Sync content and pages

Overview

PREREQUISITES: To be able to sync a single item or page, make sure:
  • You have activated and configured the SiteSync module.
  • You have permissions to Sync pages and content items (located under Administration » Permissions » SiteSync)

In addition to syncing the entire site or elements of it using the SiteSync module, you can sync only a single items or pages from the grid or publish and sync them after having edited an item or page.

This feature gives you the option to immediately sync small changes, such as typos, without having to perform a sync of the entire modules or sites. For regular syncs, use the SiteSync module.

NOTE: You can sync only items or pages that you are allowed to publish. For example, if there is an active workflow and you only have the option to send an item for approval, you do not have the option to sync the item. Items that are awaiting approval can only be published and synced if the user syncing them can skip workflow. For more information, see Define workflows.

NOTE: These options do not automatically sync structure or data. They only give the user who is performing the site sync to be able to choose these options.
For more information, see Promote content with SiteSync » Select which content to promote.

Sync dependencies

When you want to sync a single item or page, the system also automatically syncs the following dependent structures and content:

  • If you reorder a page, the new page structure is also synced.
    For example, if you move one page under another and then sync it, using Publish and Sync, the parent page is synced as a dependency of the child page.
  • If the item or page has related data or related media items, they are also synced.
  • If you change the permissions of an item or page and then sync it, the permissions are synced, if you have configured the SiteSync module to sync permissions.
  • If on the page that you want to sync, you have a single media widget – Image, Video, or Document widget, the changes to these widgets are automatically sync, when you sync the page, using Publish and Sync.
  • If on the page that you want to sync, you have added or edited an image in the text of any other widget, for example a code block, this image is automatically synced in the Images module of the target server.

IMPORTANT: If you made changes the template of a page that you want to sync, the template will not be synced, because it can affect other pages. In this case, you cannot use the single item sync. You can sync these changes using the SiteSync module or from the template page. For more information, see Page templates.

Procedure

To sync a single item or a page, perform the following:

  1. Navigate to the item or page that you want to sync.
    You can sync a single item or page in one of the following ways:
    • From the Actions menu in the backed page of the module.
      For example, if you want to sync a single News item, navigate to the News page and expand the Actions menu.
    • From the More Options menu when you are editing an item.
      For example, if you want to sync an Event while you are editing its text, expand the More Options menu.
  2. Click Sync.
  3. Confirm the sync.
    After you click Sync, a confirmation screen appears.
    The confirmation screen displays information about the dependencies that the item has. For example, if the item has a related image, it will also be synced.

    Depending on the items state you confirm to either publish and sync or just sync the item. For more information, see Single item sync and item state, workflows .

    If you have configured the SiteSync with more than one target servers, a dropdown box appears on the confirmation screen where you must choose the target server where you want to sync the item.

    NOTE: If you want to sync the item to more than one server, you need to perform the procedure for each of the desired servers.

  4. You receive a message confirming that the content has been sent for sync. If the item has no changes, the message notifies you that nothing has been sent for sync. You are free to continue working and will be notified via the notification system when the content is synced.

Single item sync and item state, workflows

Items have different actions buttons and vary in the results of the sync, depending on their state. The table bellow provides an overview of the item state, action available, and the expected result of the sync.

Item state Action  Result 
Published  Sync  The item is published in the target site. 
Unpublished  Sync  The item is unpublished, syncing it removes it from target site. 
Scheduled for publish  Sync  The item is synced in state scheduled for publish and will be published on the target site according to the schedule. 
Scheduled for unpublish  Sync  The item is synced in state scheduled for unpublish and will be unpublished on the target site according to the schedule. 
In Approval Workflow  Publish and sync  The item is published and synced. 
Draft  Publish and sync  The item is published and synced. 
Draft newer than published  Publish and sync  The item is published and synced. 
Locked items  Publish and sync  The item is published and synced only by the person that locked it. 

Bulk sync of items

You can select multiple items to sync them in bulk. Some of the items might not be synced, depending on their state. For more information see, Bulk Sync of items with different state.
To sync items in bulk:

  1. Navigate to the page or module of the items you want to sync. For instance, if you want to sync news items, navigate to Content » News.
  2. Select the items that you want to sync.
  3. Click Bulk actions » Sync.
  4. Confirm the sync. 
    When you sync in bulk, item dependencies are calculated and synced, but not shown in the confirmation screen. Bulk sync overrides item permissions.
    If you have configured the SiteSync with more than one target servers, a dropdown box appears on the confirmation screen where you must choose the target server where you want to sync the item.

NOTE: If you want to sync the item to more than one server, you need to perform the procedure for each of the desired servers.

Bulk sync of items with different states

When you sync items in bulk, some of them might not be synced or the sync result might be different than the one you expected. The table below provides an overview of what happens when you sync items in bulk.

Item state Result
Published  The item is published in the target site. 
Unpublished  The item is removed from the target site. 
Scheduled for publish  The item is synced in state scheduled for publish and will be published on the target site according to the schedule. 
Scheduled for unpublish
The item is synced in state scheduled for unpublish and will be unpublished on the target site according to the schedule. 
In Approval Workflow  

 

  • If the item is first published in the source site and then the status is changed to Awaiting Approval, the item is synced with status Awaiting Approval.
  • If Awaiting Approval is the first state of the selected items, syncing will prompt a successful sync message, but nothing will be synced. 
Draft   Draft items are not synced in bulk. 
Draft newer than published  The item is synced in status Draft newer than published. 
Locked items  Sync only by the person that locked the item. The last published version of this items will be synced to the target site. 


 

Sync status and sync history

After syncing a single item or page to a target server, the system allows you to view the status of this operation. For all the versions of an item, you can see which have been sync, when, and with which target server.

You can see this in the revision history of an item or page. For each version of an item, you have the sync information, including timestamp, sync status, and target server. If the column is empty, the item has never been synced.

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