Thread

Hey guys,

I was looking for some clarification about the licensing issue with EE (it was kind of unclear to me with this specific example) I wanted to purchase the full commercial version of EE for my business website, with all the features and also pick up the forum for use with that site. But say I wanted to have a personal, not for profit blog, can I use the software under the same license for that site as well (without having to purchase the multisite extension, or a second license)? Also, if it is possible to do that, can I also use the forum on the personal blog as well? Thanks for helping me to understand this a little better…

-Danny

(I’m sure this has been posted a million times, I just couldn’t find anything that really cleared it up for me. Anything would help me out…thanks so much!)

Hi, Danny!

Licensing for the Multiple Site Manager and additional Sites must match the license of the ExpressionEngine installation. If your ExpressionEngine installation is a Commercial License, then the Multiple Site Manager and additional Sites must all be Commercial licenses. If your ExpressionEngine installation is a Personal license, then the Multiple Site Manager and additional Sites must all be Personal licenses.

Of course, you are free to use a Commercial licensed Site for personal and non-profit use, but you are not allowed to run commercial/for-profit websites from a Personal License.

You can also read up on the Multiple Site Manager FAQ.

Just as a note, Danny - you do need separate licenses for those separate sites.  It’s a single license per installation (the MSM is a separate deal).

I hope that answers your questions, let me know if you need further clarification.

Thanks Lisa 😊 

ok….so I would need to purchase both a commercial license and personal license for what I want then?

That depends.  If you wanted to run two separate installations - one for your personal license, one for commercial - then you could do as you say and purchase two licenses: one personal, one commercial.

If you wanted to run the sites from the same control panel using the Multiple Site Manager, then you would purchase one commercial EE license, and one commercial MSM license.  That would give you up to 3 separate sites all from one installation; but they do share a common membership base.  The only restriction then is that you must be the owner of each of those sites. If you are not the owner then separate licenses/installations is the way to go.

Does that make sense?  Let me know if you would like further clarification.

ok that makes more sense…two more questions…

can I purchase and run the forum with a personal license for my personal blog, or does it need to be commercial?

secondly, do I need the personal license for my blog? Can I just run the free core version if I’m not planning on generating a profit? What does paying for license entitle me too?  Thanks for all your help!

Hi, stage5—

can I purchase and run the forum with a personal license for my personal blog, or does it need to be commercial?

The forum license has to match the site license.  So if you decide to go with separate installations, then the forum and personal site can both be personal licenses.  If you decided to use the MSM For your commercial site, personal site, and personal forums - then all would need commercial licenses.

secondly, do I need the personal license for my blog? Can I just run the free core version if I’m not planning on generating a profit?

The personal license isn’t profit based but intention based.  See this kb entry to determine which license you need.

If you want to run forums for your personal site then you’ll need at least the personal version - the forums will not work with EECore.

What does paying for license entitle me too?

The license entitles you to extra features by way of modules.  Check out the Pricing Page for a direct comparison.  Any commercial site always needs a commercial license, too; EECore is not permitted for use on commercial sites.  You didn’t quite ask that but I wanted to mention it anyway. =)  As an added note - if you wanted to use the Multiple Site Manager then you would require a licensed version, as well.

Does that make sense?

[set of specific questions deleted]

Ok, I have finally been able to find again a recent forum thread, where all the questions of licenses, multiple sites on single machines, and the MSM have been well discussed. 

It is here:  1.6, MSM, Multiple domains and subdomains.

In this discussion, you can find Expression Engine principals clarifying about:

- running multiple websites from a single, one-machine EE license and code install

- how doing this the ‘classic’ way is valid and promised not to be removed in future, but is now in community support, rather than officially under EE Tech Support.

- how the Multiple Site Manager (MSM) is now the preferred way to do this.

- elaborating abilities, advantages, and privileges of the Multiple Site Manager.

- also where you would be required to license the MSM, compared to simply having a choice to purchase it.  I understand this as basically where there would be more than one machine, hence EE code install, for the sites.

I am presuming that the Forum add-on has exactly the same rules when purchased, as EE always seems sensible, but it would be great to have that clarification here or in the other thread.

I am then understanding that the way Danny (stage5)‘s question was answered above comes from the new Supported way, but then that his and my similar plans for websites and forums under the classic way are also fine, if we are willing to handle them through our own and community support.

As we are in community support, I will add what I learned for the classic way to the Wiki page for it.

The Multiple Site Manager looks great, and I am sure I will be adding it to my license before long.

Kind regards to all, and again good holiday wishes,
Clive

Each Site requires its own license.  For instance - EllisLab is running 3 websites under the MSM - that would require one commercial EE license and the MSM as MSM includes two sites.  But if we wanted to add a fourth site (and if it wasn’t our own product =) ) then we would have to pay $50 for the new Site, even though they are all owned by us and run under the same installation.

For the forums, it is a license per installation, no matter how many MSM Sites you are using those forums on.

The old way is, indeed, still available, and the instructions are clearly detailed in the wiki.

thanks clive and lisa….

okay so I think I got it now…one more question 😊

The Multiple site manager will require me to purchase a commercial license ($250), plus the $200 for the MSM right? That will give me a total of four possible sites I can run under the MSM with commercial licenses? Also, the membership has to be the same across all sites, or can I create different databases for each site as in site A would have membership A, and site B can have membership B? This is pretty important to me and would be a deal breaker for the MSM if I couldn’t keep them separate somehow…

Thanks again.

hi, stage5. 

You purchase one copy of EE - that is one site.  You purchase MSM - that gives you two more sites for a total of three sites.  Beyond that you can purchase additional Commercial sites at $50/site.  You can find the per-Site pricing at the bottom of the MSM page.

The database is the same - that is the advantage to using the MSM.  That does mean a shared membership system.  However you can assign member group preferences per site (as shown at the end of the MSM video) as well as membership preferences per site - including default group and membership profile templates.  You can get a fair bit of distinction between these for that reason.

If you wanted truly, 100% autonomous and separate installations, then you would need to purchase full licenses for each site, though you could then use Core for your personal site, as obviously separated installed licenses, not using the MSM, do not have to match licensing.

ok I see now. Thanks so much for helping (and being patient 😉 )

is expression engine required to be in the root folder of your website, domain.com/  or would I install it in another directory, such as domain.com/ee/ ? does moving it off the root effect its ability to function or the features I can use with it?

We really should split that question off.  But you can install it in any web-accessible directory that you want.  No, it doesn’t effect the features, just where the URL points to. =)

Hey Lisa,

Thanks for all your help, and your patience smile

anyway, I was just wondering about the installation. I’ve used CMS systems that need to be installed in the main root, and some in an off directory (domain.com/foldername/). I was wondering how EE needed to be installed, and if moving it off would effect the features (for instance having it in domain.com/blog would only allow me to use the blog feature). I would obviously want the homepage of my website to domain.com, not domain.com/expressionengine.

Thanks again! haha.