If you are a WordPress MU admin, and you want to recycle an existing blog that is no longer used instead of just deleting it, here’s what you’ll have to do. You’ll need to make several changes in the MySQL database. Use PHPMyAdmin or the command line to make the database changes.
Renaming a WordPress MU Subdomain
- Modify the wp_blogs tables. This is where all WordPress MU blogs are listed. In this example we will modify the soccer.domain.com to football.domain.com.
- Each blog will have its own 8 unique set of tables. The tables are listed starting with prefixes like wp_1_ and wp_2_ and so forth. Once you’ve identified the correct blog, make the following changes to wp_x_options table. Look under the column option_name for the following:
- Your new subdomain blog called http://football.domain.com is now accessible. You may have to clear the browser cache to see full effects. Login to the renewed blog as Admin to do some much needed administration tasks such as assigning a new user, changing password, changing email addresses, etc.
- That’s it.
a. siteurl – change entry to http://football.domain.com
b. home – change entry to http://football.domain.com
c. fileupload_url – change entry to http://football.domain.com/files
You’re probably asking why since deleting a WordPress MU account is as easy as pie. Well, you do have a point. I’m just showing you that reclaiming a blog can be an option as long as there are not too many entries on the tables. Even with a full table, a simple click of the Empty button usually does the trick.