Create and Edit Sites
Once a user is created, they can create and implement their site(s). Or you can create a site for them, either from Cloud Admin or programmatically. You can also create templates that you can copy to create new sites. Once the site is created, you can use the Editor to edit and preview the site.
Note: All sites associated with a user have access to each site's uploaded files (such as images, pdfs or other documents), and themes. If you need to sites to be completely separate, then you need to create them under separate users.
In this topic:
Use Cloud Admin to Create Sites
Note: Using Cloud Admin to work with users and sites is not available to all Weebly installations. If you do not have this functionality and want more info, contact your Weebly business development sales rep.
Once you've created a user, you can then use Cloud Admin to create a site for that user.
Note: You must create at least one plan before you can create a site for a user.
From the User's detail page, in the Sites area click Add Site.
In the Add Site dialog, you must provide a title and a unique domain, and select a plan to assign to the site. Then choose to create a new site from scratch (select New Site in the Site Template area) or you can use a template or copy an existing site for this user (more in the next sections). Optionally you can provide site settings like timezone, date format, language, and more.
In the Add Site dialog, you must provide a title and a unique domain, and select a plan to assign to the site. Then choose to create a new site from scratch (select New Site in the Site Template area) or you can use a template or copy an existing site for this user (more in the next sections). Optionally you can provide site settings like timezone, date format, language, and more.
Tip: Domain names must be unique and must not contain weebly.
Click the image for a larger view.
When you create a site, the Theme Gallery allows you to choose a theme for the site. If you've created custom themes, they display on the tab with your reseller name.
The site is owned by the user - that is, they have complete access to all pages and settings for the site. You can also create contributors for the site. These are users that can either have complete access to the site or you can limit their access. Find more info here.
Create a Site Using a Template
Instead of creating a site from scratch, you can start with a template. Templates are sites that you've created to use as a starting point for new sites. For example, you might create a template for an online store and for a portfolio site.
You can create up to 30 templates.
To create a template:
You can create up to 30 templates.
To create a template:
- Optionally create a user that will "own" the template sites, then create your template sites under this user. While you can create a template out of any user's site, this is a great way to organize and manage your templates.
- Create a site following the instructions above. Edit the site and apply a theme (you can create your own custom themes). Add elements and design your site.
You can also add apps from the Weebly App Center or your own custom apps. But remember that access to apps is based on plans, so you may be restricting the potential sites that can use the template by adding apps. To avoid this, when you use the template, you may need to temporarily change the plan the new site is on so that it allows access to the App Center. More below.
Tip: Remember that a template is a starting point. Don't add too many elements, or design too specifically. It may end up being more work for your users to remove what they don't want than it would have been to start from scratch.
- In the Cloud Admin, from the Site Details page for your template site, click Add as Template.
Click the image for a larger view.
Once added, that site appears as a template available for use when you chose to copy a site. More in the next section.
If you want to stop using a site as a template, from the Site Details page, click Remove as Template.
Click the image for a larger view.
Copy a Site
Instead of creating a site from scratch, you can copy an existing one. There are two common use cases for copying a site:
- You, the reseller, have created templates that you copy to create new sites
- A user wants to create a clone of one of their existing sites
When you copy a site, it copies the existing site and theme, and copies all pages and page content. Orders and members are not copied, and neither are blog posts. Products, membership settings, and any installed apps are copied. Apps from the App Center will appear in the new site as they do in the original, however they will be in a disconnected state. The site owner will need to explicitly grant permission to reconnect the app when they log into the Editor.
You copy a site by following the steps for creating a site in Cloud Admin. In the Add Site dialog, scroll down to the Site Template section. You can either choose to copy a template that you've created or to copy an existing site for this user.
You copy a site by following the steps for creating a site in Cloud Admin. In the Add Site dialog, scroll down to the Site Template section. You can either choose to copy a template that you've created or to copy an existing site for this user.
If you choose to copy a template, a dropdown displays showing all templates that you have created. Select the one to use.
If you choose to copy an existing site, select one of the user's existing sites from the dropdown.
If the new site is not on a plan that allows access to the App Center, the app will still work, but you will need to connect the app for your customer.
If the new site is not on a plan that allows access to the App Center, the app will still work, but you will need to connect the app for your customer.
- Temporarily change the site's plan to one that has access to the App Center.
- Log into the site from the Cloud Admin and grant the permissions for the app.
- Change the plan back to the original one.
Use the API to Create Sites
Instead of using the Cloud Admin to create or copy a site, you can use the API directly.
When creating a Weebly site you must provide a domain name. Errors will be thrown if the user id is invalid or the domain name is already assigned to a Weebly site. A site id (ex. 447410440673519990) is returned upon successful creation of a site.
When creating a Weebly site you must provide a domain name. Errors will be thrown if the user id is invalid or the domain name is already assigned to a Weebly site. A site id (ex. 447410440673519990) is returned upon successful creation of a site.
Create a Weebly Site for a User
You can also create a site by copying an existing site. You pass in a copy_source object, which is the user_id and site_id of the source site.
Example CURL Request
There are many optional parameters that can be passed when creating a site. More information can be found in the API doc, here.
Note: If no plan_id is provided, then the site is assigned the default plan.
Use Plug-ins to Create Sites
If you use plug-ins with Weebly Cloud, then your users create sites using the plug-in's UI. This image shows the page in APS2 Weebly Cloud plug-in UI where you can create a site.
Click the image for a larger view.