Blog or forum?

jimw · January 2008

I'm ready to start building a site for a group of people I know. It's going to be a social networking site where we can discuss things not only about us as individuals but also as it applies to our business. We want to have a place where we can share our interests and knowledge. We also want a place where we can have discussions on topics of interest.

I'm trying to decide whether to build it using WordPress or Vanilla. Hence the topic name. I'm sure that some of you have been in this quandry. And so I'd like to hear your thoughts on when to use a blog and when to use a forum.

Thank you, jimw

scrawler · January 2008

I'd go with Vanilla with the blog add-on. Not surprising, since I'm a new Vanilla fan, and I don't really like wordpress that much.

Stalyn · January 2008

Why not both? wordpress main page------>and vanilla forum

sstawarz · January 2008

Funny, I asked a similar question at a Sitepoint's search engine optimization forum. http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=527755 Here's my take: What's the goal of the site? To get readership? To get members? To sell advertising space? Figure this out first. If it is mostly a bunch of authors writing articles with small comments, then go with a blog. If it is more of a conversation give and take then go with a forum. What are the main keywords you are trying to hit? What i suggest you do is do a search for the keywords you'd like to show up on? Figure out if the results are blog heavy or forum heavy. My take is blogs tend to rank a little higher in search engines for the anecdotal evidence that people tend to link more to blogs than they do forum posts. Also, Forums tend to be less SEO friendly than Blogs do. Wordpress is very SEO friendly. Having said that, I like what Stalyn recommends, do both. Although, I have not looked at the blog add-on for Vanilla. I love both Vanilla and Wordpress. They're both excellent. I think there must be a way to make Vanilla more SEO friendly equal to Wordpress, but Wordpress is definitely easier to make SEO friendly with SiteMap plugins, All-In-One-SEO plugin, WP-Cache, Ping-backs, Track-backs, Akismet Plugin, etc... If you don't care so much about SEO, then go with a forum. Do you want anyone to join? Do you want anyone to create Discussions? then, Go with a forum. Hope that helps.

jimw · January 2008

Good points to consider. The site audience would be local primarily (geographically, that is). The group will be focused on environmental concerns that affect their community and how to solve them. It will be a place to go to for reference information on local suppliers of solar power house upgrades or landscape design or sustainable gardens, etc. Everything will be focused on what is available within the local community. We want to make it like a directory of services that are available. And we want to make it a place for discussion. And it will be a place for stories about what each person (or business) is doing.

So, it sounds like it will be a combination of vanilla and wp.

Thanks for your comments.

Stalyn · January 2008

The combination of Wp and Vanilla is just a match made in heaven.

nickldavis · January 2008

definitely vanilla...

jimw · January 2008

I decided to try something new - Drupal.

bobthecow · January 2008

i'm a huge fan of drupal. i'm setting up a drupal + vanilla site (http://beta.swingkids.info) to replace a drupal + phpbb site. it's a solid combination.

jimw · January 2008

It's taking a little to get used to its terminology compared to Wordpress which I'm used to. However, it does seem to be the right tool for this new village community site I'm building. I think I'll set up a beta subdomain like yours for testing after I get it pretty much built locally. Great idea. Thank you.

bobthecow · February 2008

yep... drupal does have different terminology. but it's an amazing cms toolkit once you're used to it.

let me know if i can help you with your transition :)

jimw · February 2008

@bobthecow, thanks for the offer. I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions. I did have 2 things I couldn't figure out how to do, but did find someone who explained what I was not seeing. Then, it was simple. If you want to check out the site, it's http://southchesco.greendrinks.us.

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