How to install a second, multiple blog on WordPress

I’ve tried to solve this myself so many times – adding an additional blog on my WordPress site. And I succeeded, just not the way I envisioned it initially.

I use WordPress for my illustration and design business, showcasing my portfolio and a blog section. It’s important to my business to both show a great gallery portfolio that is not a blog, and a blog where I express ideas, ramblings, random post with new illustrations and design gigs and topics around my line of work, my biz if you like. And other topics. Just check out on the very site here. Click and browse around.

Why two blogs?

Simple answer is – I write in two languages: Swedish and English. I sometimes write about issues targeted solely to a Swedish audience.

But also, my website is bilingual. I have my pages on my website that are not blog posts. Pages like an about me page, services I offer and so forth.

Basically I need two blogs separate from each other.

What would make bloggers like me with multiple languages and target groups happier?

The easiest thing would be to login to one administration page, see two blog sections in the WordPress dashboard page. And simply select and start blogging. No hassles. Simple, direct and user friendly. Straightforward.

Currently that is not the case nor possible – when you login in via an internet browser like Firefox, Chrome, Edge etcetera.

The solution

There is a solution which I use. And it works fine actually. It just isn’t the way I had preferred, desktop wise in a web browser.

I’ve been blogging on my site since 2005. And always written in both Swedish and English. My main site about me, projects and so forth are manually translated by myself. And my blogs are not using any translation plugins or anything.

Problem today is that everyone who has a solution they suggest on blogs and WordPress community forums, are solving their situation by using the single blog section of today and using Categories. Or some plugin and so forth. But like someone wrote on a WordPress forum: a plugin isn’t a viable option.

The day the plugin developers decide to disconnect, not update, basically make it not possible to use anymore, your blog risk to be discontinued. Out of order. Simple Out.

My own solution is to recognize that WordPress is database driven. Especially evident if you self-host your WordPress install on a website web host service – a web hotel.

So my solution have therefore been to use two different WordPress database installs. Make one in Swedish and another in English. And on my website, domain, I link both WordPress databases installs interchangeably. In the website menu it says Swedish and English. Readers, visitors won’t notice the difference of databases.

It still isn’t the preferred way, I know. But it works.

WordPress for mobile and desktop is a great solution

It works really Okey when using the WordPress App for Android, IPhone and windows phone or the App for Windows 10. You simply login on your phone or your computer, and switch between WordPress databases as if you were logged in to one WordPress Dashboard site.

In the future it would be nice if multiple databases wasn’t needed, but that’s were we are today.

A lot of people like to have a site with multiple blogs on it. And when I write this, this is possible to achieve with WordPress, just not the way me and probably others would consider obvious. And we have to deal with that. Inform and inspire WordPress team at Automatic to solve this, but accept it for now.

Allow for multiple blogs within one wordpress database install.

Doesn’t it sound poetic!

Stefan Lindblad

Illustrator, artist & graphic designer