---
title: "Create a site"
slug: "create-a-site"
abstract: "In Sites, you can create a site from a template or by duplicating an existing site."
---
# Create a site

In **Channels**, you create a site from an [existing site template](https://doc.sitecore.com/xmc/en/developers/xm-cloud/en/create-a-site-template.html) by using the **Create site** flow or by duplicating an existing site, and adapting its content as needed.

> [!note]
> To create and manage sites and site collections, you must have [the *Admin* or the *Sitecore Client Site Managing* role](https://doc.sitecore.com/xmc/en/developers/xm-cloud/en/the-security-roles.html). Contact your system administrator to [request the access rights](https://doc.sitecore.com/xmc/en/developers/xm-cloud/en/assign-access-rights-to-a-security-account.html) as needed.

When you create a site, an [analytics identifier](https://doc.sitecore.com/sai/en/users/sitecoreai/create-and-manage-sites/manage-personalization-and-analytics-for-sites.html "Manage personalization and analytics for sites") is assigned to it. This gives you access to analytics about how website visitors interact with your pages, and it lets you to [personalize site pages](https://doc.sitecore.com/sai/en/users/sitecoreai/personalize/create-a-page-variant.html "Create a page variant").

SitecoreAI comes with at least two ready-made templates:

- An empty site, where you can start from scratch with a template that includes a *Home* page containing three empty placeholders.
- A basic site, where the template includes a *Home* and *About* page with a set of components, a page design, and partial designs for a header and footer.

> [!note]
> Both templates are preconfigured to help you get [analytics data and personalize the site](https://doc.sitecore.com/sai/en/users/sitecoreai/create-and-manage-sites/manage-personalization-and-analytics-for-sites.html "Manage personalization and analytics for sites") (an analytics identifier is automatically generated based on the site's name).
>
> You can [create additional site templates](https://doc.sitecore.com/sai/en/developers/sitecoreai/content-modeling-and-presentation/sitecoreai-for-developers/content-editor-items/sites/create-a-site-template.html) in Content Editor.

## Create a site

To create a new site from a template:

1. In **Channels**, in the upper-right corner, click **Create site**.

    > [!note]
    > If the current view is filtered by a collection, the site is created inside that collection.

2. By default, the **Create site** dialog shows all the templates available to you to create a site.

    ![The Create site dialog](https://doc.sitecore.com/api/markdown-image/sai/en/users/sitecoreai/images/createsite.png)

    - To show the templates build by your team, click **Custom**.
    - To show the templates included out of the box with your environment, click **Prebuilt** .
    - To show your favorites, click **Favorites**.

        > [!note]
        > To include a template in your Favorites list, hover with the mouse on the template, and click Add to favorites :mdiStarOutline:.

    - To search for a specific site template, in the **Search** field, enter at least two characters. You need to have five or more templates to do this.

    Select one of the available templates.

3. Enter a name, and optionally a description for the website.
4. If you're creating a site from within an existing collection, ignore this step.

    In the **Collection** field, do one of the following:

    - Use the drop-down list to select an [existing site collection](https://doc.sitecore.com/sai/en/users/sitecoreai/create-and-manage-sites/create-a-site-collection.html "Create a site collection"). To prevent inheritance issues in Sitecore AI, all sites within a collection must use the same site template. As a consequence, the existing collection list only displays collections whose sites are based on the chosen template.
    - Enter a name for a new collection and click **Create \[name of collection\]**.

    ![The Collection field that appears when you create a website](https://doc.sitecore.com/api/markdown-image/sai/en/users/sitecoreai/images/sites-create-collection-by-typing.png)

5. To enable languages for your website, click the **Languages** field, then select all the languages you want in the list of languages supported by Sitecore. If the languages you selected aren't yet [enabled in the environment](https://doc.sitecore.com/sai/en/users/sitecoreai/create-and-manage-sites/manage-languages-and-locales.html "Manage languages and locales"), they will be enabled automatically.
6. Select the default language you want to use for your website.
7. Click **Create** A progress indicator shows you when the process is complete. After the new site is created, it is shown in the chosen collection.

## Duplicate a site

You can create a site by duplicating an existing one. When you duplicate a site, its content items - such as pages and images, folder structure, and links - are copied. Most of the settings are also copied, but you can change those later.

To duplicate a site:

1. In **Channels**, in the tile of the site you want to duplicate, click the Options menu :mdiDotsHorizontal: > **Duplicate**.
2. In the **Duplicate site** dialog, you can give a new name to the duplicated site, and add a description.
3. Click **Duplicate**. A progress indicator shows you when the process is complete. After the duplicate site is created, it is shown in the chosen collection.