Acquia Site Factory Pro key terms

The central web interface for administering a Site Factory subscription. Administrators use it to create and organise sites, attach domains, manage users, and review the status of every site.

A named collection that groups related sites, such as by brand, region, or business unit. Groups make it easier to filter lists, run bulk actions, and apply consistent governance.

A named combination of a codebase and database that defines what a set of sites runs. A factory can hold several stacks, and many sites may share one to reduce maintenance.

The maximum number of live sites permitted by a Site Factory subscription. When the count is reached, new site creation is blocked until sites are archived or the subscription is expanded.

Attaching hostnames to sites, including factory subdomains, wildcard domains, and custom vanity domains. It involves DNS configuration and confirming that each domain points to the correct site.

Issuing, installing, and renewing TLS certificates so site domains serve secure HTTPS traffic. Certificates may be shared wildcards or per-domain, and an expired certificate makes the site unreachable or untrusted.

A programmatic interface for automating site creation, cloning, deletion, and status queries. Teams use it to script large batches of operations instead of repeating manual steps in the console.

A hosting model where many sites share database servers while keeping their data separated by tables or schemas. It lowers cost but complicates per-site backups, queries, and troubleshooting.

Scheduled or on-demand copies of a site's database and files that can be reinstated after data loss or a failed change. Backups are typically captured before cloning, updating, or deleting a site.

Written rules covering who may create, clone, or delete sites and which naming, domain, and content standards apply. Clear policy keeps a large factory consistent and prevents unapproved structural changes.

A guided form in the management console that collects the site name, installation profile, site group, and domain before provisioning a new site. It is the standard manual route for adding a site.

A packaged set of modules, configuration, and default content used as the starting point when a site is created. The chosen profile determines the site's initial features and editorial layout.

Creating a new site by copying an existing site's code, database, and files. Cloning is faster than building from scratch and suits launching near-identical sites for different markets.

A flag describing a site's operational state, such as active, frozen, or archived. Frozen sites remain online but block changes, while archived sites are removed from the live factory.

Removing a site from active service. Archiving preserves a recoverable copy, whereas permanent deletion destroys the site's database and files and cannot be undone through the console.

Bringing an archived or backed-up site back into service with its prior content and configuration. A restore requires a valid archive or backup and available capacity under the subscription's site limit.

Actions applied to many sites at once, such as creating, cloning, or clearing caches across a selection. Bulk work is usually queued and may be driven by the API rather than the console.

Copying a production site's code, database, and files down to a development or staging environment. This lets teams test changes against realistic content before promoting them back to production.

The automated sequence that moves a codebase from a repository through build and test steps into a target environment. Pipelines make deployments repeatable and reduce manual error across many sites.

The staged path code follows from development to staging and then production. Each step allows testing and review before changes reach live sites, and promotion should always move forward, not backward.

An isolated runtime with its own code, database, and configuration, typically development, staging, or production. Sites in the factory are served from these environments, and code is promoted between them.

The practice of storing site configuration in code and importing it during deployment so environments match. It prevents drift between development, staging, and production and makes changes reviewable.

Schema and data changes applied by running pending update hooks after new code is deployed. Skipping them leaves the database out of step with the code and commonly causes errors on updated sites.

Scripts or commands configured to run automatically at defined points in a deployment, such as after code is built or after the database is updated. They automate cache clearing, imports, and other routine steps.

Reverting an environment to a previous code or database state after a failed release. A rollback is only reliable when the prior artefacts were retained and the database change can be reversed.

An urgent, narrowly scoped release that fixes a critical defect or security issue outside the normal release cycle. Hotfixes still follow the environment workflow but are expedited and reviewed quickly.

The process for identifying, testing, and applying patches to core, contributed modules, and libraries. Updates are validated in a lower environment before being deployed to all affected sites in the factory.

A permission set that applies across the whole Site Factory subscription, such as the ability to create sites, manage domains, or administer users. It is separate from roles assigned within an individual site.

A permission set that applies only inside one site, controlling what a user may edit, publish, or configure there. Site roles do not grant any ability to manage the factory itself.

A group of user accounts managed together at the organisation level, often used to grant shared access to environments or to organise support and development staff. Membership can be tied to single sign-on groups.

An authentication method where users log in once through a central identity provider, often via SAML, and gain access to the factory and its sites without separate passwords. It centralises deprovisioning.

A credential used by scripts and integrations to authenticate to the Site Factory API instead of a user password. Tokens should be scoped narrowly, rotated regularly, and never committed to a repository.

The assignment of a person or team as responsible for a site's content and configuration. Ownership clarifies who approves changes and who should be contacted when the site needs attention.

The specific privilege that allows a user or API client to provision new sites. Granting it broadly risks hitting the site limit and creating unmanaged sites, so it is usually restricted.

A login requirement that combines a password with a second factor, such as a one-time code from an app. It reduces the risk of account takeover for privileged factory administrators.

A record of administrative actions such as logins, site creation, deletions, and permission changes. It supports investigations and compliance reviews by showing who did what and when.