Thursday 27 May 2010 8:36:44 am
Let's discuss a variety of reasons one might want several siteaccesses, explore what one is, and then see how it's done. Here are some typical scenarios for using different siteaccesses in addition to the admin and public siteaccess:
Case | Siteaccesses | Content-Sharing Capabilities | Details |
typical (e.g. a single web shop, social networking site, or corporate site) |
site_public site_admin |
n/a (only one real website) | both share the same database and var directory but use different designs and extensions |
multilingual (e.g. a corporate website with three translations plus an administrative interface) |
nor slk chi admin |
all sites can access the same content provided there's an available translation | same database and var directory and same design (except admin), but different language settings in each |
several completely different websites (e.g. a company which sells websites with similar features but different design and content to companies in an industry) |
site_1_public site_1_admin site_2_public site_2_admin ... |
Content (and user accounts) are kept separate so there is no danger of one customer accessing another customer's data. | different databases, var directories, and designs |
one site which gets customized for different populations (for example, a magazine publisher with different versions for various cities) |
city_1_public city_1_admin city_2_public city_2_admin ... |
Content is kept separate for each edition. | design may be shared but databases and var directories may be distinct |
Several sites revolving around a brand/company/idea cross-sharing part of their content, functionalities, and design with each other. |
brand_site_1_public brand_site_1_admin brand_site_2_public brand_site_2_admin |
Content is partly kept separate for common editors: one subtree per site, but can be shared easily for enabled editors. | Design may be shared,extensions too, database and var directories as well. One content subtree is one site. |
Feel free to add your own creative uses of siteaccesses in the related forum here.