Craft CMS Multisite: Setup, Localization & Content Management

Imagine you have three domains — mysite.ru, mysite.com, mysite.de. Separate Craft CMS installations on each lead to code duplication, content desync, and extra maintenance costs. Our team, with 10+ years of experience, has implemented multisites for 30+ projects — from 2 to 8 languages. On a project with three domains, we reduced overhead by 40–60% compared to separate installations. We offer a proven solution — a multisite Craft CMS setup. We guarantee stable operation and correct indexing. In this article, we’ll cover architecture, Project Config setup, content management, and field localization.

Architecture: Site Groups, Sites, and Domains

Setup starts with creating site groups and sites. Groups logically combine sites (e.g., "Main Sites" and "Microsites"). In each group you can define multiple sites with different languages, domains, and URL paths. A standard configuration includes three sites for Russian, English, and German. Each specifies a full URL, allowing search engines to index all versions correctly.

Use Project Config — YAML files in config/project/sites/. Example for a trilingual site (all three files combined for brevity):

# config/project/sites/mysite-ru.yaml
name: 'My Site RU'
handle: mySiteRu
language: ru-RU
primary: true
enabled: true
hasUrls: true
baseUrl: 'https://mysite.ru/'

# config/project/sites/mysite-en.yaml
name: 'My Site EN'
handle: mySiteEn
language: en-US
primary: false
enabled: true
hasUrls: true
baseUrl: 'https://mysite.com/'

# config/project/sites/mysite-de.yaml
name: 'My Site DE'
handle: mySiteDe
language: de-DE
primary: false
enabled: true
hasUrls: true
baseUrl: 'https://mysite.de/'

After creating sites, configure the web server. All domains must point to a single root:

server { server_name mysite.ru mysite.com mysite.de; root /var/www/mysite/web; # standard Craft Nginx config } 

Now, in each section, specify how content propagates across sites. Method comparison:

Choosing the right propagationMethod saves up to 40% of time managing entries. Example section config with propagationMethod: all:

---
# config/project/sections/blog.yaml
propagationMethod: all
siteSettings:
  mySiteRu:
    hasUrls: true
    uriFormat: 'blog/{slug}'
    template: blog/_entry
  mySiteEn:
    hasUrls: true
    uriFormat: 'en/blog/{slug}'
    template: blog/_entry
  mySiteDe:
    hasUrls: true
    uriFormat: 'de/blog/{slug}'
    template: blog/_entry

How to Manage Field Localization?

Every field in Craft CMS has a translationMethod property. For multisite, this is a key tool. Properly configuring translationMethod reduces content update time by 30–40%. For example, titles can differ per site, while images stay shared. Typical field comparison:

This approach reuses media and utility fields while keeping text content unique.

Language Switcher in Templates

To allow visitors to switch between versions, add a block to the template with links to localized entries:

{# List all versions of the current page #}
<nav class="language-switcher">
  {% for site in craft.app.sites.getAllSites() %}
    {% set localeEntry = entry.getLocalized().site(site).one() %}
    {% if localeEntry %}
      <a href="{{ localeEntry.url }}" lang="{{ site.language | slice(0, 2) }}" {% if site.id == currentSite.id %}aria-current="page"{% endif %}>
        {{ site.language | upper | slice(0, 2) }}
      </a>
    {% endif %}
  {% endfor %}
</nav>
{# Content of current site (automatic) #}
{% set posts = craft.entries().section('blog').all() %}
{# Explicit site specification #}
{% set enPosts = craft.entries().section('blog').site('mySiteEn').all() %}

Interface String Translations

Static strings are translated via files in translations/:

// translations/ru/site.php
return [
    'Read more' => 'Читать далее',
    'Published on {date}' => 'Опубликовано {date}',
];

In Twig, use the t filter:

{{ "Read more" | t('site') }}
{{ "Published on {date}" | t('site', { date: entry.postDate | date('d.m.Y') }) }}

Advantages over Separate Installations

Comparison: Craft CMS multisite saves up to 60% of update time and reduces content desync risk. As per Craft CMS docs, Project Config syncs settings across environments. Deploying a new language takes 2–4 hours instead of days with separate installations. Indexing all versions in search engines occurs within 1–2 weeks. To scale your internet project, implement multisite — contact us for a detailed project assessment. Our engineers will prepare a custom solution. Get a consultation on Craft CMS multisite setup.

What's Included in Full Multisite Setup?

Comprehensive setup includes:

• Creating Project Config for all sites and groups
• Domain binding and web server configuration
• Section config with optimal propagationMethod
• Field localization and translation setup
• Language switcher implementation
• Testing and config lock
• Integration with external services (translators, CDN) to speed up localized version loading
• Documentation for adding new languages
• Post-launch support

Full Setup Process

We perform multisite setup in 5 stages:

1. Architecture design — choose groups, domains, languages. Consider domain structure and audience language preferences.
2. Create Project Config for all sites and sections.
3. Configure web server and integrate with hosting.
4. Localize fields and configure propagationMethod.
5. Develop language switcher and test.

Project Config allows deploying new sites in minutes, not hours — 2–3 times faster than manual entry.

Contact our engineers for a project audit. Get a consultation on Craft CMS multisite setup.