Reusing Content: Multi Site Manager and Live Copy multi-site-manager-and-live-copy

With MSM you can:

• Create content once and then
• Reuse this content in other areas (via Live Copies) of the same or other sites.

MSM then maintains the live relationships between your source content and its Live Copies so that:

• When you change the source content, the source and Live Copies are synchronized.
• You can make adjustments only to the content of the Live Copies by disconnecting the live relationship for individual sub pages and/or components.

Multinationals - Global to Local Company

One typical use case that MSM supports is to reuse content in several multinational same-language sites. This allows the core content to be reused, while also permitting national variations.

For example, the English section of the WKND tutorial sample is created for customers in the USA. Most of the content in this site can also be used for other WKND sites that cater to English-speaking customers of different countries and cultures. The core content remains the same over all sites, while regional adjustments can be made.

The following structure can be used for sites for the United States and Canada. Note how language-masters node maintains the master copy of not only English but other language content. This content can be used as the basis for additional regional language content alongside English.

/content
    |- wknd
        |- language-masters
            |- en
            |- es
            |- fr
        |- us
            |- en
            |- es
        |- ca
            |- en
            |- fr

National - Head-Office to Regional Branches

Alternatively a company with a network of dealers might want separate websites for its individual dealerships, each being a variation of the main site provided by the head-office. This might be for a single company with multiple regional offices, or a national franchise system comprised of a central franchisor and multiple local franchisees.

The head office can supply the core information, whereas the regional entities can add local information, such as contact details, opening hours and events.

/content
    |- head-office-berlin
    |- branch-hamburg
    |- branch-stuttgart
    |- branch-munich
    |- branch-frankfurt

Multiple Versions

MSM can create versions of a specific sub-branch. For example, a support sub-site can hold details of the different versions of a specific product, where the base information remains constant and only the updated features need to be changed:

/content
    |- game-support
        |- polybius
            |- v5.0
            |- v4.0
            |- v3.0
            |- v2.0
            |- v1.0

Create Site (Sites)

• MSM helps you to manage multiple websites that share common content. For example, websites are often provided for international audiences such that most of the content is common across all countries, with a subset of the content specific to the individual country. MSM lets you create Live Copies that automatically update one or more sites based on your source site. This also helps you to enforce a common base structure, use the common content across the multiple sites, maintain a common look and feel and focus efforts on managing the content that actually differs between the sites. Creating a site in this manner:

  • Requires a predefined blueprint configuration to specify the source.
  • Creates a Live Copy of the (predefined) source.
  • Provides the user with the Rollout button.

Create Live Copy (Sites)

• MSM lets you create an ad-hoc (one-off) Live Copy of an individual page or sub-branch of a website. For example, duplicating a sub-branch to provide information about a new/updated version of a product. Creating a Live Copy in this manner:

  • Creates an ad-hoc Live Copy (no blueprint configuration required).
  • Can be used to (immediately) create a Live Copy of any page/branch.
  • Requires Synchronize (does not provide the Rollout button).

View Properties (Sites)

• Where appropriate, this option helps you monitor your Live Copy by providing information on the related Live Copy or Blueprint.

References (Sites)

• The References rail provides information about Live Copies together with access to appropriate actions.

Live Copy Overview (Sites)

• This console lets you view and manage your blueprint and its Live Copies.

Blueprints (Tools - Sites)

• This console lets you create and manage your blueprint configurations.

The Live Copy inherits content from its source.

Synchronization performs the actual transfer of content when changes are made to the source.

A Live Copy can be considered as either:

• Shallow: a single page
• Deep: the page, together with its child pages

Synchronization rules, called rollout configurations, determine which properties are synchronized and when the synchronization occurs.

Live Copy pages that reflect the selected source pages on a 1:1 basis.

One configuration definition.

A live relationship defined for every resource:

• Link the Live Copy resource with its blueprint/source.
• Are used when realizing inheritance and rollout.

A rollout configuration can be defined so that specific events can cause a rollout to occur automatically.

When authoring a blueprint page you can use the Rollout command to push changes to the Live Copy.

• The Rollout command is available on a blueprint page that is referenced by a blueprint configuration.

When authoring a Live Copy page you can use the Synchronize command to pull changes from the source to the Live Copy.

• The Synchronize command is always available on the Live Copy page regardless of whether the source/blueprint page is encompassed by a blueprint configuration.