Drupal 7 Multi-sites configuration - Matt Butcher

Part of Packt publishing’s new Mini Drupal series

Drupal’s Multi sites functionality is one of those hidden little gems that few people know about, use or, to be blunt, need, but is fantastic never the less. I used it quite happily for many years blissfully unaware of how to use it completely properly, but loving the tidiness of having one codebase hosting several sites. Whilst it is a powerful and pitfall laden features, it’s also not terribly complicated to set up and utilise, so I was wondering how one would fill an entire book with the subject, even a ‘mini-book’.

A lot of the book is actually full of beginner to intermediate descriptions on how to install and configure drupal, from more typical methods (MySQL, Virtual hosts etc.) to utilising Vagrant profiles more automated pushing out of virtual machines for local site testing. I’d heard of the later before but hadn’t really tried it and now after seeing how easy it is I’m encouraged and enthused to try the method properly. Whilst reading about the different methods of installing and setting up Drupal is interesting, sticking to just one method and exploring it in detail might have been a better and less disconcerting approach.

The book delves into more behind the scenes and less obvious configuration options for sites, such as modifying settings.php directly, sharing settings files and how best to install and update themes and modules in a multi site setting. Also helpfully covered are some of the gotchas you might miss in a multi site configuration such as Favicons, robots.txt and upgrading core and modules.

Finally it lists a collection of helpful modules that you may or may not have heard of and may or may not find useful, again, not all relevant to multi-site configurations but helpful integration type modules ideal for bringing everything together with external sites and services.

All in all a book with some helpful nuggets, but lacking in some more in-depth exploration of the intended subject.