Forums vs Website

[GrendelKhan{TSU]

I was wondering...
do your forums support/supplement your website/cmps? or is your CMPS/website kinda support an addition to your forums?

I tend to think the best sites are still just good ol' websites (html or the like) with forums as a supplemental community to support it. But most around here seem to have a forum as the meat of their site...some maybe it IS the site. same for portals, blogs or any cms.

either one is the main entry point that goes to the forums...or vice versa.

One might THINK that a cmps as the main site would be the most flexible and best, but when it comes down to it... I don't actually see that many big boards/sites with a CMPS front end.

so, I was wondering what people think, how they have their's set up and which is better for building a "quality site"? and which is better for monetization.

any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm kinda wondering which way I want to go.