So you’ve decided to run multiple blogs after all. Good for you, as long as you’re contributing (or making a truckload of cash) then it’s fine. Or why not just hire someone to blog for you, that always works, right?
Time to install 35 WordPress blogs! Even if that 5 minute install was all that was needed, it would be around 3 hours of work, and that’s not counting setting up your databases, uploading WordPress files, and so on. Then you’ve got your average plugins, API keys to paste into Akismet’s settings, activating the right theme, fixing the permalinks…
Yes, I know. Who launches 35 blogs at once? No one of course, but you get the picture. Every blog takes some time to setup.
You can do all that just once, and then launch a new (basic) blog in a matter of seconds, with WordPress MU. It’s pretty easy too, as long as you use one domain for your blogging enterprises. Then again I’m sure there are hacks for multiple domains out there…
I recently used WordPress MU in a Swedish blog networkish project, called pakten.se. Check it out if you like, it’s in Swedish though, and the front page isn’t done (links in the top bar to dig deeper). That was an experience.
Which brings me to the point of this post. You really should investigate solutions to make things easier on yourself if you’re managing multiple blogs. WordPress MU might be one solution, but chances are you’ve got a bunch of domains and don’t want to hack around too much. There are other options though, like subversion, but that’s not exactly my expertise.
You need a technical strategy for managing multiple blogs. Sure, you can just update them all when a new point release is out, but that takes a lot of time. It might be the best solution for you, but make sure you’ve got your strategy clear to you from the beginning, otherwise you’ll have a hard time along the road.
After all, while you might not launch with 35 blogs, you might end up having the administrative responsibility of that number, or more. Updating them all is a bother to say the least.
Do you run multiple blogs, and do you have a technical strategy for how to handle them? My guess is no, most of us probably bites the bullet and take it as it comes. Even though it’s a bother every time we need to update, right?
I can tell you this though. Having WordPress MU to power my Swedish blog network, seven blogs strong at the moment, is a breeze, although the way there wasn’t.
But that’s another story, and it’s available over at Devlounge, so check it out.
Originally posted on December 15, 2007 @ 6:59 am