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Decide between subdomains / subdirectories / multiple sites / one site?

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whitenjg

30 Oct, 2015 04:05 PM

Our older Cascade instance is still all one Global site (using Targets), but this year we are redeveloping the websites from scratch.

The question has been raised about changing from site subdomains to subdirectories, e.g.

liberalarts.udmercy.edu —> udmercy.edu/liberalarts

We were told by Beacon Technologies that we would enjoy easier sharing/maintenance of common page elements (design / look & feel, etc.) if we keep content all together in one domain/site in Cascade Server.

Would anyone share their thoughts / experience about this?

QUESTION 1: Is it actually more difficult to maintain common design across Cascade Server Sites than if you keep all web content within the same Cascade Site?

The other advantage we're told of going from subdomains to subdirectories is that the subdirectories approach provides some kind of boost in search engine results for combined site content.

Also, is this whole question extraneous? For example:

QUESTION 2: Is it possible to maintain separate Cascade Sites but have them publish to subdirectories within a single live website?

I hope this was clear.

Thanks much, in advance.
Jon

1. 1 Posted by Penny on 09 Nov, 2015 08:09 PM

   

   Hi Jon,

   To be as detailed as possible, please see my thoughts inline. Thanks!

   Our older Cascade instance is still all one Global site (using Targets), but this year we are redeveloping the websites from scratch.

   The question has been raised about changing from site subdomains to subdirectories, e.g. liberalarts.udmercy.edu —> udmercy.edu/liberalarts

   We were told by Beacon Technologies that we would enjoy easier sharing/maintenance of common page elements (design / look & feel, etc.) if we keep content all together in one domain/site in Cascade Server.

   Would anyone share their thoughts / experience about this? I'd like some clarification on whether they really meant one Cascade Server site. I am guessing that they meant one domain.

   QUESTION 1: Is it actually more difficult to maintain common design across Cascade Server Sites than if you keep all web content within the same Cascade Site?

   We would definitely recommend breaking content into sites. It is pretty easy to centralize all of your design elements into one site and then share it across multiple sites.

   The other advantage we're told of going from subdomains to subdirectories is that the subdirectories approach provides some kind of boost in search engine results for combined site content.

   I have heard this as well.

   Also, is this whole question extraneous? For example:

   QUESTION 2: Is it possible to maintain separate Cascade Sites but have them publish to subdirectories within a single live website?

   Yes. Definitely. This is what a lot of Cascade Server clients do. For each site, you can determine if it should go to a subdomain or a sub folder. That is up to you.

   Moving from Global to sites will mean that you will be able to more easily share elements and content across sites.

   Please let me know if I missed anything. Thanks!

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2. 2 Posted by Wing Ming Chan on 09 Nov, 2015 08:53 PM

   

   Hi Jon,

   Centralizing common assets shared by various sites will reduce maintenance tremendously. For example, you can have a single RWD design and implementation in a site shared by multiple other sites. When a page is moved from one site to another site, it will adapt to its environment, picking up specific site information, without any modification to the page. This approach will also reduce the number of content types. We actually use only one RWD content type in the entire Cascade installation, and converting a non-responsive site to a responsive site just requires running a web service script.

   1. For a presentation we gave in the last conference on implementation of RWD at Upstate, see The Superpage
      
   2. For a discussion on issues related to architectural designs, see Architectural Design
      
   3. For a demo site, including demo pages on the megablock, see RWD

   Wing

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3. 3 Posted by whitenjg on 13 Nov, 2015 08:33 PM

   

   Thank you, Penny and Wing!

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4. Tim closed this discussion on 02 Dec, 2015 04:10 PM.