Centralised deployment of Web Application with deferent settings in each Subdomain

[paishin]

Hello everyone, I am not sure how to explain this but I will do my best...

I am trying to develop a small CMS that I will use for a series of small projects that have exactly the same features but have different content and appearance.

Basically, the CMS files will be the same for all the projects what will change is a.The Database and b.The Template.

What I would like to do is to have a centralized CMS deployed in the domain (so when I update the files the changes will be reflected in all the projects) and in each subdomain have the database connection settings and the template. So in www.domain.com I would have the CMS files and the main site but if I access siteA.domain.com I would see website A.

I am not sure if I explained it clearly enough but any help, links or book recommendations will be much appreciated.

[opifex]

Take a look at wordpress mu and the similar sets of mods for joomla and drupal.
pretty straight foward srtups that you can duplicate for your own cms flavor.

[paishin]

I have already developed all the features needed for the CMS, the problem is how do I deploy it so each time a new feature is required I wont have to update each instance.
I want to be able to update a single set of files and the changes to be reflected in all the websites.

[opifex]

like I think I said... look at the ways they chose to go. There are options....
I have done it with storing the paths to the "core" in a database that users can't change and also in a "config" file... the examples are just to give you something to look at so you can decide what might be best for you.

[paishin]

tnx opifex I will check them out, also does this kind of deployment have a specific name?

[opifex]

multi-user? multi-site?
i know the "MU" is multi-user in the wordpress option, but i don't think there is an "official" name. the first one i did was a "virtual mall" a few years back... so multi-site might fit that one better.