Multiple Local Sites… I Want To Avoid WP Multisite Though

[ItsPhipps]

Here's what I'm trying to figure out...

I want to set up local websites that are city specific, but I want to try and avoid using Multisite if possible. I'm hoping that there is a way I can accomplish what I want using nested categories. Here's what I want to do...

When somebody chooses a city category, I want them to stay on that "city" path unless they change to another city. Easy so far, by just using different categories for each city.

The problem comes in with this... I want to have "cornerstone" content which is NOT city specific to show up in each city category (multiple categories for one article). Basically, when I have an article that is cornerstone or informational, but not city specific, I want it to be pushed to all the local city categories. But the sidebar, menu, etc should all be city specific even though the article is the same, and in multiple categories.

Here's an example of the website category layout I'd like to achieve:

http://www.main-url.com
          non-specific-category (Main site with "cornerstone" non-specific content)
                    nested-category-1 (How To)
                    nested-category-2 (Tips)
          city-category-1 (let's say LA)
                   nested-category-1 (LA How To... mix of local specific and cornerstone content)
                   nested-category-2 (LA Tips... mixed local and cornerstone content)
                   nested-category-3 (LA News... just local content)
          city-category-3 (let's say New York)
                   nested-category-1 (New York How To... mix of local specific and cornerstone content)
                   nested-category-2 (New York Tips... mixed local and cornerstone content)
                   nested-category-3 (New York News... just local content)

So, here's what it should happen...

http://www.mainurl.com/non-specific-category/post-name/ (Main site sidebars and menu)
http://www.mainurl.com/city-category-1/post-name/ (Same content but LA specific sidebars and menu)
http://www.mainurl.com/city-category-2/post-name/ (Same content but New York specific sidebars and menu)

Each URL would have the same article content, but have different sidebars, menu's, etc. that are specific to the city.Is that even possible without using wordpress Multisite, and without having to submit a separate duplicate article for each category individually? Can I somehow mix tags along with categories to achieve this?

(please let me know if I need to be more clear in my description)

Edit:

Let me use breadcrumbs as an example to help clarify my issue. Let's say a person follows either one of these breadcrumb paths to get to an article:

Home (main site) > LA (city category) > How To Articles (nested category) > How To Do Blah Blah (post name)
Home (main site) > New York (city category) > How To Articles (nested category) > How To Do Blah Blah (post name)

So the post named "How To Do Blah Blah" is under the category "LA > How To Articles" and also "New York > How To Articles"... Both of these would be the same article because it's cornerstone type content and not city specific. But I want to have city specific sidebars and menu displayed based upon which category they came through–New Your or LA.

I know that it's possible using Multisite or by duplicating articles, but I want to try and keep things more simple.

===============================

Now, I know that I'm going to get these questions from somebody, so I'll try answering them up front...

--Why do duplicate content? Duplicate content is bad for Google.--
I'm doing it for users, not for google, and google is learning every day what's best for users. The content won't be completely duplicate either because the menu, sidebars, signup forms, header, and links would likely all be city specific. If google looks at the entire page as a whole, instead of just the article content, then it will do its job of displaying the correct page for each search.

--Why not just have cornerstone content on the main page, and city specific content on their own categories?--
I may have to do it this way initially, but from a usage standpoint it doesn't make much sense. Once users choose a city, I want to keep them in that city rather than making them jump back and forth between main pages and city specific pages, all while randomly switching sidebars and menus on them. It could be very confusing, so I want them to have ALL the content under the city path that they choose, including cornerstone type content.

[cehwitham]

I think the way forward would be to setup sidebars for each location then use the Widget Logic plugin to control which categories which sidebars are displayed in. For example the widget logic for the LA sidebar would be something like is_category('LA'); where LA is the category slug.

I hope that helps.

Chris

---

Twitter: cehwitham Web: cehwitham.com

[Author]

Posts