> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://comunity.gitbook.io/learning.comunitynexus/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://comunity.gitbook.io/learning.comunitynexus/26.2/toolkit-guides/web-sites.md).

# Web sites

A web site is a front end hosted by the platform and served from inside your project.

[Screens](/learning.comunitynexus/26.2/toolkit-guides/screens.md) are built in the ComUnity Developer Toolkit. You compose pages from a hierarchy of screen controls bound to your data model, and the platform renders them in your application. The navigation structure is enforced, and every project includes working Login, Registration, Reset Password and OTP screens by default.

A web site works the other way round. You write the interface yourself, in ordinary web technology, and the platform hosts it and serves it. Nothing is composed for you, nothing is rendered for you, and nothing is provided, including sign-in.

That is the trade. Screens give you a structure and a working set of screens without effort, and hold you to what the builder supports. A web site imposes no structure and provides nothing beyond hosting, so you own everything, including the parts the platform would otherwise handle.

The helper library exists to give some of that back. It provides documented access to platform login, data, tracing and analytics, so that a web site can authenticate users and read project data without you reimplementing any of it.

## Common use cases

* Project Landing Page: A simple marketing or informational microsite to introduce your solution.
* API Documentation: Host static HTML documentation for your project's APIs.
* Simple Admin Tools: Create basic forms and dashboards for internal project administration.
* Terms of Service Pages: Host standalone legal documents like privacy policies or terms of use.
* "Lite" User Portals: A lightweight interface for users to view information without the complexity of a full application.

## Kinds of web site

| Kind                  | How many               | What you start with                       |
| --------------------- | ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Standard web site** | Any number per project | A placeholder page and the helper library |
| **Community Central** | One per project        | A generated React project                 |

## Ways of working

| Approach           | Suits                                                             | Where the work happens                                 |
| ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| **In the Toolkit** | Content changes, individual files, uploading a built archive      | The file manager on the site's tile                    |
| **Locally**        | Anything needing a build step, version control, or a coding agent | Your own machine, with the source downloaded or cloned |

Either kind of site can be worked on either way.

## What a new standard web site contains

Creating a standard web site provisions:

* **The default document**: the page the site serves, initially a placeholder confirming the site is live.
* **`.project.config`**: the `server_url` and `project_name` values identifying the platform installation and project the site belongs to. Everything the site does against platform data resolves from these.
* **The helper library**: a documented package providing platform login, data access, tracing and analytics, together with its own documentation set and worked examples.

The helper library is included whether or not the site uses a repository. A Community Central site starts from a generated React project instead.

## How a web site is addressed

A web site is reached at a path formed from your Toolkit environment's domain, the platform's static web handler, and the URL suffix you choose when creating the site:

```
https://<domain>/sw/<url-suffix>/<default-document>
```

The creation dialog displays the resulting address as you type the suffix. That displayed value is authoritative.

To view a site as a visitor sees it, select **Open web site** on its tile.

## Working with a DevOps repository

A web site can be created inside a DevOps repository, so its source is version-controlled like any other codebase. The repository holds the source; the Toolkit serves the files you upload to it.

**The two are not synchronised in either direction.** Committing to the repository does not change the served site, and uploading to the site does not change the repository. Publishing is an explicit step. For the same reason, deleting a web site in the Toolkit does not delete its repository, so the development work is preserved.

Where no repository is used, the web site is still created with the helper library, but there is no version control and no clone.

## Web sites created by Agent Build

Agent Build can create a web site as part of a wider set of changes. It creates the web site entry only: the placeholder, its address, and the helper library. It does not generate an application. Development then proceeds exactly as for a web site created directly.

## Where to go next

* [Create a web site](/learning.comunitynexus/26.2/toolkit-guides/web-sites/create-a-web-site.md)
* [Web site prerequisites and data access](/learning.comunitynexus/26.2/toolkit-guides/web-sites/web-site-prerequisites-and-data-access.md): what to install, and what governs the data your site can show
* [Manage web site files in the Toolkit](/learning.comunitynexus/26.2/toolkit-guides/web-sites/manage-web-site-files-in-the-toolkit.md)
* [Extend a web site with the helper library](/learning.comunitynexus/26.2/toolkit-guides/web-sites/extend-a-web-site-with-the-helper-library.md)
* [Community Central](/learning.comunitynexus/26.2/toolkit-guides/web-sites/community-central.md)
* [Configure DevOps repositories](/learning.comunitynexus/26.2/toolkit-guides/web-sites/configure-devops-repositories.md): platform-level configuration, Toolkit administrator only
* [Set a project DevOps repository](/learning.comunitynexus/26.2/toolkit-guides/web-sites/set-a-project-devops-repository.md)