AlterBrains

Hi there, I recently requested a copy of the manual, and received it! Thank you. It answered some of my questions… and created some more (sorry for such a large post / so many questions)!

1. I am using a tool called FieldsAttach which adds extra fields to standard Joomla articles. Data for this is held in the main J! database. I would guess that this would be / could be supported by MightySites?

2. I am also using RS forms ( stores in database from what I can tell ) and would like to use RS Firewall and RS SEO. Do you know if any specific issues with these / these types of components?

3. I am currently developing the site on a development server as the domain I would eventually use when the site is launched is currently being used. Once a site / sites are built using mighty sites on the dev server, can the whole lot be moved to a new server / domain? Is this problematic, and if it CAN be done what are the board s steps / things I should be carefully of?

4. The client want a ‘landing page’ structure of http://www.master.com, and http://www.master.com/slave1, http://www.master.com/slave2 etc. I understand that this is not directly possible with Mightysites as it uses parked domains, but are there any problems with using 301 permanent redirected from for example redirecting from a landing URL of http://www.master.com/slave1 - to http://slave1.master.com ? Would this work? Would it cause issues?

5. I am a little confused about the overall way things work and would like to know if you think MightySites is the right tool for this job.

What I am trying to achieve is a main site with 13 ‘sub’ sites. All sites will be basically the same, and the only real differences for the sub sites are:

- Each sub site needs a different “Home Page” which is a standard Joomla article with added fields from FieldsAttach
- Each sub site needs different template style/variation which will include a different menu selected from the template variation options (Using a Gavick Template)
- Two of the menu items on each sub site will need to link to a different K2 sub category – all other menus will link to the same data as the master site.
- (I think!) ALL data should be stored in the same database, and all sub sites reference the same data so it can be managed/updated in only once.
- Each sub site will need to allow data to be added to two different K2 sub categories by different admin/manager users. I am expecting to set this up using ACL.

So .. some questions.

- What is the best way ( or can I even ) to set up Mightysites for this? It seems that I need to create either different database, or different tables in the main database for each sub site. What are these separate tables used for if I am sharing all data from the main database? Or are they used for something else?
- When I create a sub site, are all the extensions, templates, template styles etc. available from the master site across all sub sites? And are they all controllable/settings controlled from the master site? In my case, In my case this would be the easiest way to manage things as they should be the same across all sub sites, except for the menu which can be controlled through the template variation.
- Does each sub site have a different backend? Does it have to?

I am sure that I will have many more questions if I purchase and start setting up MightSites, but they can wait.

Thanks in advance.

1. I am using a tool called FieldsAttach which adds extra fields to standard Joomla articles. Data for this is held in the main J! database. I would guess that this would be / could be supported by MightySites?

What do you mean as "supported"? All extensions work with MightySites as usual and there is no need for additional support.

Additional support is required only if you want to share extension's data across sites.
For this we need to investigate how FieldsAttach works first (please create a ticket in our Support Center and attach this extension).

2. I am also using RS forms ( stores in database from what I can tell ) and would like to use RS Firewall and RS SEO. Do you know if any specific issues with these / these types of components?

RSForms are supported for data sharing.
We don't know about issues with RS Firewall and RS SEO, but I don't think that RS Firewall and RS SEO are required.

3. I am currently developing the site on a development server as the domain I would eventually use when the site is launched is currently being used. Once a site / sites are built using mighty sites on the dev server, can the whole lot be moved to a new server / domain? Is this problematic, and if it CAN be done what are the board s steps / things I should be carefully of?

You will need to transfer sites as usual + additionally rename domains in #__mightysites database table, and rename configiguration file (i.e. /configuration_site_com.php to /configuration_newsite.com.php). So it is easy.

4. The client want a ‘landing page’ structure of http://www.master.com, and http://www.master.com/slave1, http://www.master.com/slave2 etc. I understand that this is not directly possible with Mightysites as it uses parked domains, but are there any problems with using 301 permanent redirected from for example redirecting from a landing URL of http://www.master.com/slave1 - to http://slave1.master.com ? Would this work? Would it cause issues?

Yes, this redirect will work for sure without any issues, and slave1.master.com will be a parked domain.

5. I am a little confused about the overall way things work and would like to know if you think MightySites is the right tool for this job.

What I am trying to achieve is a main site with 13 ‘sub’ sites. All sites will be basically the same, and the only real differences for the sub sites are:

- Each sub site needs a different “Home Page” which is a standard Joomla article with added fields from FieldsAttach

Possible, subsite can have either own menus or own articles or you can implicitely setup a different homepage (even if menus are shared from other site).

- Each sub site needs different template style/variation which will include a different menu selected from the template variation options (Using a Gavick Template)

Possible.

- Two of the menu items on each sub site will need to link to a different K2 sub category – all other menus will link to the same data as the master site.

Each site can have either ALL own menus or ALL menus shared from other site.

- (I think!) ALL data should be stored in the same database, and all sub sites reference the same data so it can be managed/updated in only once.

Using same database or few databases is completely up to you. But having one database is more handy for backups.

- Each sub site will need to allow data to be added to two different K2 sub categories by different admin/manager users. I am expecting to set this up using ACL.

Not that only ALL K2 categories can be shared, or not shared at all (own categories for each site as usual).

So .. some questions.

- What is the best way ( or can I even ) to set up Mightysites for this? It seems that I need to create either different database, or different tables in the main database for each sub site.

You can either use different databases or same database with different tables prefixes for all sites.

What are these separate tables used for if I am sharing all data from the main database? Or are they used for something else?

Table shared from other site is not used, you can delete it.

- When I create a sub site, are all the extensions, templates, template styles etc. available from the master site across all sub sites?

MightySites can optionally clone the database tables of master site for sub site.

And are they all controllable/settings controlled from the master site? In my case, In my case this would be the easiest way to manage things as they should be the same across all sub sites, except for the menu which can be controlled through the template variation.

MightySites installed in master site controls the sharing options for sub sites.

- Does each sub site have a different backend? Does it have to?

Yes, each sub site has own backend as usual: http://sub.site.com/administrator