[opencms-dev] Creating Independent Copies of a Website in OpenCms

Daniel Seidel d.seidel at alkacon.com
Wed Jul 8 12:53:47 CEST 2026 

Hi Nivedita,

the behavior is correct. The page is just the kind of "glue" for the 
elements. If you add/remove/move and element or change an element 
setting, then the page changes and undo changes becomes active. If you 
just edit the content of an element, the page is unchanged, only the 
content itself has changes.

To see if the page or elements on it have changes: Look at the "i" in 
the toolbar on the left-hand side. If the icon has a red dot, than there 
are changes. Click on the "i" to open a dialog to see more. In this 
dialog you may also call "Undo changes" for the changed elements.

Best, Daniel.

Am 08.07.26 um 08:18 schrieb niveditasheoran:
>
> Hi Daniel,
>
> Thank you for your quick response. Your suggestions were very helpful.
>
> I also have another question regarding the *Undo Changes* feature in 
> the Page Editor.
>
> When I edit the content of an existing page (for example, modifying 
> text in a content element), click *Save & Exit*, and then reopen the 
> page, the *Undo Changes* option is disabled with the message that it 
> is deactivated because the resource is unchanged.
>
> However, the *Undo Changes* option becomes enabled if I add a new 
> content/template element to the page or delete an existing one.
>
> I wanted to confirm whether this is the expected behavior or if there 
> could be something wrong with my installation.
>
> If this is the intended behavior, is there any way to undo changes 
> made to the content of an existing element after it has been saved, or 
> does the Undo Changes feature only apply to structural changes such as 
> adding or removing elements?
>
> Thank you again for your help.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Nivedita
>
>
> On June 29, 2026 at 5:42 PM Daniel Seidel via opencms-dev 
> <opencms-dev at opencms.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Nivedita,
>>
>> when you use the "Websites" app to create a new website, you can use 
>> the "Select Site-Template" on the last tab "Create site options" and 
>> select your school website you want to copy. This should probably do 
>> what you want.
>>
>> Another way would be to change the type of the sites root folder to 
>> "subsitemap". On subsitemap folders you have an additional option 
>> "Copy files, adjust all internal links" that does copies similarly.
>>
>> Best, Daniel.
>>
>> Am 29.06.26 um 09:52 schrieb niveditasheoran via opencms-dev:
>>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I have developed a complete school website in OpenCms and my 
>>> intention is to use it as a base for creating around *500 school 
>>> websites*.
>>>
>>> My plan was to copy this website whenever a new school website needs 
>>> to be created. However, I have encountered an issue.
>>>
>>> When I copy the website (I have tried *all available copy modes*, 
>>> including /Copy files, adjust all internal links/, /Copy files, keep 
>>> siblings/, /Copy files, also copy siblings/, and /Copy folders, 
>>> create siblings for all files/), the copied website is not 
>>> completely independent. If I edit content in the original website, 
>>> the same changes are reflected in the copied website, which is not 
>>> the behavior I want.
>>>
>>> My requirement is:
>>>
>>>   * Develop one complete school website as a base.
>>>   * Create around *500 independent copies* from it.
>>>   * After copying, each school's content should be completely
>>>     independent, so editing one school's pages does *not* affect any
>>>     other school.
>>>   * At the same time, I would like to reuse common templates, JSPs,
>>>     and formatters wherever appropriate.
>>>
>>> Could someone please advise:
>>>
>>>  1. What is the recommended approach in OpenCms for creating
>>>     hundreds of independent websites based on a single website?
>>>  2. Is there a way to copy a site without creating shared/sibling
>>>     resources?
>>>  3. Am I using the wrong approach by copying the site folder
>>>     directly? Would using site templates, modules, model groups, or
>>>     another mechanism be a better solution?
>>>
>>> Any guidance or best practices would be greatly appreciated.
>>>
>>> Thank you!
>>>
>>> Nivedita Sheoran
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>> -- 
>> Kind Regards
>>
>> Daniel.
>>
>> -------------------
>>
>> Daniel Seidel
>> Alkacon Software GmbH & Co. KG - The OpenCms Experts
>> https://www.alkacon.com -http://www.opencms.org
>
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-- 
Kind Regards

Daniel.

-------------------

Daniel Seidel
Alkacon Software GmbH & Co. KG - The OpenCms Experts
https://www.alkacon.com -http://www.opencms.org
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