Find solution
How to display sub categories in Wordpress?

Wordpress network, or sub-categories?

  • Wordpress gurus, please help me think through this site architecture question: multisite network, or sub-categories? So I'm building a site that contains a number of sub-sites, and those sub-sites will occasionally share content. They will have the same categories as one another. So, for instance, let's say site A is about Dogs, site B is about Cats, site C is about Parrots, each their own domain name. Each site will have the same theme and navigation as the others - categories like tips, adoption, feeding, photos, etc. And it will sometimes be the case that we have a Tips story that is germane to both dogs and cats, so that same story would go on both site A and B, in the Tips category, for instance. My dilemma is whether it makes sense to use the http://codex.wordpress.org/Create_A_Network feature in WP, which I have read about but never used, or simply make Dogs a category that has all of tips, adoption, etc. as subcategories. Then do the same with the rest - each site is a top-level category, with subcategories. I'm having trouble seeing all of the pros and cons of either approach. I could easily make the Dogs domain address redirect to a query that only pulls content from that category. But I have this nagging feeling that this is a messy approach for reasons I'm not thinking of yet. I see from the documentation that the network functionality doesn't allow global categories, which is a bit of a concern for going in that direction. Any advice, insight, wisdom? Thanks in advance.

  • Answer:

    Have you checked out the new http://codex.wordpress.org/Taxonomies feature? There's a great plugin called http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/types/ that lets you come up with all kinds of category schemes that wouldn't be possible under the old-fashioned Categories.

jbickers at Ask.Metafilter.Com Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

Networks normally share very little--users, themes to select, and plugins (some global, some selectable). I ran a large one for many years, and it really doesn't sound right for you.

Monsieur Caution

It would be easier to manage these subsites through custom post types as http://www.metafilter.com/user/40923 had mentioned, and the Types plugin is excellent for this. When you say that each subsite will have their own domain name, do you mean primary domain, or subdomain/subdirectory? If it's the former, I'd recommend going the multisite route, as it'll be much easier dealing with domain mapping. And yes, there's a http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-mu-domain-mapping/ for that! If you end up using the native WordPress navigation menu with multisite, I'd suggest creating a global navigation that synchronizes across all the sites using the http://ostedesign.com/wordpress-multisite-global-navigation-menu-synchronization function.

colorproof

Egad, I meant to say http://www.metafilter.com/user/140189 in my previous comment, but typed your username instead!

colorproof

I'd forgotten to address this earlier regarding the sharing of same stories across subsites, but a really great multisite plugin for that is http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/threewp-broadcast/. The "broadcasted" post(s) can be linked to its parent, and when you modify the parent post, it updates the child post(s) as well. Pretty nifty.

colorproof

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.