WordPress Development Site Procedures

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WordPress Development Site Procedures

Add New Development Site to a Development Server

Install base Web site

Determine host name for site. The development site hostname will be the same with "dev." added to the beginning. Enter a task for Dennis to add that host name in DNS as an alias to the development system IP address. (Note all sites on the development system use the same IP address.)

  • Wait for host name to be created and mapped in DNS.
  • Start ISPConfig 
 https://dev.gaslightmedia.com:8080
  • Select "Sites" tab then click on "Add new website" button.
  • In "Server" select current development server - Currently Dev55.
  • In "Client" select "Gaslight Media :: ..."
  • Leave IPv4 address as "*"
  • In "Domain" enter the full host name of the site(s) (i.e. "touristsite.gaslightmedia.com" - "{domain}.gaslightmedia.com" is the current standard for GLM development sites)
  • For "Auto-Subdomain" set as "None"
  • Leave the rest as it is and click "Save".
  • Test that the site is available at the specified host name. If this doesn't work either the site was not installed or the host name DNS is not correct.

Install WordPress

  • Select "Available Packages" under "APS Installed" on the left.
  • Find the desired "WordPress" version and click on the WordPress link.
  • Click the "Install this package" button at the top.
  • Click on the Install Location field picklist and select the desired site.
  • Enter your ID, Password, and E-Mail for the "Administrator's Login"
  • Enter an appropriate "Site name"
  • Click on "Acceptance" then click "Install" and wait for the installation to complete. When done, the sites list will show "Installation_success" for the new site.
  • After a while test that WordPress has been properly installed (might take a few minutes) by going to the host name for the site. There should be no login required for the front-end yet. Also test "{hostname}/wp-admin/". Your ID and password should be required.

Install Development SSL Certificate

  • In ISPConfig, select "Sites", then "Website" on the left, then click on the hostname for the site and finally select the SSL tab under Web Domain.
  • Enter the State, Locality, Organization, and Organization Unit, select the country, and the site hostname for "SSL Domain". At the bottom select "Create certificate" for "SSL Action", then click "Save". It will take a few minutes for the certificate to be created and that to show up in the "SSL Key", "SSL Request", and "SSL Certificate" fields.
  • Now test the secure (https) access to the site. Tell your browser that the certificate is OK and add an exception for this certificate so it doesn't complain again.

Install Multi-Site Network - Optional

  • Switch to root (sudo su -)
  • Edit the wp-config.php for the new site and add the following test above the line that says "/* That's all, stop editing!...". The file should be located at "/var/www/server/{hostname}/web/wp-config.php". 
 /* Multisite */
 define( 'WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE', true );
  • Log into "{site}/wp-admin" with a browser
  • Select Tools then Network Setup
  • Enter desired "Network Title" and "Network Admin Email" and click "Install. Leave radio buttons set to "Sub-Directories"
  • The next screen will show some changes to the wp-config.php file and for your .htaccess file. Do step 1 on that page, but not step 2. (You don't have a .htaccess file under Nginx.)
  • In ISPConfig, select "Sites", then "Website" on the left, then click on the hostname for the site and finally select the Options tab under Web Domain.
  • Paste the following into the "nginx Directives" field then click "Save". 
 location / {
     try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
 }
 rewrite /wp-admin$ $scheme://$host$uri/ permanent;
 if (!-e $request_filename) {
     rewrite ^/([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?wp-admin$ /$1wp-admin/ redirect;
     rewrite ^/([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?(wp-(content|admin|includes).*) /$2 break;
     rewrite ^/([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?(.*\.php)$ /$2 break;
     rewrite ^/(.*)$ /index.php break;
 }

Redirect "Micro-Sites" to a specific multi-site

  • In ISPConfig, select "Sites", then "Aliasdomain for website" on the left, then click on the "Add new aliasdomain" button at the top.
  • Enter the hostname of the micro-site into the "Aliasdomain" field.
  • Select the multi-site network from the "Parent Website" select box. This should be the main site associated with the micro-sites.
  • Select "Proxy" for "Redirect Type"
  • Select "None" for the "Auto-Subdomain" field.
  • Leave "SEO Redirect" blank, "Active" checked, and click the "Save" button at the bottom. In a short time this redirect should become active.

User Access Controls

The plan for user access controls for development sites is the following...

  • No Web based authentication ("Basic Authentication") is used
  • Super-Admin users of course have full access for all sites
  • Other Gaslight Media users need edit access to all sites (Read, edit, or otherwise)
  • All customers are permitted access to the dev.gaslightmedia.com and their own sites under that
  • The default access for customers is read-only for their sites
  • Customers who need edit and other permissions are given that by selecting the correct Role
  • New Roles can be added as needed for more specific types of access
  • The "User Role Editor" plug-in is used to set specific access for each Role


Restrict access to network to registered users - Uses "More Privacy Options" plugin.

"More Privacy Options" plugin must be network activated. Restrict all network access to registered users 

 Select "My Sites", "Network Admin", "Dashboard"
 Select "Settings", "Network Settings" 
 At bottom of page set "Site Visibility" to "Visible only to registered users of this network.
 Click "Save Changes"


When creating a new development site

Set "Site Visibiltiy" to "Visible only to registered user of this site" 

 Select "My Sites", "Network Admin", "Sites"	
 Hover over name of new site and select "Edit"
 Select "Settings" tab
 Scroll to bottom of page and set "More Privacy Options" to "Site Members Only"
 Click "Save Changes"

Add all Gaslight Media non-Super-Admin users to the site 

 Select the Dashboard for the new site
 Click "Users"
 Click "Add New" at the top
 Using the top form on the page, start entering the username for a Gaslight Media non-Super-Admin user
 Select the desired user
 Select the desired role (for clients this will likely be Editor)
 Click "Skip Confirmation Email"
 Select "Add Existing User"
 Repeat for other Gaslight Media non-SuperAdmin users
 Select the desired role for each of these users

Enable "Tree Page View" Plugin 

 Select "CMS Tree Page View" option in the Settings menu
 Click at least "On Dashboard" and "In Menu" for Pages

Enable "GLM Prototypes" Plugin and add Edit capability for "Designer" role 

 The "GLM Prototypes" plugin must have been installed by cloning the git repository for that plugin
 The "User Role Editor" plugin must have been installed in the main dashboad and network activated
 Select the Dashboard for the new site
 Select "Plugins" admin menu item
 Select "Activate" under the GLM Prototype Management plugin name
 Select "Users" admin menu item, then "User Role Editor"
 Select "Add Role" on the right
 Enter "designer" for "Role Name", "Designer" for "Display Role Name" and select "Subscriber" from "Make copy of" picklist
 Click on "Add Role"
 Click "User Role Editor" menu item on left
 Select "Designer" from the picklist at the top
 Click "glm_proto_edit" under "Custom Capabilities" then click "Update" at the right.

Add a customer user account for one or more sites

Add a new customer user account - user does not already exist 

 Select the Dashboard for the desired customer Web site in development
 Click "Users" in the left-hand menu, then "Add New" at the top of the page
 Using the SECOND form on the page (Add New User), enter the desired user name
 Enter an E-Mail address in the form of: {same_user_name}@localhost.localnet
   (Note that this is intended to be a non-deliverable E-Mail address.)
 Select the desired Role - Usually either "Subscriber" or "Editor"
 Click the "Add user without sending an email..." option 
 Click "Add New User"

Add an existing user to another development Web site (so user can access all their sites in development) 

 Select the Dashboard for the desired customer Web site in development
 Click "Users" in the left-hand menu, then "Add New" at the top of the page
 Using the FIRST for on the page (Add Existing User), enter the existing user name
 Select the desired Role - Usually either "Subscriber" or "Editor"
 Click the "Add user without sending an email..." option 
 Click "Add Existing User"
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