Clone
Clone your site to create a copy of it, including design files and access settings. You can then change the copied site without affecting the original.
Use site clone to create a new site without having to build it from the ground up or to move your site to a different web domain.
Prepare to CloneLink to this section
The length of time required to clone site files depends on the number of site files and file sizes. A high number of files, particularly large media files, can take a considerable amount of time to clone.
Clone your site when all users are logged out to prevent file edits during the site clone. This may cause file errors or discrepancies.
Clone a SiteLink to this section
There are two parts to your site: the settings and the files on the staging server. You can create a site clone that has a copy of the settings and the files or just the settings.
- Navigate to Setup > Sites.
- If you are cloning to a site that is a subfolder of the original site, revert the original site, so that the cloned links point to the new site.
- Click theMore Actions
menu for the site. - ClickSite > Clone.
Set up Clone SiteLink to this section
Enter site information, as follows:
- Type a unique site name.
- Select the "Include Staging Files" checkbox to duplicate the existing site with all its resources and templates.
- Edit the FTP root, FTP home (optional), and HTTP root to create a unique combination.
- Edit other site settings as necessary.
- Click Save.
Some features are unique to each site, like form and image gallery assets, and won't be cloned. See details on how features clone with a site.
Publish Clone SiteLink to this section
Before going live, complete the following for the new site:
- Edit the site information to build the global search index.
- Add form and gallery asset settings and auxiliary sites, as needed.
- Initialize the DirectEdit button.
- Review site access settings.
- Fix any internal hard-coded URLs pointing to the original domain name, using find and replace.
- If the new site is a subfolder of the old one, update the template directory.
- Publish the site.
Dependency Manager Link to this section
Whether or not dependency manager is enabled during the cloning process, for both the source site and the clone site, has differing effects on the links in the cloned site. There are four possible scenarios:
|
Source Site |
Source Site Dependency Manager Off |
|
| Clone Site Dependency Manager On |
All dependency tags point to clone. Dependency tags in the source site that point to locations other than the source continue to point to the same location in the clone. |
Dependency tags may or may not point to the clone. |
| Clone Site Dependency Manager Off |
No dependency tags. | Any dependency tags on the source site that existed before dependency manager was turned off are copied and point to the source site. |
If binary management is not turned on, and all links to binary files point to the production server, update those links on the clone site using find and replace.
How Features Clone Link to this section
| Feature | Clone? | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Access Settings (Pages and Folders) | Yes | |
| Access Settings (other) | No | |
| Assets | No |
|
| Binary Files | Yes, if binary management is enabled | If the original site has binary management on and the clone doesn't, binary files are still copied to staging. |
| Components | No |
|
| Dependency Tags | No | The cloned site automatically creates new dependency tags (the site files are cloned, the dependency tags for the source site are reverted, and the site is rescanned, producing new dependency tags). |
| Directory Variables | Yes | |
| File Status (Checked Out, Pending Approval, etc.) | No | |
| Find and Replace "Last Replace" Results | Yes | |
| Gadgets | Yes | Gadgets with site-specific information won't include the original site's history when viewed on the cloned site. |
| OMNI-INF | No | |
| Production Server Files | No | |
| Recycle Bin Contents | No | |
| Recycle Bin Location | Yes | |
| Reports | No | |
| RSS Feeds, Groups, and Items | Yes | |
| RSS Feed XML | No | |
| Site Settings | Yes | With the exception of those that need to be reconfigured for the new site. |
| Snippets | Yes |
A cloned snippet is added to the list of sites that can access the snippet. |
| Staging Server Files | Yes | Everything in Content > Pages. |
| Templates and Template Groups | Yes | |
| Toolbars | No | Toolbars don't need to be cloned because they're available account-wide, unless restricted. |
| Users and Groups | No | Users and groups don't need to be cloned because they're available account-wide. |
| Versions | No |