I am adding an additional domain name to my website, and have thought of several options to handle the design, and would like some input on what would be better.
The website is named after the original domain. I thought about the "easy" method of parking a new domain on the original one, but I was thinking this could be confusing to some as far as name recognition from within the site, logos, etc.
An alternate method of handling the site differences through a special 'config.php' file in the main directory of both domains. This file would include important information like 'Date of last site update' as well as the site name. I would then have every reference to the site name changed to be this variable. Both sites would be the same in content. I know I would have two full sites on the server, but the site is a small 400 pages. By using the 'config.php' file, the pages for both sites could be the exact same source files, so if an update was needed I would only have to update one file (just upload it to the server into two different directories). I would also have a different site banner image for the different sites this way as well.

What I would like to know, is which method would be the most beneficial for the users of either website.
The site is a fan site for a musical artist, that evolved from being just a message board to a complete fan information site. The original domain relates to the original forum nature of the site; however it could be considered a little cryptic and does not perform as well on search engines as I feel it should. The new domain name is the artists name with 'fan' attached at the end. This (hopefully) will assist search engines in recognizing the intent of the site and improve its rankings as well.

Thank you for your assistance and opinions,
Ron