Make a copy of an existing page that can be modified independently of the original but still reflect any modifications to the original page.
Last reviewed: October 23, 2024
Please work closely with your Unit Web Leader and Technical Lead when using this feature.
Live Copy allows authors to copy a page within a site or from another site, that will remain in sync with the original source page so that changes to the source page will be reflected in the copy.
Within that copy, select components can be made independent of the source page, so they no longer match the source page and remain different when the source page is updated and the copy is refreshed.
This could be applied to a story on the central News Center that mentions one of your department's faculty. You could make a Live Copy and then tweak the existing text to better reflect your department's own needs, or change the page's tags so that it displays appropriately on your department's site, without impacting the source version on the News Center.
Because the copy is just a modified version of the source page, it uses the same template as the original, so changes are limited to what is supported by that particular template. Almost everything else can be modified, including title, page content, tags, and location, and these can continue to be modified independently locally, while the synchronized portions stay up to date with any modifications to the source.
Live Copy supports custom collections (e.g. a tag-based query from a large selection of Shared Content pages). Since the copy can then be selectively edited without impacting the original pages, the resulting page or collection can be repurposed without impacting the source; e.g. to create a custom news feed, or even to repurpose individual news stories on an individual basis. Live Copies can include a source page's children, so an entire section of a site can be repurposed in this manner.
Note: There are optional settings that allow the copy to automatically be updated when the source changes ('Push on Modify'), or to automatically be published when the source is published ('Activate on Blueprint activation'), but there is no mechanism to notify the copy's owners that the source has changed.
Live Copy properties.
You can make a Live Copy of any regular Web page or those in Shared Content. When you create the copy, you can include its children, and set synchronization ('Rollout') configurations. These configurations apply to the local copy and any copied children, but can be modified later in the Properties overview tab.
Note: your Live Copy cannot be created in the same location as the source page or in a child of that source folder. Move higher up in the tree (e.g. the parent of the source page), or to an adjacent folder or another site entirely.
When you copy a page, you also transfer any tags. Please check in Properties (shortcut 'p') to be sure you only copied what you need, and this new page does not unexpectedly appear in the wrong feeds. Plus you may wish to add additional tags of your own.
If source children are included:
If source children are excluded:
Rollout / Synchronization - Once a Live Copy is made, changes to the source ('Blueprint') will automatically 'rollout' to the Live Copy if the Live Copy is configured to Push on modify. Otherwise these changes will need to be rolled out manually. *
Activation / Deactivation - If the source page is published or unpublished, and the Live Copy is configured to Activate on Blueprint activation / Deactivate on Blueprint deactivation, the Live Copy will also be published / unpublished. Deactivation will also unpublish the Live Copy's children, even if they are not Live Copies themselves. If the Live Copy is not configured with Activate on... / Deactivate on..., then the Live Copy (and any children) can always be manually published or unpublished locally.
Deletion - If the source page is deleted, the Live COpy connection is terminated, leaving the copy and any children in place.
Annotations - These are not inherited from the source page but can be added to the copy.
Authoring Note - This is not inherited from the source page but can be added to the copy.
Child Pages - Child pages of the source page can be included when the initial Live Copy is set up. If additional children are added to the source after the Live Copy is established, they will not be copied over.
Reset Live Copy - Invoking this feature removes any inheritance cancellations and modifications to the local copy. The local copy will now match the current version of the source page. *
* more details below in Rollout Changes.
Cancel Inheritance icon
To modify content on a Live Copy page or for any its Properties, you will be prompted to 'cancel inheritance' for each element you wish to change, which means that element will no longer match the source page and those 'cancelled' elements will stop inheriting changes made to the source page.
Once this inheritance is cancelled, the corresponding component can be modified or deleted, or the copy's Properties can be changed (e.g. tags can be added or deleted).
To Cancel Inheritance, open a component for editing, or Properties (shortcut 'p'), and click the corresponding chain icon. Confirm the change and from that point on, that element is independent of any changes to the source page.
Please do not remove bylines or attributions. Give credit where credit is due.
Consider adding a callout that notes the original placement and date of the article or story.
Example of Cancel Inheritance on a component.
An example page's Properties showing Live Copy details.
When a Live Copy is created, an additional tab is added to the copy's Properties that provides a summary of the Live Copy. Some of these settings can be adjusted here, plus it provides several synchronization tools that are described further in the Rollout Changes section.
Note: 'Rollout' refers to source page (Blueprint) modifications being pushed out to Live Copy pages, which can happen automatically, or with a manual push from the source page or from the copy.
An example of a page's overall Live Copy Status.
For the entire page - To see the inheritance status of all components on a page, open it for editing, click Edit (top right of the window) and Live Copy Status.
A modified view of the page appears:
When you are finished, click Live Copy Status and then select Edit.
Cancel inheritance and re-enable inheritance icons.
For a specific component - Inheritance status is displayed when a component is opened for editing.
For page Properties - Inheritance status is displayed beside each element.
Synchronised elements display a chain icon. When inheritance has been canceled, a broken chain icon is displayed instead. Click the icon to cancel or restore inheritance.
Re-enabling the original inheritance will remove any local modifications.
Automatic Rollout - When the Live Copy configurations are set as 'Push on modify', any changes to the source page automatically synchronize to the Live Copy page. (No notification is sent.)
Inheritance configuration settings in Properties.
Manual Rollout - If 'Push on modify' is not configured, changes to the source page must be manually pushed to the copy. This can include child pages, and be scheduled.
The source page is listed in page Properties, but References provides additional tools.
* If you have sufficient permissions.
Sites console shows Blueprint status in References.
Discover the Live Copy(ies) of a source page in References. *
* If you have sufficient permissions.
Sites console shows Live Copies status in References.