Microsites Platform
For organisations with multiple websites, the Microsites Platform offers unparalleled control of their entire digital estate.
Developed by us (through the Open Digital Cooperative) and backed by government funding, the platform provides a flexible and robust solution to digital teams looking to improve the management of their digital assets.
It’s the perfect solution for organisations that operate multiple sites, such as universities or large charities.
It's an open-source solution (built in Drupal) that’s free to set up and use.
The Microsites Platform is a perfect solution for large organisations. It can save them money by reducing hosting costs, and save time and stress by keeping all their sites in one easily managable instance.
I've worked on the platform since its inception and am still surprised by its flexibility and capabilities. Content editors, designers and web managers all love it.
Our microsites offer
Whether you’d like assistance getting started, design or development, we are uniquely positioned to help you with microsites.
We can host, maintain and support your microsites and develop bespoke extensions and themes where needed.
Contact us to discuss your project. We can also demo the platform to show how Microsites could work for you.
How it works
The microsites platform uses a single codebase and database, so you only need one site to host and maintain all your microsites.
This means that a microsite controller can access all active sites from one instance, making overseeing all the sites they manage easy.
For additional control and security, a microsite controller can see all the people who can edit the sites.
Each site can be configured to give a unique look and feel - with an interface to manage the colours, typography and layouts. The platform also allows a bespoke theme to be set on a site-by-site basis and has built-in accessibility features.
Why use Microsites?
Many larger organisations run multiple sites. For example, Universities may run additional sites for research projects, courses or departments. Charities may have them for specific campaigns, projects or local offices. The microsite platform makes managing these sites more cost-effective and efficient.
Easy to configure
From a single instance, digital teams can run unlimited subsites. A new site can be configured in moments, each with its own distinct users, content, files and domain.
When the site has run its course, the microsite controller can shut it down with the click of a button.
Flexible Design
Digital teams can create multiple beautifully designed and distinct websites that are easily updated and maintained.
A microsite admin can set up the site’s appearance through the intuitive UI and has:
- Flexible pages and layouts, allowing for multi-column and breakout layouts
- Customisable site design settings
- Bespoke themes for each site
Create unique content
Editors can create multi-column content-rich pages, blogs, news articles, events and directories.
Content is unique to each microsite, including pages, media, taxonomy terms and menus.
A microsite admin can decide which types of content to enable on each microsite. For example, one site could be a dedicated blog site, while another may have the full feature set.
We have a rich suite of content items that can easily be extended to allow for more options. Items include:
- videos
- images
- tables
- accordions,
- promo blocks
- embedded content
- version control
Advanced Permissions
A user is given individual access to each microsite. Different teams can edit each site if needed.
Greater efficiency
Subsites are often maintained by third parties, with little oversight from the core web team. Organisations spend money, time and energy ensuring disparate sites are secure, up-to-date, accessible and valuable. The Microsites Platform makes this much quicker and easier.
A strong track record
Designed with councils in mind, it has been widely adopted by many local authorities.
Our work on Microsites
We were the lead development partner on the project, working alongside local councils and Annertech to deliver a sector-leading solution to a longstanding issue for local government teams. Our team was proud to lead the research, design, development and user testing for Microsites throughout 2022.
From the moment I reached out to Agile Collective, I was impressed by the effort they gave in making my project come to life, and of course by their high quality of work.
In particular, Agile Collective's project management is excellent - estimates were very reliable, implementation was well coordinated, communication was easy and regular. Their team roles are effective and well defined, each member is clearly a leader in their technical field, and all offered top-notch problem solving, creativity and collaboration. I am not exaggerating when I say Agile Collective are the most organised, professional and pleasant team I have ever had the pleasure to work with.