I am not understanding this. I have read the documentation and I still do not get it. I am trying to configure Multi Sites 1.2 on my local machine using Wampserver 2.0h running on Windows XP Professional SP3 32-bit. Sure, I do have domain names registered on the Internet, but I do not want to use them just yet. I need to build my website on my local machine first, then purchase hosting and upload my entire site to a remote server with my own FTP software. My question is how do I map a slave site and a theme to a folder on my local machine instead of to a domain name? I am attempting to use the all-in-one database method to do this, by the way, where the main site and the slave sites share the same database. Also, I need to be able to upload all of my sites to a remote server later via FTP and have the site directories correctly mapped on the server to their respective domain names. I will eventually be using FTP software to keep the database stored on my local machine and the remote server in sync, so that I can make changes to my sites locally, as well as downloaded new user-posted content from the server, while making sure I have a backup copy of everything. What do I need to do to accomplish this task?

When working on a localhost, you have to use a special procedure as described in the user manual chapter 9.
There are plenty of limitation when working on a localhost because the environment used by JMS are not filled. This is the reason why this special procedure exist to simulate production websites.
The requirement is that the URL is localhost/.....
To simulate a slave site defined in JMS, you have to add a parameter in the URL with the domain name that you want to simulate. See page 58.

When working on a Windows platform, the Symbolic Link is forbidden.
Concerning the themes, you have to install them on the master website and after that you can select them into the slave site.
Go in the slave site administration and go in the Joomla template. There you can select the default template.

Remember that JMS is not designed to work on a localhost and that the special procedure is just present to simulate a real environment.
There are a lot of limitation when working on a localhost.

So if your target environment (production) is for example a unix machine that allow the symbolic link, the fact that you will develop on a localhost and also on a windows platform will reduce the functionalities available.

I cannot get past page 58. Apparently, you don't seem to explain things very well in the manual. You say that I cannot define any website in JMS as localhost/, but you don't say what to put in place of 'localhost'. When I use localhost the end of the url, ?_host_=www.site1.com is deleted after I save it. What gives? It's sound kind of like you want me to use localhost/, but when I do use it, it does not work right. This procedure, did however, recreate the Joomla installation directory.

Please try to explain things better. Also, please note that I use American English, and am an American living in the United States, and you are European and I think that there is a gap in our usage of English. No offense.

You just have to add the parameter _host_=xxxx where xxxx is the domain name that you want to simulate.

This URL is the one to use and simulate the slave site and not to define it.

So you create the slave site as defined in the tutorial step 10 but when this is done, if you try to switch on this slave site, it will not work on a localhost.
This is the reason why you have to add the parameter in the URL.

Check that you have the user manual 1.2.
It contains 67 pages.
www.jms2win.com/documentation/doc_downlo...rs-manual-version-12

Okay, but after I do this, how do I point my browser to the new slave site? What URL do I type in to get to the correct folder on the localhost?

read also forum /forum?func=view&id=303&catid=17#303