Hide root site in Multisite install

Question

I recently setup a WordPress multisite install using subdomains and the WordPress MU domain mapping plugin.

When I initially setup the domain mapping plugin, I set the root (http://domain.com) and http://www.domain.com to redirect to blog ID 2 (ie. www.domain.com). However, when I do this the redirect on the root prevents me from accessing the Network admin page.

Is there a way I can change the configuration to enable me to still access the Network admin page whilst redirecting the root site to www?

Answer 1

I was in a similar situation recently. I ended up putting the root site on a random subdomain (eg ms.domain.com) With the intention of never using the root site.

With that done, I created a plugin to activate only on the main (root) site.

The plugin hooks into a action that fires only on the front end (template_redirect). From there, call wp_redirect to send your visitors to where they need to be.

<?php
add_action('template_redirect', 'wpse52298_redirect');
/*
 * Redirects all requests to the front end to another site
 *
 * @uses wp_redirect
 */
function wpse52298_redirect()
{
    // change this
    $to = 'http://www.example.com';

    wp_redirect(esc_url($to));
    exit();
}

Cons:

• Loads basically all of WP before redirecting
• Not as fast as redirecting in htaccess

Pros:

• Easy to maintain
• No htaccess foo required

As a plugin.

Answer 2

I recommend using this solution:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^mysite\.com$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/$
Rewriterule ^(.*)$ http://mysecondsite.com/ [L,R=301]

as it preserves the root domain's subdirectories, allowing you to manage the multisite admin dashboard.

Source: How to redirect root and only root via htaccess?