Table of Contents
- Should I use categories or multiple weblogs
- Will your sections need distinct types of data fields
- Will you need for different members to have different access to the sections
- Will each section need distinct categories itself
- Will your sections need distinct layouts or looks
Should I use categories or multiple weblogs
When designing a new site with ExpressionEngine, it is common for people to ask whether they should use categories or multiple weblogs when organizing the site. This is a very fundamental question to how a site is set up and it’s something that should be investigated very early in the site concept. Unfortunately, this is a very difficult question to answer since it is fundamentally intertwined with how you plan for the site to operate.
There’s no magical “you should use X” answer to give you. Categories will be best in some circumstances and discrete weblogs will be better in others. However, there are some questions that you can ask yourself to help narrow the decision down.
Will your sections need distinct types of data fields
If you will need different sets of entry fields for different parts of your site then you should use a weblog. Each weblog can be assigned its own set of entry fields, but individual categories cannot. For instance, a section on news will likely require different fields than a section reviewing movies.
Will you need for different members to have different access to the sections
If you will have members adding content to your sections and you want to restrict members to only post in their area, then you will probably want to use weblogs for the main sections. In ExpressionEngine’s member management, you can give detailed permissions to Member Groups, but you can only restrict access at the weblog level, you cannot restrict access to some categories and not others.
Will each section need distinct categories itself
Each weblog can be assigned its own set of categories. It’s also possible to use subcategories for this since the categories in ExpressionEngine can be hierarchical. However, this different approach can help indicate to you whether weblogs or categories would be more approprate for main sections.
A weblog may also be assigned multiple category groups. This can be used to layer entries or create a category relationship between multiple weblogs.
Will your sections need distinct layouts or looks
While it is possible to accomplish distinct layouts for sections if you use categories for them, it is far easier to do so by using weblogs and multiple Templates/Template Groups.
Hopefully these questions will help guide you to the appropriate choice for your own particular project.