Each ACM installation has a single database that stores configuration and content information for all of your sites. As you create web pages, the content and other page configuration information is stored in the ACM database. When you view a page, the system gathers the page information from the database and renders (compiles and displays) the page you requested. Once you have actually published the page, the system goes one step further and makes the rendered page visible in View mode, without the need to log into the ACM.
The environment described above is referred to as a dynamic environment or dynamic site. The content and the system used to create the content (the ACTIVE CM) are all in the same location and are integrated. When content changes are published, they are immediately visible on your site. If this is the site you make available to your public, they too will see the changes immediately.
Another approach is to export your site content to a different location, perhaps on a separate web server. This in effect unhooks your site content from the ACTIVE CM and duplicates your site content in a location separate from the dynamic environment. The site resulting from the export is referred to as the static site. In order to indicate that you want to export a site, you must configure the site export information on the Publication tab of the Site Manager, for each site you create.
The benefits of using one site type over another depend on your organization's needs. If your web site will consist mainly of view-only content created on general content pages, you may wish to use a static site to increase the page load times. On the other hand, if your site has a lot of personalized pages and pages that require user and database interaction, you may choose to only have a dynamic site as these page types do not get fully converted to .html.
If you make your web site(s) available to your public directly from the dynamic environment, you need to remember that content is visible immediately upon publication. This is different from the static (exported) site that requires the additional step of exporting the site to the remote static location.
Note that Personalization only works in a dynamic site environment. You may add a login page within your static site for visitors to access personalized content, but the personalized pages will remain within your dynamic URL.
Static sites are the result of the exportation of your site from the dynamic site environment. When a site is exported, the system converts all pages to simple .html files and places them in a hidden folder in the same location as your ACM is installed. The system then uses the FTP information you entered on the Publication tab of the Site manager to export the site to the location you specify. When users access the site, they are accessing your static site rather than your dynamic site.
The fact that there are now two sites, one of which is the exported, converted, remote site, has further implications of which you should be aware:
HTML file names - the name entered in the URL Title field of the page is the name that is used for creating the .html file name. If this field is blank, the Title field of the page is used to create the .html file name.
Links - when working with static sites there are aspects of internal and external linking that are important to understand. We recommend you review the Links Overview topic.
Digital assets - in addition to pages, the system also exports digital assets that are used by the exported pages.
Emergency publishing - when you emergency publish a page, it is automatically exported to your static site. However, links pointing to that page and section menus are not updated and may be affected by edits made on the emergency published page. Other features are not updated until a full site export takes place, either by way of your export schedule for by someone manually performing a complete site export. The only exception to this rule is that if a page has pagelets attached to it, they too are exported.
Partial site export - the Export manager allows you to select a page and its children, in other words a section of your site, to export. If you export a portion of your site, the links and section menus will not be updated. Again you must perform a complete site export for these to be updated.
Hybrid pages - only non-personalized and general content (view-only) pages are converted and viewed as html pages once exported. So if a page is a simple general content page that does not require any user interaction, it will be exported. Other pages, such as the Survey and Calendar pages, that require user and ACM database interaction, are not fully converted to .html. When the user clicks on a link to one of these pages types, the .html file that was created with the export actually redirects them to the .aspx version of the page that resides within the dynamic environment. Thus these types of pages exist across the static and the dynamic environment - hence the name "hybrid".
Scheduled and unscheduled exports - you can set your system to perform a routine automatic site export. When these scheduled exports occur, all aspects of your static site are updated. Unscheduled exports can include partial or complete exports. Complete exports update all aspects of your static site. Partial exports update only the content of the pages that are exported.
If you are creating multiple sites within a single installation of the ACTIVE CM, we recommend that you decide whether you will export all of the sites or none of the sites. It is not advisable to maintain some sites as dynamic and others as static within the same ACM installation, as this can cause errors in the link conversion process and result in incorrect page linking.