Let’s configure our WordPress Multisite Network to work with a global frontend dashboard. This means that your users, instead of using the normal wp-admin dashboard, will use a completely different user interface to manage their restaurants; you’ll create this frontend dashboard with the WP Frontend Admin plugin. 

Follow these steps:

1- CREATE A NEW SITE FOR THE GLOBAL DASHBOARD

We’ll use three essential sites on our restaurant management platform:

1. Main Site – This is the main network site. Here youc can create your public homepage, pricing pages, contact forms, blog, etc.
2. Global dashboard site – On this site, we’ll create the global frontend dashboard. When users manage their sites, they will use the frontend admin pages from this site instead of using the normal wp-admin dashboard.
3. Template Site – This will be a pre-configured site that we’ll use as a template for every restaurant. More on this in future lessons.

Let’s create the Global frontend dashboard site:

• Go to Network Admin > Sites.
• Hit Add New.

Now you need to enter the new site’s info:

• Site Address (URL): Since our multisite network works with subdomains, let’s add something like “dashboard” so that our global dashboard’s site URL is something like “dashboard.restaurantmanager.com”.
• Site Title: Enter the global dashboard site title.
• Site Language: Select the site language from the dropdown.
• Admin Email: Enter the admin email here.
• Note. You don’t need to select the Site Plan nor the Site Template fields.
• Click Add Site.

2- SET UP THE GLOBAL SETTINGS FOR WP FRONTEND ADMIN

Go to Network Admin > WP Frontend Admin > Settings.

Head to General and select the following values:

• Enable global settings on Multisite: Yes. WP Frontend Admin’s settings selected here will be applied globally to all the sites.
• Disable the wp-admin notices when viewing on the frontend: Yes. This is to remove all the admin notices added by plugins and themes from the frontend. Keep in mind that useful notifications will be removed as well.

• Hide pages containing our shortcode: Yes. When you create a frontend dashboard that includes the wp-admin “Pages” section, you can hide the pages that contain the WP Frontend Admin shortcode. This way, users do not have access to the “system pages” when managing their own site pages.
• WordPress Multisite: Use this site as the dashboard for the entire network: Select the site we created above as the global dashboard site.
• Click Save to apply the general settings.

Now go to the Access Restrictions tab and select these values:

• Enable the wp-admin access restrictions: Yes.
• Access restriction: What wp-admin pages can be viewed on the frontend: By now, we don’t need to add anything here, but when we have built all the global frontend dashboard pages, we will need to add the URLs of the pages that will be displayed on the frontend to build the dashboard. This is important to avoid users’ viewing other wp-admin pages on the normal WordPress dashboard. More on that in future lessons.

• Access restriction: Who can access the wp-admin dashboard: Select manage_network because only super admins (network admins) should be able to access wp-admin. Other users will have to use the global frontend dashboard.
• Access restriction: Frontend dashboard URL: Here you need to enter the URL of the site that will be used as a global frontend dashboard.
• Allow site owners to register users for their subsites?: Activate this option
• Scroll down and enter the following in These user roles will use the frontend dashboard:

administrator,shop_manager

• Finally, hit Save to apply the access restrictions.

Now move to the WP Ultimo tab in the WP Frontend Admin settings and tick the WP Ultimo: Remove disallowed pages from menus checkbox.

Since WP Frontend Admin allows you to block frontend dashboard pages based on the WP Ultimo plan, this option allows you to hide the pages that are not available for the user’s plan from the frontend dashboard.

3- Optional – Enable WP Ultimo’s Custom Domains feature

WP Ultimo allows you to add a monetization system to your WordPress Multisite Networks.

You can allow users to use their own custom domain, which is a unique name that identifies a website, for example, site.com.

You can use this as an advanced feature so that your users pay extra money to be able to use a custom domain in your network.

Follow these steps to enable the Custom Domains feature in WP Ultimo.

Open the Network Admin dashboard, and go to Network Admin > WP Ultimo > Settings > Domain Mapping and select these settings:

• Enable Domain Mapping: Yes
• Enable Single Sign On: Optional
• Force Admin Redirect: Allow access to the admin by both mapped domain and network domain
• Enable Custom Domains: Yes
• Hit the Save Settings button.

Once you select all these global settings, you’re ready to continue creating your restaurant management platform.

In the next lesson, we’ll learn how to create a WP Ultimo membership plan that you’ll sell to your users, so they can manage their restaurants on your platform.

In this lesson we will show you how to select the global options on your network to create a global frontend dashboard.

First we are going to create a new site to be used as the global dashboard for the platform.

Then we are going to configure the global options of the WP Frontend Admin plugin.

Finally, we will show you how to configure the global options of the WP Ultimo plugin, and some notes on configuring the “Single Sign On” feature.

1- CREATE A NEW SITE FOR THE GLOBAL DASHBOARD

In this network for restaurant management, we’ll use at least three sites.

1. Main site – This is the main network site, we’ll use it for marketing purposes, for example, your public homepage, pricing pages, contact form
2. Global dashboard site – This site will be used by the restaurant managers to manage their restaurants. We’ll display all the necessary wp-admin pages on the frontend of this site to build a beautiful frontend dashboard.
3. Template Site – This will be a pre-configured site that we’ll use as a template for every restaurant. More on this in Lesson 12.

By now, we’ll create the Global frontend dashboard site.

• Go to Network Admin > Sites.
• Hit Add New.

Now you need to enter the new site’s info:

• Site Address (URL): Since our multisite network works with subdomains, let’s add something like “dashboard” so that our global dashboard’s site URL is something like “dashboard.restaurantmanager.com”.
• Site Title: Enter the global dashboard site title.
• Site Language: Select the site language from the dropdown.
• Admin Email: Enter the admin email here.
• Note. You don’t need to select the Site Plan nor the Site Template fields.
• Click Add Site.

2- SET UP THE WP FRONTEND ADMIN’S GLOBAL SETTINGS

Go to Network Admin > WP Frontend Admin > Settings.

Head to General and select the following values:

• Enable global settings on Multisite: Yes. WP Frontend Admin’s settings selected here will be applied globally to all the sites.
• Disable the wp-admin notices when viewing on the frontend: Yes. This is to remove all the admin notices added by plugins and themes from the frontend. Keep in mind that useful notifications will be removed as well.

• Hide pages containing our shortcode: Yes. When you create a frontend dashboard that includes the wp-admin “Pages” section, you can hide the pages that contain the WP Frontend Admin shortcode so that users, when managing their own site pages, do not have access to the “system pages”.
• WordPress Multisite: Use this site as the dashboard for the entire network: Select the site we created above as the global dashboard site.
• Click Save to apply the general settings.

Now go to the Access Restrictions tab and select these values:

• Enable the wp-admin access restrictions: Yes.
• Access restriction: What wp-admin pages can be viewed on the frontend: By now, we don’t need to add anything here, but when we have built all the global frontend dashboard pages, we will need to add the URLs of the pages that will be displayed on the frontend to build the dashboard. This is important to avoid users’ viewing other wp-admin pages on the normal WordPress dashboard. More on that in Lesson 13.

• Access restriction: Who can access the wp-admin dashboard: Here you need to select manage_network because only super admins (network admins) should be able to access wp-admin. Other users will have to use the global frontend dashboard.
• Access restriction: Frontend dashboard URL: Here you need to enter the URL of the site that will be used as a global frontend dashboard.
• Allow site owners to register users for their subsites?: Activate this option
• Scroll down and enter the following in These user roles will use the frontend dashboard:

administrator,shop_manager

• Finally, hit Save to apply the access restrictions.

Now move to the WP Ultimo tab in the WP Frontend Admin settings and tick the WP Ultimo: Remove disallowed pages from menus checkbox.

Since WP Frontend Admin allows you to block frontend dashboard pages based on the WP Ultimo plan, this option allows you to hide the pages that are not available for the user’s plan from the frontend dashboard.

3- SET UP WP ULTIMO’S GLOBAL SETTINGS

WP Ultimo allows you to add a monetization system to your WordPress Multisite Networks.

You can allow users to use their own custom domain, which is a unique name that identifies a website, for example, site.com.

You can use this as an advanced feature so that your users pay extra money to be able to use a custom domain in your network.

Follow these steps to enable the Custom Domain feature in WP Ultimo.

Open the Network Admin dashboard, and go to Network Admin > WP Ultimo > Settings > Domain Mapping & SSL and select these settings:

• Enable Domain Mapping: Yes
• Enable Custom Domains: Yes
• Force Admin Redirect: Allow access to the admin by both mapped domain and network domain

• Force HTTPs for the Admin Panel: Yes
• Force HTTPs for Subdomains: Yes
• Force HTTPs for Custom Domains: No
• Allow Page Unmapping: Yes
• Force HTTPs on Unmapped Pages: No
• Network IP Address: Enter the current website’s IP address or leave it black to automatically use the IP detected by the plugin as default.
• Click Save Changes.

HOW TO ENABLE THE “SINGLE SIGN ON” FEATURE

You can enable the WP Ultimo’ Single Sign On feature by following this tutorial:

• How can I Properly Set Up WP Ultimo’s Single Sign-On feature?

Once you select all these global settings, you’re ready to continue creating your restaurant management platform.

In the next lesson, we’ll learn how to create a WP Ultimo membership plan that you’ll sell to your users so they can manage their restaurants on your platform.