Is there a good way to divide my site up?

Question

So, I do several different kinds of photography, that aren't really related. I've heard it recommended that mixing sites isn't a good idea. Is there a way short of getting a second account that I could effectively have 2 sites? Specifically, I'm looking at the following criteria.

1. Different domain names.
2. Ability to have independent slideshows.
3. Removing links from the other sites as much as possible, although perhaps a single link somewhere wouldn't be a bad idea.

Also nice would perhaps be a splash page that would direct a person to the appropriate site.

Answer 1

SmugMug supports only one Custom Domain per site, so you can't have multiple custom names pointing to different parts of your site. And, it's best for SEO if you keep everything on ond custom domain. But you can easily divide your site up. Categories come to mind. Say you wanted a place for Family stuff, School Sports and Weddings. Set up a category for each, and put all the relevant galleries there. You can even make the Family stuff unlisted (and passworded, if you want). You'll have to tackle the navigation.... but for example, if you used http://example.com/School Sports as one URL, there could be NO navigation back to your main site from those pages if you wanted. You can even do a slideshow for each of the different parts of the site. Making a splash page that sends the visitor off to any of the different parts of your site is no problem. All of this can easily be accomplished with common customizations that are on the Dgrin Customizing forum.

Answer 2

If I understand what you are thinking about, it might be just as possible/effective to also do it via two separate web sites that both point to the same smugmug account. Not as a custom domain, but as custom navigation from there. Allow me to illustrate

Your have a domain called "coolstuff.com" and another called "otherstuff.com" you also have a smugmug custom domain that is "photos.stuff.com"

On the smugmug account you could set up two categories like Andy suggested, one for "Cool" and the other for "Other"

On the site coolstuff.com you place a landing page, and perhaps an about or other content. Perhaps a blog. You do the same thing on otherstuff.com.

You create a link to galleries or portfolio or images or whatever you want to call it. On the coolstuff site you point to "photos.stuff.com/cool" and the other site you point to "photos.stuff.com/other".

You can do some SEO on the microsites for each domain that might assist with offsetting some of the disadvantages of not having discrete sites for SEO with SmugMug.

However having tried to split up my site, one area private & one area public, after about a year I decided that it was easier to just set up two accounts. Less worrying that customizing one section would break another section.