Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

PostNuke Multisites is currently a hack and is not a true module. An entire rewrite of Multisites is planned for version 0.8, which will improve matters greatly, but for now, every Multisites install is definitely a manual one.

Many users have been greatly frustrated by the extensive steps and changes the standard Multisites install requires. The alternative method that simply joins sites together can be quite an improvement when having problems. It is certainly worth a little extra file space to get the job done painlessly.

But should you have issues with either install, the following sections list some tips that might be helpful.

Wrong Parameters Folder Being Accessed

If your sites are otherwise working great, but it seems when it comes to accessing unshared files in the parameters folders they are all looking at your main site, the problem is likely due to the $SERVER_NAME variable not returning the proper domain name for your subsites. You can test this problem by creating a PHP file with the following code:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Call it test.php and place it in your server's root directory. Load the file in your browser using each of your domains, for example:

http://www.familypets.com/test.php
http://dogs.familypets.com/test.php
http://forums.familypets.com/test.php

At the bottom of the page it creates, you see a table that shows the value of the SERVER_NAME setting, as well as the alternative HTTP_HOST . Use the global variable that contains the proper name for your site in the whoisit.inc.php file to fix the problem.

Unable to Load Database Driver

This fatal error is caused when your site is unable to access the database. You can perform a quick test to be certain everything else is working by renaming the root config.php file and using the backup file of the original configuration. Next trace through the files that create the domain path . Does your whoisit.inc.php file properly strip off all the hostnames and top-level domains for your sites? Check the root config.php file to be certain you don't have a syntax error in your path.

Shared User Logs into Blank Page

Blank pages on login are usually caused by an inaccessible theme. If your sites are set up with shared themes, you probably have a path issue. If you are running combined sites, the problem is likely due to a Xanthia theme that's not been enabled in all your sites. For example, if Site1 is set to themeA by default, and a user is created in Site1, the user's account is set to use themeA. If in Site2 themeA is not available, the screen is blank after the user logs in.

Log the user in to the first site to select a different theme and regain access to the account, or, better yet, install the missing theme on all your sites to prevent further problems.