Using a CMS across multiple domains?

[Kadence]

Anyone know how a multi-domain CMS might be made? I know there are some CMSes like Typo3 that have this functionality.

What I'm looking to do is create a single directory on my server with the site files (a hand-coded CMS I would have made), and then have that process requests from a series of domains. e.g., if the CMS script is in /centraldir/, then http://examplesite.org would show the results of /centraldir/index.php?domain=examplesite.com or something like that.

I suppose this should be possible utilizing DNS entries and/or .htaccess. Anyone know of any resources about this, or have any examples of a CMS that can do this (and how)?

[dklynn]

Kadence,

I'd say that it's possible to share a database on the same server (as localhost) so it would be possible to use the same (or similar) scripts to access. I do that for a client with a database that's NOT associated with his site but another (mine) on the same server.

Regards,

DK

[Kadence]

dklynn, thanks for the reply.

I am aware that you can share access to a database. However I was thinking that there should be some way to do this, without having to place the whole CMS in every domain's directory. Some way to tell the system "Hey--the CMS for this domain is really located in this other directory, even though the content for this domain is unique...". So that only one install of a CMS is necessary; and things can be centralized so that if something needs to be changed, it applies to all domains using the CMS.

[ArunK]

Try Social MPN, its yet another fork, this one is based on myPHPNUke.

Social MPN is a multi-site Web portal and CMS built upon myPHPNuke. It allows you to create hundreds of Websites with only one server installation. It handles multiple domains and sub-domains, and each site can be kept completely separate from the others or integrated to any degree, including the sharing or article, reviews, and forums. It is perfect for schools and large corporations. The system is fully integrated, with two choices of forum systems, a journaling system, and live help.

Hotscripts Download Link. I installed it, but I didn't really like it..

[dklynn]

Kadence,

I haven't seen ArunK's script but I've heard that myPHPNuke has security issues (true or not?).

I would think that it would be a simple matter to iframe the common script across your sites (and protect it by .htaccess to eliminate unauthorized hotlinks - I do this for one important script of mine which is powered by a database).

Regards,

DK

[ArunK]

I've heard of a few security issues with PHP-Nuke, but nothing specifically about Social MPN. Then again, I haven't been following up on it since I first tried it more than 5-6 months ago, so I can't say for sure. Do a Google search and check out the results. Better safe than sorry.

[Kadence]

ArunK, thanks for telling me about that. I'll see if I can maybe figure out how SoccialMPN is managing the multi-site functionality by looking at the source code.

I think that a multi-site CMS would require a virtual host entry for each domain; something like:

<VirtualHost *>
ServerName www.examplesite.org
DocumentRoot /centraldir/
</VirtualHost>

However I'm not sure how to tell the CMS which site is being accessed, other than $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'].

dklynn, I think the iFrame thing would work, but I'm not sure I would want to do that; I think it might be problematic, for search engines among other things. Thanks for the suggestion though.