2013 – Oct 20, 2014
sites.unc.edu
#UNCCTC
Sep 20, 2013 – Oct 20, 2014
web.unc.edu
#UNCCTC
Pageviews: Sept. – Oct.
6 Million
#UNCCTC
Pageviews by Day
150,000-200,000
#UNCCTC
Multisite Makes it Happen
Single Site vs Multisite
#UNCCTC
Single Site Multisite
One WordPress Install
✓ ✓
One Database ✓ ✓
Supports Themes ✓ ✓
Supports Plugins ✓ ✓
Single Site vs Multisite
#UNCCTC
Single Site Multisite
Number of Websites 1 Unlimited*
*Only limited by system resources
Pros & Cons of Multisite
#UNCCTC
Pros:
Updates
Reusability of code
Shared Database
Security
Shared System Resources
Messaging
Single Sign-On
Cons:
Updates
Reusability of code
Shared Database
Security
Shared System Resources
Single Point of Failure
Security
#UNCCTC
Network Administration
#UNCCTC
Network Administration
#UNCCTC
Going Forward. Together.
Introducing Heelium
Heelium Theme
Built on Roots Theme
Bootstrap-enabled
Flexible sidebars
Fully responsive
UNC-branded
Default web.unc.edu
New UI components
New Shortcode options
#UNCCTC
Unique Similarity
Next Steps
“Refresh” web.unc.edu
More solutions w/ WordPress
App development
Mobile
Development workflow
Security
Collaboration
Your Ideas…
#UNCCTC
Thank You!
You can contact us [email protected]
On the webweb.unc.edu
twitter.com/webdotunc
facebook.com/webdotunc
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