How do I use one MODX install to drive many identical sites?

I have a client who is a wholesaler to retailers. My client offers a consumer-facing website that is branded on behalf of the retailer (example: Acme Products by Wile E. Coyote, Acme Products by Road Runner, Acme Products by Foghorn Leghorn, etc.). Until now, the site has been hand-coded, but I want to change it to a CMS so the client can manage it themselves. Enter MODx. Hopefully.

Can I do this with MODx? And what is the best way?

The known caveats are:
- the name/image at the top of the site has to be the unique retailer’s.
- some pages say things like "So come on by {insert retailer’s name here} and see the latest and greatest".
- a few of the 1,000+ pages are unique to each retailer (e.g. Events calendar).
- people sign up for a mailing list and they have to be matched to the proper retailer.

Doing this by hand now, I use Cookies or Session Variables. There is a landing page where the first-time visitor enters their zip code. This is matched to a zip code database and the nearest retailer is "assigned" to the visitor. The Cookie gets stored so the next time they visit they come directly into the site with the proper retailer. If Cookies are turned off, then they have to go to the landing page each time and the Session Variable is used to track.

Do I do this same thing with MODx - put my JS at the top of each template and check for the Cookie or Session Variable? There are 35 participating retailers, so we need one article, one how-to, one podcast, one encyclopedia entry, one product page, etc. to drive all 35 sites.

Do I handle the unique page(s), like the Events Calendar, the same way (via Cookie/Session Variable)?

Ideas, suggestions and case studies are greatly appreciated.

I’m not sure how much help it is, but you might want to look at the Tempate Switcher plugin. It changes the template based on a variable in the URL. This allows for dynamic styling of a site. The problem is that you need to ensure that variable is passed to all pages. Perhaps you can modify the template switcher plugin to use a session variable? Shouldn’t be too hard.

Andy

It has an option to use a cookie.