WordPress – the world’s favorite Content Management System is a blessing in disguise. But, even that blessing might seem to be a bit difficult to handle when you have too many websites to manage but have just two hands and one brain.
WP admin panels are sophisticated. While they are awesome for single website management, when you throw in couple more panels, it resembles a plane’s cockpit with too many confusing buttons and controls. And, you can’t afford to make a mistake either.
Luckily, many others have thought about the same problems. Some wise guys even went on to create WP plugins that allow you to manage multiple WordPress websites from a single dashboard.
WordPress – the world’s favorite Content Management System is a blessing in disguise. But, even that blessing might seem to be a bit difficult to handle when you have too many websites to manage but have just two hands and one brain.
WP admin panels are sophisticated. While they are awesome for single website management, when you throw in couple more panels, it resembles a plane’s cockpit with too many confusing buttons and controls. And, you can’t afford to make a mistake either.
Luckily, many others have thought about the same problems. Some wise guys even went on to create WP plugins that allow you to manage multiple WordPress websites from a single dashboard.
Manage WP
ManageWP is a name that comes first to my mind. It’s built on a core design that makes it easy to handle different tasks for different websites simultaneously. You can manage content uploading from one website while taking backup of another or working on something entirely different on another website. It is as easy as managing a single website from a single dashboard.
The intuitive website makes it for webmasters to do what they want without having to go about in rounds. If anything goes wrong, although it rarely does, you can always lean on to their expert customer support team and get it fixed easily.
Pros:
- Full-control decked single dashboard
- Multi-tasking for backup, site creation, etc.
- Security scanning for websites
- User-friendly and quick setup
Cons:
It is a premium WP plugin does not come for free. The pricing increases according to the number of websites you want to manage using the service.
MainWP
MainWP strikes where ManageWP slips. MainWP is FREE, open-source tool that works fine to manage your WordPress websites. Although it is a free tool, there is no cap on the number of websites you can manage using MainWP. You can go adding any number of WordPress websites for one-click management. If the features seem insufficient for your needs, there are always premium extensions you can buy to take care of the shortcomings.
Pros:
- Freemium model WP plugin
- Open-source and hence can be customized extensively.
Cons:
- Being open-source, a bit of technical expertise is required. Not the right choice for beginners who want to manage multiple websites.
WP Remote
WP Remote is yet another free tool to manage multiple websites. It boasts of a simple and user-friendly interface that any new user can get used to in no time. Be it personal blogs or online stores built on WordPress, and WP Remote help manage all them seamlessly from a single dashboard. You can start by signing up for WP Remote, add a single website and add much more as you go.
Pros:
- Free tool with no pricing
- Single dashboard control of many websites
- JSON based RESTful API for seamless integration
Cons:
- Being a free tool, the feature list is a bit limited
CMS Commander
CMS Commander boasts of a neatly decked dashboard that not only providers for quick management of the websites, but, also provides insights and stats about them. Think of it as a leaderboard where you have quick reach to every control and metric about your website. The biggest draw of all is that, all websites can be easily updated using the “Update All” button. You can also integrate several other affiliate network websites into the portal or even make clones of your websites quickly.
Pros:
- Website stats at quick glance
- Ability to integrate several affiliate networks
Cons:
- Free tool with limited features
- Premium plan comes for $4.90 per month for 5 websites
Tips to Manage Multiple WordPress Websites Better
Despite all these tools things can go north when you are managing multiple WordPress websites. If you are a freelancer working on multiple websites or a web development professional, you need to have more skills to have all your websites under control.
Here are some ways you can maintain your productivity and ensure that all the websites run butter smooth.
Prioritization
Not all websites are built equal. Not all websites have equal importance. Some might ben running successfully while some others might be just in the development phase. You need to decide which website needs how much importance in management. Then, segregate you time and effort towards the same accordingly.
Keep a To-Do List
While some people might write it off as too much of a chore, keeping a to-do list is the best bet you have to keep your working hours under control. A to-do list ensures that you know on a daily and hourly basis what task needs to be done and at what interval. It will act as a navigator that ensures you miss no tasks pertaining to all websites under management.
Have a Contingency Plan
On the Internet, things go wrong very easily. There is never something that remains secure and permanent. Having multiple websites puts you at the risk of being easily hacked. Prepare yourself for such contingencies by prepping your security measures. An ideal thing to do would be to invest in a multi domain san certificate that can secure all your websites under a single SSL certificate.
Huddling It All Together
There comes a time when you will have too many websites running under the same banner. WordPress being an extremely friendly web platform provides you with the flexibility to handle it easily.
I have picked some tools that help do that easily. And also some tips to help you run the show smoothly without running into trouble. Now, you should not be having any problem running many websites like a single website administrator.
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