#2 multiple wp sites

 Great question 👍 Setting up multiple WordPress sites in the same XAMPP is very useful if you want to test many projects. You can do this in two ways:

1. Simple way (different folders under htdocs)

2. Professional way (virtual hosts with custom domain names like site1.local, site2.local)

I’ll explain both.

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✅ Method 1: Simple way (easiest)

1. Go to:

   C:\xampp\htdocs\
   

2. Create a new folder for each WordPress project:

   C:\xampp\htdocs\project1
   C:\xampp\htdocs\project2
   

3. Copy the WordPress files into each folder.

4. Create a separate database for each project in phpMyAdmin:

   • wordpress_db1 for Project1

   • wordpress_db2 for Project2

5. Install each site by visiting in browser:

   • http://localhost/project1

   • http://localhost/project2

⚡ That’s it. Each WordPress site is independent.

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✅ Method 2: Virtual Hosts (cleaner, looks like real websites)

This way, you can use custom local domains instead of localhost/project1.

Step 1: Create project folders

Put your sites in htdocs:

C:\xampp\htdocs\site1
C:\xampp\htdocs\site2

Step 2: Create databases

• site1_db for Site1

• site2_db for Site2

Step 3: Edit httpd-vhosts.conf

1. Open this file in Notepad (as Admin):

   C:\xampp\apache\conf\extra\httpd-vhosts.conf
   

2. Add entries for each site:

   <VirtualHost *:80>
       ServerName site1.local
       DocumentRoot "C:/xampp/htdocs/site1"
       <Directory "C:/xampp/htdocs/site1">
           AllowOverride All
           Require all granted
       </Directory>
   </VirtualHost>
   
   <VirtualHost *:80>
       ServerName site2.local
       DocumentRoot "C:/xampp/htdocs/site2"
       <Directory "C:/xampp/htdocs/site2">
           AllowOverride All
           Require all granted
       </Directory>
   </VirtualHost>
   

Step 4: Edit hosts file

1. Open (as Admin):

   C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
   

2. Add:

   127.0.0.1   site1.local
   127.0.0.1   site2.local
   

Step 5: Restart Apache

• Open XAMPP Control Panel → restart Apache.

Step 6: Install WordPress

• Visit:

  • http://site1.local → install WordPress into site1_db

  • http://site2.local → install WordPress into site2_db

Now you have multiple local sites running like real domains 🎉

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👉 Do you want me to write a step-by-step full config file example for 2 WordPress sites (site1.local + site2.local), so you can copy-paste and run directly?

Perfect 👍 I’ll give you a ready-to-use setup for 2 WordPress sites (site1.local and site2.local) inside XAMPP on Windows.

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🔹 Step 1: Create Site Folders

Go to:

C:\xampp\htdocs\

Create:

C:\xampp\htdocs\site1
C:\xampp\htdocs\site2

Unzip WordPress into both folders.

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🔹 Step 2: Create Databases

1. Open http://localhost/phpmyadmin/

2. Create 2 databases:

   • site1_db

   • site2_db

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🔹 Step 3: Configure Virtual Hosts

1. Open (with Notepad as Admin):

   C:\xampp\apache\conf\extra\httpd-vhosts.conf
   

2. Add this code at the bottom:

# Site1 Configuration
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName site1.local
    DocumentRoot "C:/xampp/htdocs/site1"
    <Directory "C:/xampp/htdocs/site1">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

# Site2 Configuration
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName site2.local
    DocumentRoot "C:/xampp/htdocs/site2"
    <Directory "C:/xampp/htdocs/site2">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

✅ Make sure the paths match your real folder names.

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🔹 Step 4: Map Domains in hosts File

1. Open (as Admin):

   C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
   

2. Add at the end:

127.0.0.1   site1.local
127.0.0.1   site2.local

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🔹 Step 5: Restart Apache

• Open XAMPP Control Panel → Stop & Start Apache.

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🔹 Step 6: Install WordPress

• Visit:

  • http://site1.local → choose site1_db database, user root, no password.

  • http://site2.local → choose site2_db.

Install each site normally → set username, password, and site title.

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✅ Now you have two completely separate WordPress sites on your local system:

• http://site1.local

• http://site2.local

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👉 Do you want me to also give you a template for adding more sites (site3, site4, etc.), so you can just copy-paste when needed?