Setup Modes
Every Vivreal site works in one of three setup modes. The mode is about how much Vivreal does for you and how much your team does.
You do not pick a mode by name. When you create a site, the picker decides it for you: a designed kit gives you a Vivreal Hosted site, and Start blank gives you a Blank Site. Self Hosted is the developer route, explained below.
Which one do you want
| Mode | Vivreal gives you | You provide | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vivreal Hosted | Your content, the site itself, hosting and a web address | Your content and your judgement | Anyone who wants a working site without a developer |
| Self Hosted | Your content, plus a key so your developers can read it | The whole website | Teams with developers who want to build it themselves |
| Blank Site | An empty site to build up yourself in Studio | The pages, from scratch | People who want to start from nothing rather than a template |
Not sure?
Pick a designed kit. That gives you the hosted option, which is the one most people want, and choosing it now does not close anything off. You can add a site in another mode later against the same content.
Vivreal Hosted
The turnkey option. Vivreal sets the site up, puts it on the web, and keeps it up to date as you work.
What Vivreal does
- Sets up your content types and fields, and builds your pages, based on the kit and look you pick
- Builds the site and puts it online
- Gives you a live web address, either a Vivreal one or your own domain
- Updates the live site when you change content, with nothing to republish
What you do
- Pick a kit and a look
- Write your content
- Connect your own domain if you want one
Best for solo founders and small businesses who want a professional site without a development team. Expect roughly 3 to 5 minutes from creating the site to having a live address.
Self Hosted
You want Vivreal to hold and organise your content, with a clean place to manage wording, images, publish dates and approvals, but your own team builds and hosts the website.
What Vivreal does
- Sets up your content types and fields, the same as the hosted option
- Issues you an API key and a site ID
- Gives your developers a documented way to read your content
What you do
- The entire website: pick your framework, build it, host it, style it
- Read your content in using the key and site ID
Best for companies with a development team, or designs Vivreal's templates do not cover. Vivreal does not supply any part of the website in this mode. It is entirely yours.
For developers
If you pick this, read Self-hosting: build your own front end next. It covers the key, the site ID, and a minimal working example.
Blank Site
An empty site you build up yourself in Studio, rather than starting from a template.
What Vivreal does
- Creates the site and nothing else. No pages written for you, no content types set up
- Waits. A blank site is not on the web until you publish it
What you do
- Build your pages in Studio
- Publish it when you are ready, using Publish this site on the site's Overview
Best for people who find a template gets in the way more than it helps, and would rather start from nothing.
This mode used to have a different name
Older material calls this one "link existing collections". It is the same thing. The portal now calls it a Blank Site everywhere, including on sites created back when it had the old name.
Side by side
| Vivreal Hosted | Self Hosted | Blank Site | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Content types set up for you | Yes | Yes | No |
| Pages built for you | Yes | Yes | No |
| Vivreal builds and hosts the site | Yes | No | Yes, once you publish |
| You get an API key and site ID | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Time from create to ready | 3 to 5 min | Seconds | Seconds |
The two fast ones are fast because nothing is being built for you yet.
Can you change mode later
Not on an existing site. The mode is fixed when it is created.
You are not stuck, though, because your content is separate from any one site:
- Create a second site in a different mode pointed at the same content, for example a blank one alongside your hosted one
- Or delete the site and create it again the way you wanted. Your content stays where it is
Next steps
- Creating a site, the walkthrough.
- Choosing a template, for the hosted option.
- Editing your site in Studio.
- Self-hosting, for developers.