[TYPO3-english] Multi-site page organization

[Guus Leeuw Jr]

Hello,

I want to use TYPO3 for my websites, www.itpassion.com /
developer.itpassion.com /storage.itpassion.com / powerdesk.itpassion.com.

The obvious choice then would be to have a page tree akin:
- TYPO3
  - www.itpassion.com
     + Products
     + Solutions
     + Services
     + Leadership
     + About ITPassion
  - developer.itpassion.com
     + Login
     + Browse Projects
     + Manage Projects
  - storage.itpassion.com
    + Products
    + Services
  - powerdesk.itpassion.com
    + Login
    + Client Development
    + Security Manager
    +  HR
    + TechLib

OK. Now, if you browse the current www.itpassion.com and underlying sites,
you'll see there are three pages that will always come back, across the
sites: Contact Us, Privacy Statement, and Legal Information. To put them
into TYPO3, the obvious choice would be:
- TYPO3
  - Contact Us
  - Privacy Statement
  - Legal Information
  - www.itpassion.com
     + Products
     + Solutions
     + Services
     + Leadership
     + About ITPassion
  - developer.itpassion.com
     + Login
     + Browse Projects
     + Manage Projects
  - storage.itpassion.com
    + Products
    + Services
  - powerdesk.itpassion.com
    + Login
    + Client Development
    + Security Manager
    +  HR
    + TechLib

And since all sites share the same layout / template, I thought it would be
cool to put a new top level page, inside which I will have all other pages:
- TYPO3
  - ITPassion Development
    - Contact Us
    - Privacy Statement
    - Legal Information
    - Storage Folder
    - www.itpassion.com
       + Products
       + Solutions
       + Services
       + Leadership
       + About ITPassion
    - developer.itpassion.com
       + Login
       + Browse Projects
       + Manage Projects
    - storage.itpassion.com
      + Products
      + Services
    - powerdesk.itpassion.com
      + Login
      + Client Development
      + Security Manager
      +  HR
      + TechLib

This way, I can create my templavoila template in the storage folder, make
"ITPassion Development" the root of the implementation, and hide the 3
general pages from the menu everywhere.

So far, so good.

Now, you'll also see that there is something like a site links bar at the
bottom of the header div, anchoring www, developer, storage, and PowerDesk
.itpassion.com as easy links to sub sites. According to my last page tree
above, the sites are at the same level as the three general pages.

Now, if I let TS create the top menu for the three pages, I would say that
the entry level = 1, and it would create anchors to everything at level 1,
that is including the links to the sub sites.

So the questions become:
1) Is the above organization valid, or should I create the three general
pages inside each site every time, and if so, how and where would I need to
store them? (The problem comes back at lower levels as well...)
2) How can I selectively show anchors for the three general pages in one
menu and anchors to the sites in another menu, although the two items are on
the same level in the page tree?

Thanks for your help, and sorry for the long-ish post.

Regards,
Guus