Serving the HTML

Once the export is complete, you will need to transfer and serve the generated static site.

Understanding the Output Directory Structure

• All assets (CSS, JavaScript, images, etc.) are stored in the assets/ directory within the specified export directory.
• Each site’s exported pages are stored in separate subdirectories for each site. The default site in a Concrete CMS site will be found in sites/default. In the event of a multi-site install, each site handle will be output into the sites/ directory, with the static contents of the site found within.
• Symlinks are used to share assets between sites efficiently. You'll need to configure the final environment hosting the sites to allow the traversal of symlinks when serving these sites, or manually move or copy the relevant subdirectories beneath assets/ into each site in the sites/ directory.

Transferring the Exported Files

• The generated directories can be moved to their final destination using:
  • FTP/SFTP
  • Rsync
  • Git deployment
  • Any preferred deployment method
• The final transfer is the developer’s responsibility.

Hosting the Static Site

• The exported files can be hosted on any web server or CDN, such as:
  • Apache or Nginx (with .htaccess support for redirects)
  • Amazon S3 + CloudFront
  • GitHub Pages
  • Netlify
  • Vercel
  • Any standard static hosting provider

By following these steps, you can successfully generate and deploy a high-performance, portable static version of your Concrete CMS site!