We're looking at Movable Type 4 here at work, and my sys admin has asked some questions. I've tried to explain the MT model to him (it's a file processor, and not a file server), but I think he is stuck in a Community Server way of thinking.
So here is a question he asked that to me painfully obvious to answer, but in case there is something hidden in it, I wanted Pixy and other knowledgeable people to look at it.
How does this software work in multi-site environments? Say I want to install MT4 open source on a server and have both Blog1 and Blog2 running on that single install on the same server– possible? How? I know their commercial Enterprise product does this – does the open source one?
Don't worry about Enterprise and Open Source distinctions -- I'm working on identifying the differences between them, if any. But the idea of running multiple blogs from a single install of MT with multiple authors is what we do here on mu.nu. That's normal, right?
Posted by Steve Janke at July 25, 2007 03:40 PM | TrackBackYep, that's exactly right. In a standard installation, MT creates static web pages in the directory you define for each blog. You just have to point the web server to that directory and viola!
Posted by Pixy Misa at July 25, 2007 04:35 PMI thought it was that simple. Now to convince him that it is that simple.
Posted by Steve Janke at July 25, 2007 04:37 PMAs you suspected, Steve, and as Pixy says, it really IS that simple. Multiple blogs on a single install is one of the things MT does better than most other platforms. There's even a cloning tool that lets you set up a standard blog configuration which you can then clone to create new blogs on the installation.
There's a fully functioning demo version of the most recent beta of MT4 available at http://www.movabletype4.org/ if you or your sysadmin wants to work with it without installing it himself.
Just to narrow down Pixy's comment - you don't actually point the web server to the directory, you point MT to that particular directory from within the MT interface for that blog. Dead easy and next to no server configuration required.
As for the whole "open source" issue - the version of MT 4 that will be released to open source is the same as the "regular" version. it's only the Enterprise version that's different (same basics, just more enterprise-necessary functions like Oracle database capability, LDAP integration, etc.)
Note, the open-source version is not available yet. There is a free, non-commercial-use license for the regular version, but it's definitely NOT open-source code at the moment.
Paul
Posted by Light & Dark at July 26, 2007 12:12 AMJust to narrow down Pixy's comment - you don't actually point the web server to the directory, you point MT to that particular directory from within the MT interface for that blog.
Yep. I meant that you need to do both - MT writes to the directory and the web server reads from it, so you have to set them up to look at the same place, or it doesn't work so well. 
Hi Steve -- I work with the MT team, and if I can help explain things, or can put your boss in touch with our tech team to help explain how the system works, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Posted by Anil at July 26, 2007 09:45 AMThanks guys. Actually, Anil, I could use your help. We need to establish the capacity of MT4 (Enterprise) (or maybe MT3) as a scalable solution for large systems. Community Server is a known quantity for us with regards to scalability. Contact me by email as soon as it's convenient.
Posted by Steve Janke at August 1, 2007 07:28 PM