We are currently evaluating CMS platforms to support a Microsite initiative that we have. The main site and microsites will be very basic (just simple content). Where I'm having trouble is finding solid documentation regarding Microsite implementation. We will require 100+ microsites, which will be created over time. Each Microsite must be referenced by subdomain: customera.domain.com, customerb.domain.com, etc. Each Microsite will be very similar in regards to layout and structure (therefore, we would like to share templates, document types, CSS, JS, etc. amongst all the microsites). Additionally, we would like the ability to quickly clone a previously created Microsite when standing up a new customer Microsite (I see that you can copy pages, but can you copy an entire site?)
I'm looking for any solid recommendations and / or documentation on these core capabilities:
1. Creating Microsites
2. Sharing Templates, Document Types, CSS, etc. across all microsites
3. Coping / Cloning Microsites
What you have described in terms of requirements is what Umbraco can do.
The immediate question I would have is whether or not having 100 microsites loaded under one instance is the right approach. I guess I am coming from the angle of risk and if one site goes down, then they are all unavailable. Just as an idea, would 10 Umbraco instances with 10 microsites be a consideration ?
In any case to answer some of your questions:
You can copy nodes and when doing so you can copy the child nodes as well, so replicating an existing microsite should prove easy.
Yes you can definitely reuse templates, css, javascript functionality across all microsites.
When cloning a new microsite, you would need to declare the new hostname on the root folder (microsite home page) but this is a simple task.
One possible shortcoming is if/when one microsite requires separate functionality - if all sites are clones, then the new functionality would by default be available to all.
We do a lot of this for enterprise sites where we have a few hundred locations, each with their own site with different photo galleries, testimonials, contact info, sometimes a proprietary domain if they were acquired recently, etc.
Once you create the first one, you literally just right-click on it > copy > click on "Culture and Hostnames" on the new page you've just created and set the language and domain of that page. You can then change content as you feel appropriate or just create the new one from scratch and add the content that way.
Another nice thing about Umbraco is that it makes it super easy to have optional fields or be able to tag related content and such from a central repository that many microsites can share (think about a list of services or products that many sites share and can be all updated at once).
We also use Umbraco forms because you can have one form on every single page / site and then have a field on each page that sets the destination of the form, for example.
Microsite Creation and Management
We are currently evaluating CMS platforms to support a Microsite initiative that we have. The main site and microsites will be very basic (just simple content). Where I'm having trouble is finding solid documentation regarding Microsite implementation. We will require 100+ microsites, which will be created over time. Each Microsite must be referenced by subdomain: customera.domain.com, customerb.domain.com, etc. Each Microsite will be very similar in regards to layout and structure (therefore, we would like to share templates, document types, CSS, JS, etc. amongst all the microsites). Additionally, we would like the ability to quickly clone a previously created Microsite when standing up a new customer Microsite (I see that you can copy pages, but can you copy an entire site?)
I'm looking for any solid recommendations and / or documentation on these core capabilities: 1. Creating Microsites 2. Sharing Templates, Document Types, CSS, etc. across all microsites 3. Coping / Cloning Microsites
Thanks!
Hi Geoff
What you have described in terms of requirements is what Umbraco can do.
The immediate question I would have is whether or not having 100 microsites loaded under one instance is the right approach. I guess I am coming from the angle of risk and if one site goes down, then they are all unavailable. Just as an idea, would 10 Umbraco instances with 10 microsites be a consideration ?
In any case to answer some of your questions:
One possible shortcoming is if/when one microsite requires separate functionality - if all sites are clones, then the new functionality would by default be available to all.
I hope this helps.
Cheers, Nigel
Hi Geoff,
Just to add to Nigel's post.
We do a lot of this for enterprise sites where we have a few hundred locations, each with their own site with different photo galleries, testimonials, contact info, sometimes a proprietary domain if they were acquired recently, etc.
Once you create the first one, you literally just right-click on it > copy > click on "Culture and Hostnames" on the new page you've just created and set the language and domain of that page. You can then change content as you feel appropriate or just create the new one from scratch and add the content that way.
Another nice thing about Umbraco is that it makes it super easy to have optional fields or be able to tag related content and such from a central repository that many microsites can share (think about a list of services or products that many sites share and can be all updated at once).
We also use Umbraco forms because you can have one form on every single page / site and then have a field on each page that sets the destination of the form, for example.
-Amir
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