WPMU DEV: How a 2007 WordPress MU Plugin Service Grew Up

WPMU DEV started in 2007 as WPMUDEV Premium, a paid subscription for plugins and support for WordPress MU, the multi-blog version of WordPress. This article looks back at that launch, explains what happened to WordPress MU, and shows what WPMU DEV offers WordPress site owners today.

Quick answer: WPMUDEV Premium launched in July 2007 as a subscription for custom WordPress MU plugins, themes and support. WordPress MU itself was merged into WordPress 3.0 in 2010 and became the built-in Multisite feature. WPMU DEV is still in business as an all-in-one WordPress platform with hosting, site management and premium plugins, and it makes the popular Smush image plugin.

What was WPMUDEV Premium?

WordPress MU, or WordPress MultiUser, let you create thousands of WordPress blogs with unlimited users from a single installation. WPMUDEV Premium was a subscription service that offered custom plugins, extra features and support for WordPress MU (WPMU).

It was developed by Andrew Billits and James Farmer, who introduced it to take WordPress MU to a new level. The subscription cost $50 for a month, $100 for three months or $250 a year in 2007. The fee let you download and use custom plugins in as many of your own projects as you liked, ranging from tracking blog activity to friend requests and emailing all your users. It also offered theme packs, unbranded support videos you could repackage, and hacks to the core of WPMU to boost site performance.

Lorelle VanFossen gave the background (external site) to the service at launch. Farmer and Billits had used WordPress MU to run several free blogging services, starting with Edublogs, and wanted to offer that experience to other groups and businesses for a modest fee.

The WPMUDEV FAQ explained that if you unsubscribed, you could keep using the plugins, but you would not get upgrades or support until you subscribed again.

What happened to WordPress MU?

WordPress MU was a separate download until WordPress 3.0, released on 17 June 2010, merged it into standard WordPress. The multi-site feature is now called Multisite, and you turn it on in any WordPress install:

1. Add define( 'WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE', true ); to your wp-config.php file.
2. Go to Tools > Network Setup in the WordPress dashboard and choose subdomains or subdirectories.
3. Copy the code WordPress shows into wp-config.php and .htaccess, then log in again.

Multisite powers networks such as university blog platforms and Edublogs, the education blogging service from the same team. For a community site rather than a network of blogs, BuddyPress is another option.

WPMU DEV today

WPMU DEV (external site) has grown from a WordPress MU plugin club into an all-in-one WordPress platform aimed mainly at agencies and freelancers. Its membership includes:

• Site management: one dashboard to manage many WordPress sites, with automated updates, performance monitoring and white-label client reports.
• Managed hosting: WordPress hosting with isolated environments and server locations around the world.
• Premium plugins: performance, marketing and SEO tools.
• Domains, email and reselling: domain registration, client email and the option to resell its products under your own brand.
• 24/7 support from WordPress experts.

One of its best-known plugins is Smush (external site), a free image optimization plugin with more than a million active installs. If image size is slowing your site, read our guide to optimizing images for the web.

FAQ

Is WPMU DEV the same as WordPress MU?

No. WordPress MU was the multi-blog version of WordPress, now built in as Multisite. WPMU DEV is a separate company that started by making plugins for it.

Does WordPress still have WordPress MU?

Not as a separate product. Since WordPress 3.0 in 2010, the same feature is built in and called Multisite.

Who runs WPMU DEV?

WPMU DEV is part of Incsub, the company led by James Farmer, which also runs Edublogs.

Do I need WPMU DEV to run WordPress Multisite?

No. Multisite is free and built into WordPress. WPMU DEV sells optional hosting, tools and support around it.