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Numpty needs opinions on Wordpress Sub Domains

by Alan Ashwood
13 replies
Hi guys - and guesses.

Due to limited budget, I'm thinking of adding a couple of specific sub domains to one of my existing Wordpress domains.

If I do:

1. Am I able to make individual settings different to those on main domain?;

2. Can I use a different theme on the subdomain? My main domain uses a two column arrangement, but ideally, I would like to have all the pages in he subdomain, single column.

Please don't bombard me with css and html code answers though, cos I don't understand!

Would appreciate any help, advice, or even just opinions.

Ta muchly
#domains #numpty #opinions #subdomains #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author run
    Short answer for both your concerns is YES!

    Just install each new WordPress on your sub domains and you're good to go.
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  • Profile picture of the author ElijahM
    Yes and Yes
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  • Profile picture of the author Graham Maddison
    yes you can and don't forget, if they are related make sure you put links from one to the other .. ie I have 5 subdomains under my miss money site .. money itself has quite a few sub niches so i make sure I have links to all in the footer of each site
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    • Profile picture of the author Alan Ashwood
      Originally Posted by Graham Maddison View Post

      yes you can
      and don't forget, if they are related make sure you put links from one to the other .. ie I have 5 subdomains under my miss money site .. money itself has quite a few sub niches so i make sure I have links to all in the footer of each site
      Thanks for the tip Graham.
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  • Profile picture of the author UMS
    A sub-domain is just like a completely separate domain in that you have a completely separate WordPress installation and install whatever themes/plugins/content you like.
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    • Profile picture of the author wholesale blogger
      Hi Alan, as mentioned you can have as many sub domains as you are allowed by your hosting firm and package. Mine for example allows for one sub domain.

      You would set it up in your control panel and I found it really easy and Im not a techie.

      Your sub domain will have its own domain name (Dont forget to buy one and it will need to be on the same host I think)

      The only problem I think is that if your main site is hacked then your sub domain is also insecure. You don't want all of your money makers going down at once do you?

      I see you are looking at cost, but my host (UK based) called Krystal has standalone plans for £2.99 pm which will avoid such issues.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alan Ashwood
        Originally Posted by wholesale blogger View Post


        Your sub domain will have its own domain name (Dont forget to buy one and it will need to be on the same host I think)
        Thanks for your reply, but . . .

        Surely the host allocates a domain name automatically, such as:

        http://newsubdomain/yourmaindomain.com ?

        I don't think you can install Unique domain name as you subdomain.

        Or am I wrong?
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        • Profile picture of the author run
          Originally Posted by Alan Ashwood View Post

          Thanks for your reply, but . . .

          Surely the host allocates a domain name automatically, such as:

          http://newsubdomain/yourmaindomain.com ?

          I don't think you can install Unique domain name as you subdomain.

          Or am I wrong?
          Subdomains has its own unique content/site as you prefer, but it's still depend on a main domain to exist.

          Subdomain will have the structure like this for example:

          - Your main domain: www.yourmaindomain.com
          - Your subdomain could be: alan.yourmaindomain.com OR forum.yourmaindomain.com OR xyz.yourmaindomain.com
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          • Profile picture of the author Alan Ashwood
            Originally Posted by run View Post

            Subdomains has its own unique content/site as you prefer, but it's still depend on a main domain to exist.

            Subdomain will have the structure like this for example:

            - Your main domain: www.yourmaindomain.com
            - Your subdomain could be: alan.yourmaindomain.com OR forum.yourmaindomain.com OR xyz.yourmaindomain.com
            That's what I thought.

            Thanks for clarifying
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  • Profile picture of the author zetetician
    Hi Alan,

    It's easier to understand if you think of it like a tree structure.

    My webhost allows unlimited subdomains and addon domains, so I have several websites there. Here's how they're set up - and I'm far from being a techie.

    First website - had to buy name at domain registrar, point to webhost: 123.com. This is the trunk of the tree.

    Addon domains - each bought separately at domain registrar, pointed to webhost: ABC.com, DEF.com, GHI.com etc. While these appear externally in the web browser as standalone domains, inside cPanel they appear as main branches off the trunk, which confused me for a while 123/ABC.com, 123/DEF.com and so on.

    Subdomains - these are branchlets off the main trunk or the main branches. They do not need to be registered individually at a domain registrar. When you create them inside cPanel you just click on the website name you want them attached to. But they do appear externally in the web browser as a prefix of the site they're attached to. Eg: abc.ABC.com, jkl.ABC.com, def.DEF.com, pqr.123.com etc.

    Pros - Unlike addon domains, subdomains do not have to be paid for or renewed, can have their own website setup - separate wp themes, configurations etc. A bunch of addons coming up for renewal together can make the monthly budget stagger a little. However they do appear as a prefix, not as an individual domain.

    Cons - If you ever need techie work on your website, the techie basically has access to ALL your domains since they all go through the cPanel of the main trunk 123.com. Can cause a few qualms and pangs.

    (This can be avoided by a reseller setup when each website has its own cPanel and individual access, but of course that is more expensive).

    Took me a while to get my head round all this...

    Mekhola
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  • Profile picture of the author wholesale blogger
    Sorry, yes the guys are right here and I was talking about an add on domain.

    I, as many have several domains held with our web hosts and I use the add on's as I like to have a stand alone site abc.com that I need to pay no extra hosting cost for.

    The sub domains just look messy to me. also, and to add to what Zetician says, if you ever want to sell the sub domain it will be difficult to separate also in terms of the techie side.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alan Ashwood
      Originally Posted by wholesale blogger View Post

      Sorry, yes the guys are right here and I was talking about an add on domain.

      I, as many have several domains held with our web hosts and I use the add on's as I like to have a stand alone site abc.com that I need to pay no extra hosting cost for.

      The sub domains just look messy to me. also, and to add to what Zetician says, if you ever want to sell the sub domain it will be difficult to separate also in terms of the techie side.
      Yes - I have several ADDON Domains for exactly the same reason (save hosting costs). The SUB Domains are only a few pages each, and will save Domain Registration AND Hosting costs.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alan Ashwood
        One of my subscribers got really sneaky. He was on a VERY restricted budget, and had to find ways to make the money stretch, so -

        He chose a hosting service (Justhost) who offers a Free Domain with their hosting package.

        1. He took the hosting for 4 years (saving money), and registered his one and only domain with them as the free domain.

        So. Hosting covered for 4 years, and No Domain Registration, or RENEWALS.

        Installed Wordpress on the host, lets call it skrunging.com

        He than added 4 SUBDomians to the main domain, effectively giving him four more sites, on which he installed 4 separate Wordpress installations.. They were mainly for sales and squeeze pages etc., so traffic would be handled elsewhere.

        End Result:

        1. skrunging.com
        2. aaa.skrunging.com
        3. bb.skrunging.com
        4. ccc.skrunging.com
        5. ddd.skrunging.com
        Wait for it . . .

        he has since added 3 ADDON Domains, hosted on skrunging.com, so he only had to pay domain registrations for those (no additional hosting):

        skrunging.com/
        1. xxx.co.
        2. yyy.co
        3. zzz.com
        Result:

        8 completely unique websites, for the price of one hosting account and 3 domain registrations.

        HOW COOL IS THAT?

        I wish he'd told me all this before I asked the question!

        Thanks to everybody who helped me here.
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