Networking Multiple Forums

If you operate multiple forums, even if they are on fairly different subjects, do you network them together? Perhaps you have a home-base network website that serves as an informative portal-like site, linking to all of your communities.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

I would only link them together if they were related in some way. Many of my forums are just too disparate to be linked to each other.

 

I don't know actually, I've never done it before and to be honest I wouldn't know where to start.

 

I've thought about this. Big Dan mentioned it to me.

A simple html page, or better yet, a WP, with a page for each of your sites, including link, detailed description, screenshot, etc.

 

Why not if they aren't related though? For example, a network of a car site, a webmaster site, and a gun site might all attract a related crowd. Individually, the sites aren't related, but when considering demographics, it might be worth establishing a network for.

 

Building a "network" of online communities is (most always) an excellent idea - doing so is also a smart move when it comes to advertisement and/or promotion.

While it would help to have all communities organized within the network based around the same general topic of discussion, it's not necessary - it could actually prove to be more successful (in the long run) if built around a vast variety of discussion (i.e. something web-related, something media-related, something nature-related). Having a network based around a set of different niches would be uniquely creative. Discussing the same general topic all of the time can get to be a bit boring. Why not "mix it up" and throw in some random discussion for the hell of it?

Lately, I've been thinking of doing something like this - could be fun, and an adventure.

 

I've always wanted to have my own network of communities. They would all be different (you wouldn't be signed up for all of them when you register one), but they would have a network bar on all of them. I think it is a good way to promote your forums using your forums.

 

I agree that it would be neat, but I think it would be a bit annoying to have that network bar. The iFroggy network is a good example - iFroggy Network
Every singe one of his network sites has that bar at the top, advertising another forum in the network. It's as bad as advertising, because when I'm visiting his Martial Arts forum, I don't want to be seeing "ads" about his Photoshop forum, for example.

 

Once I get the hang of managing communities, it's my dream to create a network. It would be very interesting to see what else the users of one subject think about another. And, you've got this entire network to offer for ads or sponsorship, as opposed to just one forum.

As for the navigation bar, you've got to do it just right. I'm not to fond of this one, but it's the first networked forum I've ever joined:
BF2 Combat | A Tour of Duty Based on BattleField 2

 

For those that do this, where would you suggest putting the links? Right now my idea is a bar in the footer.

 

To an extend, sure. As far as trying to tie them in together? No.