WordPress on VIP

WordPress environments on the WordPress VIP Platform can be created as either a WordPress single site or a WordPress multisite. WordPress multisite (also known as a WordPress network) allows multiple sites to be created and run from a single installation of WordPress Core files.

The infrastructure of a WordPress environment on the VIP Platform differs from typical hosting platforms. The infrastructural differences are designed to improve the security and performance of WordPress applications.

• A copy of VIP Must Use plugins (VIP MU plugins) is loaded on every WordPress environment to provide performance enhancements and commonly used plugins like Jetpack and Akismet.
• Because the WordPress VIP Platform uses NGINX (not Apache), there are no .htaccess files. The directives defined in NGINX are platform-wide and cannot be customized per-site.
• There is no SFTP access for managing files within the /wp-content directory of a WordPress site on the WordPress VIP Platform. The methods required to edit the contents of that directory on the WordPress VIP Platform are designed to enhance the performance and security of a WordPress site.
  • /wp-content/plugins and /wp-content/themes: Files and directories for plugins and themes can only be added, updated, and removed via code commits to an application’s GitHub repository. Plugins and themes cannot be added or removed within the WordPress Admin dashboard.
  • /wp-content/uploads: Files that are uploaded through the Media Library—or imported with VIP-CLI—are located within the /wp-content/uploads file path. Instead of mapping to a filesystem located within the web container, a WordPress site’s /wp-content/uploads path is mapped to the VIP File System, an external globally-distributed object store.