.FLYINGHEAD WORDPRESS TRICKS
.TITLE When WordPress 3.0 Multisite won’t let you log in
.AUTHOR David Gewirtz
.SUMMARY We found the strangest little problem (and a very simple fix).
.TIP
I recently set up a local WordPress installation to do some plug-in development. I did the normal install for a single-site, logged in, and everything worked fine. Bob’s your uncle.
Later, I converted the installation to multisite and found I couldn’t log in anymore. It was the strangest thing. I finally figured out the problem, but before I share that with you, let me give you some details.
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET I’m using the latest WordPress downloaded from wordpress.org, the latest XAMPP build, on a Windows 7 machine.
.BULLET I created a hosts file that points the host xampp to 127.0.0.1.
.BULLET I created a database called ‘wordpress’ in MySQL, and then ran the WordPress install process, giving it my database, the login, the domain, etc. It gets all the way through to the Installation finished page, and seems to be fine.
.BULLET I converted the install to multisite.
.BULLET Then, when I clicked the Login button, entered the login and password, and then hit the login button, WordPress just redirected me back to the login page and absolutely refused to let me log in.
.BULLET I knew the database had been created and so had the user, since I checked it with HeidiSQL.
.BULLET I knew I was using the right password because I cut and pasted it in right from the screen.
.BULLET Also tried this multiple times, each time deleting the full database and the full wordpress folder, with exactly the same results.
.END_LIST
So, what do you think went wrong? Ah, as it turns out, the answer is: the local host needs a top-level domain. When I put xampp.dev in the hosts file rather than just xampp, it all worked.
For the record, yes, I know this isn’t a WordPress site. We’re working on migrating over, which is a very BIG job. That’s why I’m doing so much plug-in coding.
.BIO
