WordPress MU

Hello,

I am getting ready to create a blog network for a group of about 10 or so sites. Before I install anything, I wanted to get some feedback on the best way to setup WPMU to accomplish my goals.

Here's what I'd like to do:

- Create a blog network that is based at http://www.mydomain.com This would be the main site of the blog network and would aggregate content (posts, etc.) from the other sites within the network.

- The other sites in the network (I'll call them subsites) would live on subdomains such as subsite1.mydomain.com, subsite2.mydomain.com, etc. Each of these would really be the main content sites for each of the specific topic areas.

All of the sites will be related. So, I'd like to be able to manage users, etc. across all subsites (and the main site).

Anyway, I am just looking for any recommendations or advice on the best way to go about setting up WPMU. My initial plan is to install WPMU at the root of http://www.mydomain.com. I am trying to decide whether or not to use subdomains for each of the subsites or just use subdirectories too?

I appreciate any thoughts and insights you can share.

Regards,
Ryan

As an aside, I am looking to setup a blog network in a similar manner to the Envato Tuts+ network or the Fuel Brand Network sites, but for my niche topic.

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NOTE: I will have domain names for each of my subsites that I plan to forward to the location where the subsite lives.

"- Create a blog network that is based at http://www.mydomain.com This would be the main site of the blog network and would aggregate content (posts, etc.) from the other sites within the network.

- The other sites in the network (I'll call them subsites) would live on subdomains such as subsite1.mydomain.com, subsite2.mydomain.com, etc. Each of these would really be the main content sites for each of the specific topic areas.

All of the sites will be related. So, I'd like to be able to manage users, etc. across all subsites (and the main site)."

This is exactly what WPMU does, right out of the box. Except for post aggregation.

The aggregation of the posts to the main page can be done via a plugin. (There are a number of options - I like Sitewide Tags plugin) You do NOT need a special theme.

If you want each sub-blog to have its own domain, get the Domain mapping plugin.

All plugins mentioned are in the WP.org plugin repo.

Hi Andrea,

Thank you very much! Time to get to work on my site...

-Ryan

Buddy Press plugin at buddypress.org should work for your needs. There is also Donchas sitewide tags, sitewide comments that can be used.

Feedwordpress plugin is a great option because you can setup feeds that actually get copied to whatever ite you want from anysite. It's very flexible.

Thanks Justin!