Site Factory enables you to create duplicate websites from an existing website. Duplicate websites can either contain only the structure of the original website (clean copy), or can be complete and exact copies of the original website (full website clone).
Duplicating your website can be useful in the following situations:
- You want to create several websites with the same or similar configurations.
- You have a production website you’d like to experiment with, but you want to make changes that external website visitors should not encounter.
Note
If you duplicate a website with a custom domain, Site Factory removes any custom domain redirection settings from the duplicated website.
What gets duplicated
When you duplicate a website, depending on the option you select, the new website will contain the following:
Comparison of duplication methods
| Description | Clean copy | Full website clone |
|---|---|---|
| Configurations | All website configurations are duplicated. | All website configurations are duplicated. |
| Content: General | Content created by both anonymous users and user accounts with the administrator or website maintainer roles are duplicated. | All content is duplicated. |
| Content: Comments | Content is not copied. | All content is duplicated. |
| Database tables | All tables are copied, except for the following tables: cache, cache_*, history, sessions, search_*, and watchdog. Tables with ephemeral data (such as the accesslog, semaphore, batch, and queue tables) are truncated. | All tables are copied, except for the following tables: cache, cache_*, history, sessions, search_*, and watchdog. |
| Files | Files uploaded to the website’s Media Library or attached to content using the File field are copied. Files owned by removed users are reassigned to the Anonymous user. | Files uploaded to the website’s Media Library or attached to content using the File field are copied. |
| Modules | All modules are copied. Some disabled modules may be re-enabled if needed during the user scrubbing process. | All modules are copied. |
| Scheduled Jobs | All scheduled jobs are copied. | All scheduled jobs are copied. |
| Structure | All structural elements, including blocks and taxonomies, are duplicated. | All structural elements, including blocks and taxonomies, are duplicated. |
| Themes | All themes are duplicated. | All themes are duplicated. |
| Users | The following user accounts are duplicated: User 1, all user accounts with the administrator or website maintainer roles, all OpenID administrator users, and any user accounts listed in a hook that preserves accounts from scrubbing. | All user accounts are duplicated. |
| All other items | Any other items not previously described are not copied to the new website. | All other items not previously described are copied to the new website. |
Duplicating a website
To duplicate an Site Factory website, use one of the following methods:
- Using the
/sites/[siteID]/duplicateendpoint in the Site Factory API - Using the Site Factory Management Console
To duplicate a website through the Site Factory Management Console user interface:
Sign in to the Site Factory Management Console, find the website you want to duplicate, and open its actions menu.
- Click Duplicate Site.
- In the text field, enter the new Site Factory name for your website.
- Select the duplication option you want to use for your website:
- Create a clean copy
- Full site clone
- Click Duplicate site.
The duplication process begins and can take several minutes to complete. After the duplication process completes, Site Factory sends a completion email to users with the platform admin and site builder roles.
Duplicate websites and groups
Websites duplicated from the All my sites page will not be part of any group or subgroup.
If you duplicate a website from within a group, the new website will be part of that group. The new website will not inherit assigned groups and subgroups—the duplicate website is assigned only the group or subgroup in which you started the duplication process.
The website duplication process copies the existing user account information, so members of the original website can sign in on the duplicate website using their same username and password.