1. Getting Started

Each member of WPMU DEV receives a free hosted site/sites included with their membership.

We do this by applying a fixed amount of credit to your account to be used on hosting. Spend it however you want!

Amount of credit given and the number of our hosted sites you can create is in direct relation to the type of membership you’re on:

• Starter: $10 credit – 1 hosted site of any level
• Pro: $20 credit – 2 hosted sites of any level
• Agency: $50 credit – an unlimited number of sites

You can see more about our pricing here https://premium.wpmudev.org/pricing

All members, including those on an introductory free trial, can create new hosting sites as needed.

Just log in to the ‘Hub’ and click on the ‘Hosting’ link. Look for the ‘+’ sign in the top left corner to begin.

Important Information:

• Your ‘Site Title’ can be changed at any time in the future
• Your ‘Temporary Destination Domin’ CAN NOT be changed in the future. This is the link you will use to access the site before you configure DNS and choose a final primary domain.
• Your ‘WordPress admin’ user information can be changed in the future. Do remember the password you set in order to access the WordPress Dashboard once the site is ready. If you lose it, you can always do a password reset by email.
• The ‘Server’ location CAN NOT be changed in the future without changing DNS information. The best idea is to always choose the location closest to where the majority of your sites’ visitors are.
• You can convert a single site to a ‘Multisite’ network in the future, but it is much more challenging to go the other way.

Bringing over an existing site is easy. When creating the new site, make sure that the site is already added to our Hub, and then select the option to ‘Migrate An Existing Site’ and follow the prompts.

The new WordPress instance will first be created on our hosting. Then, you will be asked for (S)FTP information to begin the migration process.

If you run into any trouble, just start a live chat or create a support ticket, and our team will help manually migrate too.

Members are free to choose the region in which their data is stored. We currently maintain regional hosting facilities in the following locations:

• Canada (Toronto)
• Germany (Frankfurt)
• India (Bangalore)
• Netherlands (Amsterdam)
• Singapore
• United Kingdom (London)
• USA East (New York City)
• USA West (San Francisco)

All hosted customer data, backups, storage, and files are fully stored in these regions.

More hosting locations will be made available as our data center partner, Digital Ocean, brings them online.

Changing Regions
Members are free to migrate sites from one region to another at any time but should be aware that our hosted backups are regionally isolated and cannot be migrated with the site. Members should download any hosted backups they wish to preserve before initiating the migration. Hosting backups cannot be accessed from a different region, and we cannot move them for you after the fact.

Also, migrating a site to a new region will require the assignment of a new dedicated IP address, so all DNS settings will have to be reconfigured, including any IP address-dependent plugins or integrated apps.

Finally, there is downtime to consider. The original site will cease to function the moment the migration begins. The time required for the migration depends on the size of the site or sites being moved, and once the site is up in its new region, how long it takes to reconfigure its plugins and apps depends largely on the skill of the admins.

Each site that we host gets its own plan, complete with its own dedicated memory, CPUs, storage, and usage limits.

You can see all plans and specs here.

You can upgrade plans at any time. You can also downgrade a plan at any time, however, please note that downgrading more than one level may require a DNS change and for our support team to help process manually. This is because of technical limitations around storage space in the environment. In these cases, we’ll set up a new hosting environment at the desired plan, and manually migrate the site’s files and content over.

We do not set hard limits on visits, bandwidth, or traffic, but we do provide recommended visit levels for each plan to help you determine which plan will be right for you. Your site will have lower performance, including brief outages, when your memory and CPU resources are maxed out.

Factors that might use more resources and thus require you to upgrade include:

• WordPress Multisite – Multisite networks are more taxing on server resources, especially Subdomain installs and those Multisite where you will have many logged in users.
• Membership Sites – Membership sites receive a higher percentage of traffic where users are logged in, which means that caching systems in place are not as helpful in managing their load.
• e-Commerce Sites – Similar to Membership sites, increase logged in activity for checkout can cause higher server load.
• Poorly coded themes or plugins, or those that require significant interaction with the database. Some themes and plugins just aren’t as efficient for performance as others. They may also add features that require higher processing loads.

Unlike many hosts, we support (and encourage!) the use of WordPress Multisite on all plans.

However, you should be aware that WordPress Multisite networks will use more server, CPU, and memory resources than standard WordPress single installs. So, if you have more than a handful of sites, you might find you need one of the higher plans to meet your WordPress Multisite network’s needs.

Subdirectory installations (ie. mysite.com/sitename) can be created by you in your Hosting Hub.

Subdomain installations (ie. sitename.mysite.com) require manual work from our support team. Before converting or migrating a WordPress Multisite subdomain install, we need to be sure that you are able to:

1. Configure wildcard DNS for the desired domain with your domain registrar
2. Provide us with a wildcard SSL certificate for the desired name.

Please contact support to start the process for a subdomain install.

NOTE: There is a known issue with a limited set of valid file types triggering a security validation error when users attempt to upload them with the WordPress media uploader. This document covers some options for overcoming that issue. You can track WordPress efforts to resolve the issue at WordPress.org.

This guide covers how to safely modify the WordPress default limits on the size and type of files that can be uploaded to the media library and includes usage instructions regarding the following topics:

WPMU Dev Max Upload File Size
WordPress Default File Types
Adding/Removing File Types in Multisite
Modifying the File Size Upload Limit in Multisite
Adding/Removing File Types in Standard Installations
Adding Custom File Types in Standard Installations
Modifying the File Size Upload Limit in Standard Installations

After reading this guide, if you still have questions regarding file upload limits or you need help setting the right limits for your site, don’t hesitate to start a live chat with our hosting support Superheroes or submit a support ticket using the Support tab of your WPMU DEV Dashboard.

WPMU DEV Max Upload File Size

The maximum file upload size for all WPMU DEV-hosted sites is 128mb, regardless of hosting plan. Members can restrict the size of uploaded files, but the maximum size cannot be increased.

Files larger than 128mb should be uploaded by SFTP/SSH. See our SFTP & SSH documentation for information on how to upload files larger than 128mb.

To view the current maximum upload size for any site, navigate to the WordPress media uploader: Dashboard > WP Admin > Media > Add News. The upload size limit will be displayed at the bottom of the UI.

WordPress Default File Types

Members can add or remove file types from the allowed upload list as needed, but should keep in mind that each added file type creates a potential security risk for your site or network. We recommend that you add only those file types you need.

WordPress allows uploading of these file types by default:

Images: jpg, jpeg, png, gif, ico
Documents: pdf, doc, docx, ppt, pptx, pps, ppsx, odt, xls, xlsx, psd
Audio: mp3, m4a, ogg, wav
Video: mp4, m4v, mov, wmv, avi, mpg, ogv, 3gp, 3g2

Changing Multisite Upload Limits

Multisite admins can adjust both the file size and file type limits in their Network Settings, located here: Dashboard > Network Admin > Settings > Network Settings.

Scroll down to the Upload Settings section where you will find the Upload file type and Max Upload File Size fields.

Adding/Removing File Types in Multisite

In the Upload file types field enter the file extensions of the file types you want to add, separating the extensions with a single space. Delete the extensions of file types you do not want to be uploaded.

Modifying the File Size Upload Limit in Multisite

In the Max Upload File Size field enter a size, in kilobytes, up to 12800kb (128mb) to set the max size for files uploaded to this network.

Click Save Changes, and that’s all there is to it. The new file size limit will apply to every site within this network.

Changing Upload limits in Standard Installations

If you’ve seen the error message below, then you’ve tried to upload a file type that is not on your site’s upload allowed list or has failed a WordPress security validation test.

Adding/Removing File Types in Standard Installations

We’re going to show you how the plugin WP Extra File Types can resolve either issue. The first thing to do is install and activate the plugin.

While we’re at it, we will show you how to use this plugin to identify why a file might trigger a security validation error, information that will be helpful if a particular file type or a particular user experiences ongoing upload issues.

Get WP Extra File Types

Once you’ve installed the plugin, you’ll find a new option, Extra File Types, in your site’s Settings tab, located here: Dashboard > Settings > Extra File Types.

Click Extra File Types UI, and you will see a list of hundreds of file types from which to choose.

You will also see two checkbox options, shown below. Do not select either of these boxes, yet. Selective use of these options can help identify why a file triggered the upload error.

Select the file type(s) you wish to add to the allowed list and then scroll to the bottom of the UI to click Save Changes.

Try to upload the problem file again. If the upload succeeds, great! This means the file was simply not on the allowed list, and now it is. You and your users can now upload that file type as needed.

If the file triggers a validation error again, return to the WP Extra File Types UI, and select the Check only file extensions option shown below. Leave Skip WordPress checks unchecked, and click Save Changes. If the file is failing WordPress’s MIME type validation, this option will bypass that check without disabling other security measures.

Try to upload the problem file again. If the upload succeeds, great! This means there was an issue with the file’s MIME type but otherwise the file was deemed safe to upload.

If the file triggers a validation error with Check only file extensions enabled it’s time to consider whether you are certain the file is valid and not harmful. If you are uncertain, we recommend not uploading the file.

If you are certain the file is valid and not harmful, return to the WP Extra File Types UI. Uncheck the Check only file extensions option, and check the Skip WordPress checks option. Save your changes.

WARNING: Selecting this option will disable all WordPress upload security measures, and should only be used to upload files you are certain are not harmful. Leaving this option enabled allows users to upload any file type to your site, including potentially harmful files. You should disable this option when you are not actively troubleshooting an upload issue.

Try to upload the problem file again. If the upload fails with WordPress checks disabled, it is likely that the issue has nothing to do with the file type, and you should contact support for help troubleshooting the problem.

Adding Custom File Types in Standard Installations

You also can use WP Extra File Types to add files types not included with the plugin’s preset list. To do this, scroll to the bottom of the UI where you will find the Add your custom file types panel. Click the plus sign (+) to open the interface.

This will open up a table of fields where you must specify a file format by completing the Description, File Extension, and MIME Type fields. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is responsible for all official MIME types, and you can find the information required for these fields at their Media Types page. Click Save Changes before returning to the media uploader.

Modifying the File Size Upload Limit in Standard Installations

Once the plugin is activated, Increase Maximum Upload File Size will appear as a new option near the bottom of your Admin Menu. Click the link to open the plugin.

The plugin contains a single drop-down menu. When you open the UI for the first time, it will display your current max upload file size.

Click the drop-down menu to view the menu of various upload size limits. Setting a file size larger than 128mb will not override the 128mb max upload limit. Select the desired upload limit, and click Save Changes.

Once a limit has been set, the plugin displays both the WPMU DEV Managed Hosting default limit of 128mb and the lower limit established by the plugin.

Our servers run NGINX, the fastest, most stable web server around, and NGINX does not support .htaccess. Members accustomed to using .htaccess to enable or disable functionality needn’t worry, however; because all the functions typically associated with it are automatically handled by our servers.

Servers with the AllowOverride directive on, a prerequisite for .htaccess files, process requests at a much slower rate than NGINX servers. In fact, NGINX servers process many more requests per server than their Apache counterparts in large part because they don’t support .htaccess.

Some of the common uses for .htaccess that our servers automatically achieve are:

Permalinks – Our servers are configured to automatically handle permalinks for you.

Caching – Our servers handle caching for you, no need to install plugins or modify .htaccess files.

Redirects / rewrites – Redirects can be handled using a plugin or via custom server-side redirects that WPMU DEV support can install for you.

Security – Many WordPress security plugins have you modify the .htaccess file to install security rules. Fortunately, WPMU DEV hosting already has these security precautions in place at the server level.

Regardless of what you’re trying to achieve, if you’re doing it with .htaccess, then you’re probably doing it wrong. Instead, contact our support Superheroes and they will help you figure out how to implement the same thing without creating or modifying a .htaccess file.