Create Demo Site

Create a demo site in AEM based on a library of pre-configured templates.

The Story So Far

In the previous document of the AEM Reference Demos Add-On journey, Create Program, you took the first configuration step to create a program for testing purposes and used a pipeline to deploy the add-on content. You should now:

  • Understand how to use Cloud Manager to create a new program.
  • Know how to activate the Reference Demos Add-On for the new program.
  • Be able to run a pipeline to deploy the add-on content.

This article describes the next step of the process by creating a new site or AEM Screens project in AEM based on the templates of the Reference Demo Add-On.

Objective

This document helps you understand how to create a new site based on the templates of the Reference Demo Add-On. After reading you should:

  • Understand how to access the AEM authoring environment.
  • Know how to create a site based on a template.
  • Understand the basics of navigating the site structure and editing a page.

Create a Demo Site or Screens Project

Once the pipeline has deployed the Reference Demo Add-On, you can access the AEM authoring environment to create demo sites based on the add-on content.

  1. From the program overview page in Cloud Manager, tap or click on the link to the AEM authoring environment.

    Access authoring environment

  2. From the main menu of AEM, tap or click on Sites.

    Access sites

  3. From the sites console, tap or click Create at the top-right of the screen and select Site from template in the drop-down.

    Create site from template

  4. The site creation wizard starts. In the left column you can see the demo templates that the pipeline deployed to your authoring instance. Tap or click one to select it and show details in the right column. If you wish to test or demo AEM Screens, be sure to choose the We.Cafe Site Template. Tap or click Next.

    Site creation wizard

  5. In the next screen, provide a title for your site or Screens project. A site name can be provided or will be generated from the title if omitted. Tap or click Create.

    • The site title appears in the browsers title bar.
    • The site name becomes part of the URL.
    • The site name must comply with AEM’s page naming conventions, details of which are available in the Additional Resources section.

    Site details

  6. The site creation is confirmed with a dialog. Tap or click Done.

    Site creation complete

You have now created your own demo site!

Use Demo Site

Now that your demo site is created, you can navigate and use it as you would any other site in AEM.

  1. The site now appears in the sites console.

    New demo site in sites console

  2. In the top-right corner of the screen, make sure that the console view is set to Column View.

    Column view

  3. Tap or click the site to explore its structure and contents. The column view continuously expands as you navigate the content tree of the demo site.

    Site structure

  4. Tap or click a page to select it and then tap or click Edit in the toolbar.

    Select page

  5. You can edit the page as any other AEM content page such as adding or editing components or assets and test the functionality of AEM.

    Edit page

Congratulations! You now can explore your demo site’s content further and discover all that AEM has to offer through the best practices content of the Reference Demo Add-On.

Create additional sites based on other templates to explore more AEM functionality.

What’s Next

Now that you have completed this part of the AEM Reference Demo Add-On journey you should:

  • Understand how to access the AEM authoring environment.
  • Know how to create a site based on a template.
  • Understand the basics of navigating the site structure and editing a page.

You can now test the features of AEM using add-on content. You have two options to continue your journey:

  • If you wish to fully demo and test AEM Screens content, make sure that you have deployed a site based on the We.Cafe Site Template as described previously and continue to Enable AEM Screens for Your Demo Site.
  • If you only with to demo Sites content, continue to Manage Your Demo Sites, where you will learn about the tools available to help you manage your demo sites and how to remove them.

Additional Resources

  • Cloud Manager documentation - If you would like more details on Cloud Manager’s features, you may want to directly consult the in-depth technical docs.
  • Create Site - Learn how to use AEM to create a site using site templates to define the style and structure of your site.
  • AEM’s page naming conventions. - Refer to this page to understand the conventions for organizing AEM pages.
  • AEM Basic Handling - Explore this document if you are new to AEM to understand basic concepts such as navigation and console organization.

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