ContentBox Multi-Site Management (BoxLang)

Build and manage multi-site installations in ContentBox CMS using BoxLang. ContentBox supports running multiple sites from a single installation with shared or isolated content, themes, and settings.

Multi-Site Architecture

Site Entity

The Site entity (models/system/Site.cfc) represents a single site:

property name="siteService" inject="siteService@contentbox"

// Site properties
site.getSiteID()
site.getSlug()              // Unique site identifier
site.getName()
site.getDescription()
site.getDomain()            // Primary domain
site.getSiteURL()           // Full site URL
site.getIsActive()
site.getCreatedDate()
site.getModifiedDate()

SiteService

property name="siteService" inject="siteService@contentbox"

// Site CRUD
siteService.getAll()                    // Get all sites
siteService.findBySlug( slug )          // Find site by slug
siteService.findByDomain( domain )      // Find site by domain
siteService.getCurrentSite()            // Get current site from request
siteService.save( site )                // Save site
siteService.delete( site )              // Delete site

// Site resolution
siteService.resolveSiteByDomain()       // Auto-resolve from request domain
siteService.setCurrentSite( site )      // Set current working site

Site Resolution

ContentBox resolves the current site based on:

1. Domain matching — matches request domain to site's domain field
2. Default site — falls back to the default site if no match
3. Admin context — in admin, uses the currently selected working site

Current Site in Handlers

// In any handler or service
property name="cb" inject="CBHelper@contentbox"

// Get current site
site = cb.site()
siteId = site.getSiteID()
siteSlug = site.getSlug()
siteURL = site.getSiteURL()

Current Site in Widgets

Widgets use getSite() from BaseWidget:

function renderIt(){
	site = getSite()
	siteId = site.getSiteID()

	// Query content for this site
	entries = entryService.findPublishedContent( siteID : siteId )
}

Site-Specific Settings

Each site can have its own settings overrides:

// In core ModuleConfig.bx
settings = {
	"global" : {
		// Global settings applied to all sites
	},
	"sites" : {
		// Site-specific overrides by slug
		"mysite" : {
			"cb_site_title" : "My Custom Site Title",
			"cb_site_tagline" : "My Tagline"
		},
		"othersite" : {
			"cb_site_title" : "Other Site Title"
		}
	}
}

SettingService for Sites

property name="settingService" inject="settingService@contentbox"

// Get setting (resolves site-specific override)
title = settingService.getSetting( "cb_site_title" )

// Get setting for specific site
title = settingService.getSetting( "cb_site_title", siteId : siteId )

Site-Specific Content

All content (entries, pages, categories, menus) is associated with a site:

// Create entry for specific site
entry = entryService.new( {
	title  : "My Entry",
	siteID : siteId
} )
entryService.save( entry )

// Query entries for specific site
entries = entryService.findPublishedContent(
	siteID    : siteId,
	max       : 10,
	sortOrder : "publishedDate DESC"
)

// Query pages for specific site
pages = pageService.findAllWhere( { siteID : siteId } )

Site-Specific Themes

Each site can have its own active theme:

property name="themeService" inject="themeService@contentbox"

// Get active theme for current site
theme = themeService.getActiveTheme()

// Get theme for specific site
theme = themeService.getActiveTheme( siteId )

// Switch theme for a site
themeService.setActiveTheme( themeName, siteId )

Site-Specific Menus

Menus are scoped to sites:

property name="menuService" inject="menuService@contentbox"

// Get menus for current site
menus = menuService.findAllWhere( { siteID : siteId } )

// Find menu by slug for specific site
menu = menuService.findBySlug( slug : "main", siteId : siteId )

// Render menu (automatically uses current site)
cb.menu( "main" )

Creating a New Site

Via Admin

1. Navigate to Sites in the admin
2. Click Create Site
3. Fill in: Name, Slug, Domain, Description
4. Configure site-specific settings
5. Activate the site

Via Code

property name="siteService" inject="siteService@contentbox"

site = siteService.new( {
	name        : "My New Site",
	slug        : "mynewsite",
	domain      : "mynewsite.example.com",
	description : "A new site",
	isActive    : true
} )
siteService.save( site )

Multi-Site Routing

ContentBox resolves routes based on the current site:

• Domain-based routing — each domain maps to a site
• Shared routes — routes are shared across sites, content is filtered by site
• Site-specific URLs — URLs include site context when needed

Best Practices

1. Always use siteID in content queries for multi-site installations
2. Use cb.site() for getting the current site context
3. Use getSite() in widgets for site-aware rendering
4. Scope menus and themes to specific sites
5. Use site-specific settings for per-site configuration
6. Test with multiple sites — verify content isolation
7. Use domain resolution — configure domains for each site
8. Handle missing sites — gracefully handle unresolved sites
9. Use provider: injection for siteService to avoid circular deps
10. Document site requirements — note which features are site-scoped

Engine Compatibility

This skill targets BoxLang engine. For CFML-specific syntax (Lucee 5+, Adobe ColdFusion 2018+), see the CFML variant of this skill.

Key BoxLang advantages:

• Cleaner script syntax without <cfcomponent> / <cffunction> tags
• No parentheses needed for zero-argument function calls
• #{...}# for inline expression output in .bx templates
• Modern syntax: ?: null coalescing, ?. safe navigation
• Native support for modern data structures