Why Goodbye?

First and foremost is my time. I’ve been finding more and more lately that I just don’t have time to commit to supporting and building WP Hive the way it should be. I have also taken a great job at one of the best companies in the world which is is an excellent opportunity for me and I intend to put my best effort into it. Essentially, I am streamlining my focus to my [real] job and to my family.

What does this mean for WP Hive?

I would love for someone to take over WP Hive. It could be a great asset to an individual or company who is already providing WordPress Services. The website represents a superb medium to communicate and do business with a community of passionate WordPress administrators and users from around the world.

If taking on the the WP Hive project is of interest to you, here are some recent statistics about the website that might excite you as well:

• 2200+ monthly visits by 1600+ unique visitors from 85 countries
• 3+ pageviews average per visitor
• 4+ minutes average visit time
• 420+ forum members
• 200+ opt-in email list
• Multiple paid subscribers
• Regular hot leads for WordPress development work

Edit: I’ve posted this website on Flippa.com to facilitate the transfer. Click on the following badge for more details:

What does this mean for PRO Subscribers?

If an owner for this project cannot be found then: New subscriptions will not be offered after December 31, 2010. Existing subscriptions will not be auto-renewed after January 31, 2010. If you have an existing annual or lifetime subsciption and feel you deserve some credit, you may contact me via email for a pro-rated refund. However, if a suitable owner comes forward, then we would endeavor to transfer all the PRO Subscriptions as appropriate.

How do I move my sites to WordPress Multisite?

The WordPress codex contains a tutorial for migrating multiple sites into WordPress Multisite.

One could also check out the articles that come up in the Google search.

In Closing

This project started as a simple idea for my own use and blossomed into something that has proved to be useful to countless WordPress users. I have been blessed with it and am grateful to all the users who have supported me – many from day one.  It is sad that I must part with it, but I do trust that it has been useful and I hope that somehow it will continue into the future.

It is tagged as the latest version in the repository, so you can upgrade directly from the WordPress Admin Plugin Console.

Please read the updated documentation, particularly if you are upgrading from v0.5.3 and are currently running subdirectory sites.

Improvements:

- Solid Support for Subdirectory Sites
- Improved Admin Interface
- Various fixes throughout

Thanks for your continued support!

Download Here: http://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/wp-hive.0.6.0.zip

This version addresses:

*    Fully compatible with WordPress v 3.0
*    Complete Support for Subdirectory Sites
*    Premier Add-on now Available: Single Sign On

Upgrade Instructions:

After the upgrade, you should re-save your permalinks on your root site (wp-admin -> settings -> permalinks) and then set the permissions on .htaccess to read-only (CHMOD 555), so that it doesn’t get re-written by any other site in the hive.

Don’t forget to get your WP Hive Pro-Subscription now because it won’t stay at this price for much longer. If you have a pro subscription and would like the Single-Sign-On Add-on, please email me.

Finally, please take a look at ikailo.com. I am offering my services and booking contracts for unique and interesting projects a couple of months in advance, so please let me know if you have an upcoming project that I could help with.

Alex at Neatorama.com enlisted my help to customize and install WP Hive so that he can provide some niche and specialty blogs in addition to his main site. So, I created a new version of WP Hive that features fully-functioning Subdirectory Sites and Single-Sign-On across the sites in the Hive – read about it here. Neatorama’s first site using WP Hive is the Neatorama Spotlight, which quite frankly looks awesome.

So, now I’m busy packaging up these new WP Hive features and merging in a a few more items currently being worked on. I’ll be releasing all of this as the next version of WP Hive, coming out in the near future.

As previously mentioned, WP Hive’s licensing model will change with the next release.  Stay tuned to see how you can get in on the ground-floor and receive 50% off WP Hive Pro for life and help to fund this release, all future releases, support services, new add-ons, and much much more!

Core Improvements:
*  Vastly improved Subdirectory sites, now using Apache’s Mod-Rewrite functionality.
*  Option to use former redirect / cookie method for subdirectory sites (if Apache is not supported).
*  API to facilitate development of Add-Ons
*  Compatibility with some Database Caching plugins

Premier Add-On Modules:
* Quick Installer – Allows a new site to be set up with just a few clicks, or to copy an existing site.
* Single Sign-On – Allows users to remain logged in when traversing sites in the Hive.
* Unknown Root Redirector – Handles some unique subdirectory installs where a site is not installed in the root.

With this release, there will be a *NEW* licensing model:
*  The core features of WP Hive will remain available through the WordPress Plugin Repository.
*  The Support Forums and the Premier Add-On Modules will be available through this site only with the purchase of a WP Hive Pro Subscription.

There are more details to follow about the WP Hive Pro Subscription. Stay tuned to find out how you can get yours for less than half the regular price!!

Download Here

This version resolves many of the issues plaguing subdirectory sites.

Enjoy!

Please read the post on my other website for more information.

New Features Include:

* Easier / Single-click installation
* Administration GUI
* Support for subdirectory sites
* Support for wildcard domains and subdomains
* Fix for favicon.ico handling
* Much of the code was re-written and cleaned up.

The installation instructions have been updated.

This represents a major milestone in the project. Many thanks to everyone who contributed and supported so far!

*Note* This release works well, provided that WordPress is installed and accessed from the root (eg: domain.com/ or sub.domain.com/) for all sites in the hive.

There are reports of problems when WordPress is installed in a subdirectory (read the post about subdirectories) or when it is installed in it’s own directory. An update is in the works to address this issue.

Download here: http://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/wp-hive.0.5.zip

I expect this version to stay in RC for only a very brief time (read <24 hours). I’ll do some more serious testing tomorrow and will fix up some documentation. If all goes well, it will be posted as the official current version in the WP plugin repository tomorrow evening.

This one includes all the features that I think will be in the RC.

Upgrades from v0.4.x are supported. Just remove all the files in wp-content/plugins/wp-hive/ and place the new files for v0.5 in that directory instead. Make sure db.php is in /wp-content, and load the site in your browser as normal.

Here’s one extra feature in v0.5 that I didn’t put on the previous list: Wildcard sub-domains are supported!

At this time there are no known issues.

Notes:

• WP Hive depends on the plugin. If WP Hive loads (eg: db.php is in place in /wp-content), then it will force the WP-Hive plugin to be active as well.
• All new sites must be added through the GUI (WP-Admin > WP Hive > Add New)

Feedback is much appreciated. Please join the WP Hive Developers Group for discussion and/or bug reporting.

Happy Testing!!