@fernandomoe, it really depends on how you want you to handle this. CNAME is one way of going, the other, is creating catch-all configurations in the web server. WPMUDEV has created an in depth guide guide on Multisite configuration and setup, so you might also want to take a look at it too.
WPMUDEV’s Multisite guide for domain mapping (and others): https://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/wordpress-multisite-masterclass-domain-mapping/
Thanks cspiliakos,
I feel the cname details should be in the codex?
the link is from 2016 and talks about plugins that are not needed since WP 4.5
I’ll try this
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CNAME records map a domain to another domain. So in the example above, http://mysite.com might have a CNAME record of http://mynetwork.com/mysite. Using this saves you having to have a unique IP address.
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@fernandomoe true, it does, but it really depends on how you work with your local WP Multisite. I’ve found that in some rare cases the A record was much more helpful than a CNAME. Also, do remember that domain mapping can also happen on a server level (vhost configuration, etc.), so it really depends on how you setup your own installation/server.
One thing I’m also not sure about, as I’ve seen it once, is that at some point there should be an A record pointing to an IP for the domain, otherwise you may have an issue. At least that was the case when a registrar wouldn’t allow me to switch the main domain to a CNAME w/out an A record present. It could be an issue from their end, but just in case, do check this one out as well.
I had a similar issue at first. That’s because I had set up a cpanel account for the domain. Assuming the main site is MAIN.com and the new site is NEW.com I had to delete the cpanel account for NEW.com, then change the A record of NEW.com to point to the IP address of MAIN.com. In MAIN.com I set up the subdirectory (the new site) but it still didn’t work. I had to browse to My Sites > Network Admin > Sites then choose the NEW site you created (e.g. MAIN.com/new which is also where you want NEW.com to go) then click EDIT. On the INFO tab under Site URL, you need to put the domain name e.g. NEW.com. I had MAIN.com/new but that was what was causing the problem. This has to be NEW.com so that when the DNS points to MAIN.com it looks for NEW.com. Good luck, It’s actually pretty awesome once you get it set up properly.
One more thing – I also had to flush my DNS cache and clear the browser’s history. Even though I had deleted the cpanel account I was still getting the server default message until I cleared the DNS cache and the browsing history. As far as I know it’s still ipconfig /flushdns for windows boxes. Newer versions of OS X get flushed from terminal by typoing the following command: sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
It would make sense that I can still set up a cpanel account and add email etc but for some reason I had to delete it first.
