Multisite homepage link WordPress

designbuildtest comments:

Hi John, to be honest I can't remember exactly why it didn't work, unfortunately it just didn't work as hoped. I considered not including the link to the previous question as a) it might confuse people and b) the updated question is worded differently.

I'm not sure if the old question/thread is useful, or if people would prefer to discard the historical stuff and look at the question afresh.

Thanks.

John Cotton comments:

So why can't you just use the first site_url you come across in a session and stick with that?

ie

function get_custom_home_link() {
if( !isset($_SESSION['homelink']) {
$_SESSION['homelink'] = site_url();
}

return $_SESSION['homelink'];
}

John Cotton comments:

Sorry, that's missing a bracket:

function get_custom_home_link() {
if( !isset($_SESSION['homelink']) ) {
$_SESSION['homelink'] = site_url();
}

return $_SESSION['homelink'];
}

designbuildtest comments:

Hi John, just tested your code.

I began on property1 and the homelink URL was property1 - great.

Next, I clicked a hyperlink on property1 to a page on city1 and the homelink URL changed to city1 rather than pointing back to the property1 homepage.

John Cotton comments:

Are all your sites really on the same domain or have you just written it that way?

If they aren't then my code won't work as it relies on the session variable which, obviously, gets changed when you change domains!

What I don't know (but will try to find out) is whether WordPress does a session reset if you are using the sub-directory approach as you seem to be...

designbuildtest comments:

Thanks for the speedy responses John.

Yes, all sites are on the same domain.

I'm testing on my local server so URL's for homepages are localhost/property1, localhost/city1 etc.

John Cotton comments:

Just out of interest, why are you using multi-site?

Wouldn't the SEO be better as domain.com/city1/property1?

designbuildtest comments:

It's an Internal site, so no need for SEO. Property details are the focus, rather than the generic city information.

John Cotton comments:

Hi

$_SESSION definitely works across path-based multi-site installs (at least in version 3.3 on which I've just checked).

Have you actually started the session? You need:

session_start();

somewhere before the home link code is run (I tend to stick mine at the top of functions.php.

John Cotton comments:

PS Just tried my code on a path-based multsite and it works for me...:)

designbuildtest comments:

Hi John, adding
session_start();
before the function worked perfectly.

Your very simple solution was exactly what I required.

Thank you.

designbuildtest comments:

Hi John, as noted in Christianto's thread below, I'd like to split the prize value with both yourself and Christianto as both answers worked as I had hoped. I'll vote for the $35 prize money to be split $20 to yourself and $15 to Christianto.

Thanks again

designbuildtest comments:

Hi Christianto. The chances of a visitor starting their session on a city site and then browsing to a property site are tiny - this scenario can be ignored.

Yes, correct, to your second question. The homepage link doesn't change if the visitor begins their session via an external link from outside the multisite network.

Thanks

Christianto comments:

Hello,

have you find your solution?
if you haven't, please try my code:

function write_homepage_referer(){

$write_cookie_on_directory = array( '/property1', '/property2', '/property3' );

foreach($write_cookie_on_directory as $check_site){
// if match set cookie for 1 hour
if(strpos(get_bloginfo('url'), $check_site))
setcookie("sister_site_referer", get_bloginfo('url'), time() + 3600, COOKIEPATH, COOKIE_DOMAIN, false, false);
}
}
add_action('init', 'write_homepage_referer');


function get_custom_home_link($subdirectories){

$home_url = '';
$referer = strtolower( $_COOKIE['sister_site_referer'] );

// If no refferer return curent blog home
if ($referer == null || $referer == '' || $referer == get_bloginfo('url') ){

return get_bloginfo('url');

} else {

$ref = parse_url($referer);
$this_url = parse_url( get_bloginfo('url') );

// if domain same, from outside network
if( $ref['host'] == $this_url['host'] ) {

foreach($subdirectories as $subdirectory){
$checkreferer = strpos($_COOKIE['sister_site_referer'], $subdirectory);

if ( isset($_COOKIE['sister_site_referer']) && $checkreferer ){
$home_url = $_COOKIE['sister_site_referer'];
}
}

if($home_url)
return $home_url;
else
return get_bloginfo('url');

} else {

return get_bloginfo('url');

}
}
}

as you can see there are array that you can supply with your directory path on cookie creation function
$write_cookie_on_directory = array( '/property1', '/property2', '/property3' );

and called it by passing same array of your site directory path
echo get_custom_home_link( array( '/property1', '/property2', '/property3' ) );


Hope this help

designbuildtest comments:

Hi Christianto, your solution works perfectly - thank you.

I'd like to split the prize value with both yourself and John Cotton as both answers worked as I had hoped. I'd like to split the $35 prize money by voting $20 to John and $15 to yourself.

Sorry to not get back to you both sooner - I had to get some sleep last night.