Hello Andrea, thanks for your reply. Yes, I know WPMU creates sub-domains (even if our hosting can't create the mailboxes to go with the sub-domains) but that is only a part of what I need.
WPMU is complicated for a novice user who wants to be able to manage their content with a minimal learning curve. On the plus side it has so many possibilities. It would be nice if I could pick and chose which options are available to specific users (or user groups?), that way options could be added/removed to suit differing abilities (okay, I'm dreaming again!).
Charging per page ensures there are no hidden or unforeseen costs. When my clients ask, 'how much' they don't want to hear me say, 'well that depends'. My out dated business model means I can serve up the nice looking websites that they want at a price that has no hidden costs. I guess that by today’s standards no hidden costs is just another out dated business model :)
Charging for access? That sounds like a good idea if it works for you and your clients, but then isn't that a little like charging for bandwidth, which is also quickly going out of fashion? Even I have unlimited bandwidth to hand.
Any way, we are [insert number here] posts down the line and so far the only suggestion I have seems to be for me to change the way I want to work to fit the software. Besides, I am working the way our clients want this to work. Is there any point in researching a business model around what the clients want only to find I have to change it to fit in with software restrictions? I thought this was 2009? :)
So, does anyone know of a way to make WPMU do what I need, or know of any software that comes close that I could alter?
Thanks.
Paul :)