Why buy a domain?
Well, this was a decision that was kind of made for me.  Yes, I did it, but it still kind of feels like destiny.  In June 2004 I realized that my hosting plan for my original domain, IMOrca.nu, was much much too expensive for what I was getting.  My original host had been taken over by an evil corporate empire, which through its policies and lack of customer support was actively hostile toward independent (i.e. not business) hostees.  I mean, when the customer satisfaction survey doesn't even include a place to mark that you aren't a business?  That should be a sign.

Soooo....I sought another host.  While recent events have made me less than enthusiastic about recommending them to others, I found that they were able to let me host multiple domains on the same account.  Oh, wait...did you say multiple domains?  Now, I'm an organization freak.  I mean, I make folders I don't need just so I have them "in case", and so that all of my sites have the same structure.  I get bugged when I forget and don't use the same naming convention for files.  It had always rankled a bit that I didn't have project-dedicated domains...And so I expanded.  I like it here.  Think I'll stay.

Which management script?
So I said I was an organization freak, right?  Well, that's really what made my decision for me.  I was, like the majority of people at the time I started, going to use phpFanbase.  But to test it out, I decided to try the slightly simplified "clique" version first.  The thing that bugged me the most was that to set up the kind of structure I crave was not easy.  To be really easy to install, and to have the fewest steps for set up, this script is set up to be placed all in one folder with the regular page files.  Ick!  I don't like that.  I want the public files in one place, and the functionality files in another.  When I tried to relocate things, I would get errors.  I even had trouble relocating the graphic files.  I tracked down most of them, but it was a pain, and I had a clutch of fanlistings to do all at once.  If I had to debug each one to satisfy my organization neediness?  Nope, not going to work well.  Now, if I were really cool and proficient with php code and commands it would probably be very simple.  I'm not.  And I hate bugging my husband the programmer all the time to help me.

So...I started shopping for other scripts.  Enter Enthusiast!.  I had run across it at the My So-Called Life fanlisting, and I will admit that it was the kinda cute "powered by" graphic that first made me look.  Aha!  A neat and tidy folder system built in?  A really excellent and well commented config file?  Sold!  I knew it was for me when I didn't get a single error on the first try.  And I really like the administration interface, too.  Not to mention that it follows more closely a file naming system that I would have created were I cool enough to create a script.  Now, granted...I do like the display options that phpFanbase offers (with the possible exception that the numbers don't change if there is an error or deletion).  But I prefer the backend set up of Enthusiast!. Personally I'm glad there are several different scripts so that people have a choice, but can still manage their sites with ease.

Why branch out?
Or, why do you have more than fls here?  I kind of like the idea of getting my toes wet in several things.  I like to experience different aspects of this "listing" phenomenon.  I decided I'd try to open one of each type of listing I could.  Try at least a little bit in each community.  Not gratuitously...they are each things I care deeply about.

What to join?
Well, I honestly don't join listings for everything I like.  That's just silly.  I typically will join listings that:

• Represent a committed interest.  So I won't join for my current favorite song...but I'd join for a song I loved in High School that I still love now.

• Are pretty unusual interests rather unique to me.  So I won't join the Orlando Bloom fanlisting (with it's 10,000+ membership), but I would join a fanlisting for sauerkraut, though I'd probably be the only member.

• Represent an important moment in time, or an especially memorable moment.  So I won't be joining the LOTR fanlistings, though I enjoyed the movies and books greatly, but I would join a fanlisting for Sting's "When We Dance," 'cause it was played at my wedding for our first married dance together.

• Operate on different levels.  For example, I'd join a musician fanlisting if I enjoyed their body of work.  I would be unlikely to join an album or song fanlisting from that musician, then, because I've covered them already.  If I only like few songs, I'd join the individual song listings.  Same goes for movies, books, tv, etc.

Now, there are always exceptions.  For example, I'm a member of HP books and BTVS tv series (and so is everyone else on the face of the internet practically), which are clearly not unique to me, nor are they about a really poignant moment in my life.  But generally that's how I think.

What to open?
To be honest, we all know it's way easier to join a listing that someone else creates.  So I'd really prefer that other people host my interests.  But I consider running a fl both a service to the community I like being part of, as well as being a vehicle to express my own interests in expanded format.  I will generally consider opening a fl in the following circumstances:

• I'm salivating over the thing right at that moment.  That's what happened with The Dead Zone (TV).  It's an immediacy thing.

• I've been waiting for someone to open the list I want to join, and it's just not happening.  That's why I opened the one for The Name of The Rose.

• I'm not a collector - I mean, the largest of my fls has a whopping 170 or so (can you see that under a microscope?) - but I am interested in being part of the phenomena that are popular (and that I love, of course).  So, for example, I did open a Harry Potter related fl for "Floo Powder," and I'd dearly love to own a Buffy listing (tho' I refuse to run a repetitive or trivial one).

• I'll consider opening a listing if I think there's a niche not being served.