WordPress MU

Just starting to develop a site that I though WPMU could act as a CMS for. The structure of the proposed site is probably too complex for a single WP install. This one site will have multiple instances of news areas, with archives, calendars of events, jobs sections, resource centres, etc.

I thought that individual blogs might operate for each section so that it would develop into /news, /resources, /calendar, /jobs, etc…

Is this a realistic use of WPMU?
Should I try harder to make a standard install of WP do what I need?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Forseeable Problems:
- global navigation to access another 'section/blog'
- global search
- global advertising management and reporting

WPMU is not for that purposes and I think using it this way is just waste of time and resources ... sorry to say but basically stupid.

Standard install of WP should be what you should use ... or another CMS.

Why is it "stupid" bloggus? I think MU would work quite nicely, depending on architecture specifics.

Even the "foreseeable problems" have been solved.

Hmmm, personally I think bloggus' answer of 'basically stupid', is a little harsh to say the least!

With the use of an appropriate theme and perhaps some additional custom template posts/page, you can get quite sophisticated output without making it overly complex for the user who is simply adding, editing and maintaining content.

It all depends on exactly what you want, but we've found a top level site with subdomains is a good place to start. Either that or extensive use of categories and tags.

Wordpress is consistently rated highly in any CMS reviews I've read (being compared alongside the likes of Drupal, Joomla etc).

@mrarrow

are you arguing for or against wpmu?
your answer can be read bot hways.

I personally would say that taking your statement and applying it to simple WP would work out, but we can say that for sure only if we get more details as to what exactly he is trying to achieve.

The "one site will have multiple instances of news areas, with archives, calendars of events, jobs sections, resource centers, etc. " is what leans me towards MU, especially if those are redundant areas for *each blog*.

I'm arguing for WPMU - a top level domain, with multiple sub domains. Once you get over the initial hurdle of setting it all up (which it looks like pschena was willing to do in any case), and if you pick an appropriate theme, a WPMU install is much more flexible as a CMS, than a simple WP installation.

I'm not convinced about bloggus' 5 assertions:
1) "WPMU is not for that purposes" - what is it for then?
2) "I think using it this way is just waste of time and resources" - admittedly it'll take more time to initially set up than MU (but surely not a waste of time!), and in any case far more flexible in the long term
3) "sorry to say but basically stupid" - don't understand this comment but surely this is not very helpful!
4) "Standard install of WP should be what you should use" - but why?
5) "or another CMS" - which other one in particular and why?

see Flutter.. the new Freshpost plugin now supposedly works with MU.

Well I wrote some answer to all this comments, but i give it up .... you have better answers ... I might have uderstood the initial post ...

Thanks for all of the feedback and opinions! Helps me to at least ask the right questions and think about my build options. At least I know that it really is possible, and that I wasn't completely dreaming when thinking of WPMU.

@bloggus: I get that what I am proposing is not a 'traditional' use of WPMU, but I am encouraged by how far WP has been taken from what it was built to do. I hear that you were really just trying to save my time, thanks!

@andrea_r: Can you please point me in the direction of the solutions to the 'forseeable problems'?

@mrarrow: The plan is to hack up a version of SandBox to get what I need as a start. There will no doubt be custom template/post pages, so will be on the forums a whole lot! ;-)

@kkevilus: Thanks for the Flutter heads-up. Had a really quick look, definitely worth a longer look. Sure to find a use for it.

Look forward to the chance to place the finished build up (or even dev versions) in the next couple of weeks for comment and feedback.

Thanks again!

use mu-wp as CMS .just like me. i think it is very good to SEO.i use it.very good

WPMU is not easy to setup. But once done, it's a powerful tools.

There's a list of resources for making WordPress act more like a CMS at "Do Not Call It A Blog" here which may be helpful:
http://notablog.umwblogs.org/wordpress-as-cms/

Just an update for those interested in the topic at hand - development is going along pretty well. At the moment I could have probably used a standard install of WP, but knowing what is coming down the track, hopefully this pays off!

Some issues I am dealing with include: