For the proper use of the MainWP system, it is required to Install and Activate the MainWP Dashboard plugin on a WordPress site that is going to be used for controlling all other sites (Dashboard Site) and to Install and Activate the MainWP Child plugin on all your WordPress sites that will be connected later your MainWP Dashboard (Child Sites).
It is not required; however, it is HIGHLY recommended to install the MainWP Dashboard to a clean WordPress installation and not on one of your operating sites. This helps to eliminate any unnecessary plugin conflicts.
MainWP has no limit so you can add as menu Child Sites as you want; however, be sure to check the System Requirement page and verify that your server will be able to handle the wanted number of child sites.
Install MainWP Dashboard
Go to the WP > Plugins page on your WordPress site that is dedicated to hosting the MainWP Dashboard plugin
Click Add New to install a new plugin
In the Search Field, enter “MainWP” and press the Enter key
In search results, find the MainWP Dashboard plugin and click the Install Now button
Once the installation is done, click the Activate to activate the plugin.
Manual Installation
Download the MainWP Dashboard plugin to your desktop.
If downloaded as a zip archive, extract the plugin folder to your desktop.
With your FTP program, upload the plugin folder to the wp-content/plugins folder in your WordPress (Dashboard site) directory online.
Go to WP > Plugins screen and find the MainWP Dashboard plugin in the list.
Click Activate to activate it.
Quick Setup Wizard
Right after installing the MainWP Dashboard plugin, the Quick Setup Wizard will be initiated. It is designed to quickly walk you through MainWP Dashboard settings and optimize your MainWP Dashboard plugin for the best user experience.
If you don’t want to go through the setup wizard, you can skip and proceed to your MainWP Dashboard by clicking the Not right now button. If you change your mind, you can come back later by starting the Quick Setup Wizard from the MainWP > Settings > Tools page!
Introduction
The first step welcomes you with a general note and an option to continue with the quick setup wizard or skip it.
System
MainWP Dashboard will check the most critical server configuration settings. If any of the listed checks don’t meet MainWP System Requirements, it is HIGHLY recommended to resolve the issue(s) before trying to connect your first child sites.
Connect
On this step, you can connect a Single Site or Multiple Sites.
Single Site
Select the “Connect a Single Site” radio button.
First, verify that you have the MainWP Child plugin installed on the website that you want to connect
Once the Add Site form appears,
Enter the site URL
Enter the site Administrator username of the child site
Connection authentication method(s): Choose options based on your MainWP Child plugin setup on the WordPress site you want to connect.
Administrator Password: This is optional but enabled by default.
Unique Security ID: This is also optional but disabled by default.
Both of these options, including the Unique Security ID value can be found in the MainWP Child plugin settings page: your-child-site.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=mainwp_child_tab
Enter the administrator password for the site
If the Unique Security ID is enabled on the child site, enter the ID in the corresponding field
Enter the Site Title
Click the Connect button
Repeat the process for all sites that you want to add.
Once done, click the Continue button
Multiple Sites
Select the “Connect Multiple Sites” radio button.
On this tab, you can choose to connect multiple sites by entering site information in the table below. For more information about how this works, please see this KB.
Or you can upload the CSV file to Import sites – For more information about how CSV upload works, please see this KB.
Add Client
On this step, you can create Clients – either a single client or multiple clients.
To create a single client,
enter the Client Name (the only required field)
Client email email
Client photo
Client phone
You can also add a Client Contact, by clicking Add Additional Contact.
New fields will be then revealed for the Contact.
To create multiple clients,
Click the Multiple Clients tab
For each site you’ve imported, please enter the Client Name and Client Email.
If the same client name and email are used across multiple sites, those sites will be merged and assigned to a single client profile.
You can always update or edit this information later from the Clients module in your MainWP Dashboard.
Once you’re done with creating Clients, click Continue.
Monitoring
If you want to use the Uptime and Health monitoring features to check your sites, here you can enable it and set how often to check.
Finish
Congrats! Now, you can start using your MainWP Dashboard.
Important Notes:
The MainWP Quick Setup Wizard can be activated at any time from the MainWP > Settings > Tools page.
If you are not sure about any of the options, you can always use the Skip this Step button.
If you need to go back and tweak any of the options from the previous steps, use the Back button.
Install MainWP Child
Go to the WP > Plugins page on your Child site that you want to add to your MainWP Dashboard
Click Add New to install a new plugin
In the Search Field, enter “MainWP” and press the Enter key
In search results, find the MainWP Child plugin and click the Install Now button
Once the installation is done, click the Activate to activate the plugin.
Manual Installation
Download the MainWP Child plugin to your desktop.
If downloaded as a zip archive, extract the plugin folder to your desktop.
With your FTP program, upload the plugin folder to the wp-content/plugins folder in your WordPress (Dashboard site) directory online.
Go to WP > Plugins screen and find the MainWP Child plugin in the list.
Click Activate to activate it.
After activating the plugin, you will be redirected to the MainWP Child plugin Settings.
MainWP Child plugin Settings
Administrator Password: This is optional but enabled by default. When enabled, you will have to enter the admin password in the MainWP Dashboard when you are adding this child site.
Unique Security ID: This is also optional but disabled by default. The Unique Security ID will need to match when being added to the Main Dashboard. This feature is particularly valuable for sites requiring stricter access controls.
Set Connection Timeout: Specify how long the plugin should stay active if a connection isn’t established. Enter a value in minutes.
For more information about connection security, please see here.
Add a Site to Your MainWP Dashboard
As soon as you have added the MainWP Child plugin to your website, you should add that website to your MainWP Dashboard. Adding your website to the MainWP Dashboard is easy if you follow these steps to do this:
Log in to your Dashboard site and navigate to Sites > Sites > Add New page
Enter your website URL
Toggle on Verify that the MainWP Child plugin is installed and activated to reveal additional fields
Enter an Administrator Username of the child site
Connection authentication method(s): Choose options based on your MainWP Child plugin setup on the WordPress site you want to connect. Please note that the options chosen here will be remembered next time you add a child site.
Administrator Password: This is optional but enabled by default.
Unique Security ID: This is also optional but disabled by default.
Both of these options, including the Unique Security ID value can be found in the MainWP Child plugin settings page: your-child-site.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=mainwp_child_tab
Enter your website Friendly Name (optional).
In the Optional Settings section (all of the options here are indeed optional):
Upload site icon: Upload a custom site icon. If left empty, the site favicon will be used.
Select icon: Select one of the many built-in icon for this site. The uploaded site icon takes priority over the ones chosen here.
Tags: Add the website to existing Tags or type in a new Tag to create it
Client: Associate the site with a Client
Verify SSL certificate: If your website uses an SSL Certificate, select if you wish your MainWP Dashboard to verify the certificate before connecting the website. If you are using an out of date or self-assigned SSL Certificate and you are having trouble with connecting a Child Site, try to disable the SSL Certificate verification and see if that helps.
SSL version: If your website doesn’t use an SSL Certificate, skip this field and leave the default value.
HTTP username and password: In case your website is protected with the HTTP Basic Authentication, enter your username and password in the HTTP username and HTTP password fields. If you don’t use HTTP Basic Authentication on your website, skip these fields and leave them blank.
Press the Add New Site button
Extensions Settings Synchronization
If you are using MainWP Extensions that require a third-party plugin to be installed on your website that you are adding to your MainWP Dashboard, additional options will appear in the Add New Site form.
Extensions that require a 3rd party plugin to be installed will allow you to install the plugin and synchronize default extension settings automatically.
Extensions that don’t integrate with any plugin will only allow you to synchronize extension default settings.
Set your preferences and process of adding your site.
Important Notes:
If you are experiencing issues with adding a website to your MainWP Dashboard, please use the Test Connection feature to make sure that your MainWP Dashboard can communicate with your website.
Also, you can check the Potential Issues document and see how to resolve them.
If any of these don’t help, do not hesitate to submit a helpdesk ticket!
Test Connection
The Test Connection feature is specifically testing what your MainWP Dashboard can “see” and what your MainWP Dashboard “sees” and what my MainWP Dashboard “sees” or what your browser “sees” can be completely different things.
To be sure that your Child Site can be connected to your MainWP Dashboard, first, you need to make sure that your MainWP Dashboard can communicate with the Child Site.
To verify that a Child Site can be connected to your MainWP Dashboard:
Go to the MainWP > Sites > Add New page
Enter your Child Site URL
Click the Test Connection button.
The result of the test will appear after a few seconds at the top of the page. In case you get a different result than
Connection test successful! (URL: yoururl.com (IP: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) - Received HTTP-code: 200 (OK))
there is a possibility that your child site won’t be able to connect to your MainWP Dashboard.
Important Notes:
To find out more about what your HTTP Status Code means, please check the full list of HTTP Status Codes.