Multi-Site Manager

Multi-Site Manager (MSM) enables organizations, which operate multiple sites sharing common content, to manage them from a single base site. Sites based on the base site are called satellite sites and automatically inherit content from the base, and authors can override specific pages on any dependent site when local customization is needed.

MSM works with two roles:

• Base site authors manage shared content and push updates to satellite sites. They can preview, publish, sync, or cancel inheritance for any satellite.
• Satellite site authors work on their local site and can pull updates from the base or resume inheritance when a local override is no longer needed.

Inheritance is determined by file existence.

• If a page exists on the satellite, it is assumed that a file specific to the satellite site is needed and is not overwritten with the same file as on the base.
• If a file on the base does not exist on the satellite, the satellite inherits the page from the base at delivery time.

Setup

There are three steps to enable MSM for your project:

1. Set up the Edge Delivery Content Provider for your project.
2. Configuring the org-level Experience Workspace config sheet.
3. Turn on the Prepare menu MSM plugin.

Step 1: Edge Delivery Content Provider for your project

/sites/my-site.json (json)

"content": {
  "source": {
    "url": "https://da-msm.adobeaem.workers.dev/{ORG}/{SITE}/",
    "type": "markup"
  }
}

Step 2: Create an MSM tab in your org config sheet

Open your org-level config at https://da.live/config#/<org>/ and add an msm tab. Each row defines a base-satellite relationship using three columns:

• The base column identifies the base site repository name.
• A row with an empty satellite column defines the base site entry and its display title.
• Rows with a satellite value define satellite sites that inherit from that base.

You can define multiple base-satellite groups in the same sheet by using different values in the base column.

Step 3: Enable MSM in the Prepare Menu

MSM appears as an optional action in the Experience Workspace Prepare menu. To enable it, ensure your org or site prepare tab in your configuration sheet includes a row with Multi-site Manager in the title column. Once enabled, authors will see it in the Prepare dropdown when editing any page.

Using MSM

Access the MSM panel using the Prepare menu. The MSM panel adapts its view depending on whether you are editing a page on a base site or a satellite site.

Base site view

When editing a page on the base site, the MSM panel shows all configured satellites organized into two groups:

• Inherited sites — satellites that do not have a local override for the current page
• Custom sites — satellites that have a local override

Available actions for inherited satellites:

Available actions for custom satellites:

Custom satellites also show an Open in editor link so base authors can inspect the override directly.

Use the Inherited and Custom grouping in the base view to quickly see which satellites have local overrides for the current page.

Satellite site view

When editing a page on a satellite site, the MSM panel shows the base site name and offers two actions:

Use the Open in editor link on custom satellites to review overrides before deciding whether to sync or resume inheritance.

Merge vs Override

When syncing content between base and satellite, MSM offers two modes:

• Merge performs a structural content merge that attempts to incorporate base changes while preserving satellite-specific customizations where possible.
• Override fully replaces the satellite page with the base content, discarding any local changes.

When syncing, prefer Merge if the satellite has intentional local changes you want to keep. Use Override when you want the satellite to exactly match the base.

Known Issues

The merge operation relies on structural content matching. Significant structural changes between base and satellite may produce unexpected merge results. Review the satellite page after a merge.

Troubleshooting

"No satellite sites configured"

The MSM panel shows this message when no MSM configuration is found for your current org and site. Verify that the msm tab exists in your org-level Experience Workspace config at https://da.live/config#/<org>/ and that the current site appears as either a base or satellite.

MSM does not appear in the Prepare menu

MSM is an optional Prepare action. Ensure your org or site prepare config tab includes the Multi-site Manager entry. Check both the org-level and site-level config sheets.

Override detection seems incorrect

MSM determines inheritance by checking whether the HTML file exists on the satellite (HEAD request to the Experience Workspace source). If a file was manually created or deleted outside of MSM, the panel will reflect that state. Use MSM actions to manage overrides consistently.

Preview or publish fails after Resume Inheritance

When resuming inheritance, MSM attempts to re-trigger preview and publish based on the satellite's prior AEM status. If the AEM admin service is temporarily unavailable, try previewing or publishing the page manually from the base site.