I had a debate with a friend the other day about whether it's better to create a very niche site or a site that tries to be a jack of all trades and master of none. I thought I'd open the discussion up here.
Basically DaniWeb was founded out of my frustration that there were sooo many niche forums out at the time, and I felt like just to put a website together, I had to use JustLinux.com to learn about the OS, WebHostingTalk.com to learn how to host it, PHPFreaks.com to learn about the php side, DBForums.com for the database side, SitePointForums.com and WebmasterWorld.com for the marketing and SEO. Every community has its own set of rules and nuances, and I wanted to create one unfied place where you can learn about all of the technologies you use together in a consistent environment with the same community culture and familiar faces.
Today, eleven years later, I'm still a fan of that road. My friend argues that he feels that if he needs to know an answer about topic XYZ, a niche site JUST about that topic would be much more helpful than a site that has that topic as just a small drop in a huge ocean. For example, if he has a PHP question, he'd go to PHPFreaks before he went to DaniWeb.
My argument is that niche isn't always better. Sometimes it's just small :) For example, DaniWeb's C++ forum can more than rival the CProgramming.com forums or the CPlusPlus.com forums. And then there's all the additional help with the technologies you would use with C++ that don't exist on those sites, and the easy transition to build your resume learning new technologies too, in the same familiar environment.
I was just wondering what you guys think? Niche or not? :)