Two separate (but related websites) one codebase...

Is it possible two run two separate websites in Rails on the same codebase? Does it make sense to do so? I currently have a website that I want to branch into another market. The underlying structure of the two sites will be nearly the same. Here are the major differences:

- Templates will be different between the two sites - Domains will also therefore be different - Navigation will be similar (but different) - Database could go either way but could certainly be the same

I could simply tweak the code from one site and re-deploy, but then I'm maintaining two different codebases for essentially the same site. Are there any good resources on how to set this up? Does anyone in this community have direct experience of running two different .coms on one codebase in Rails?

I'd love some guidance on how to get this setup and started.

Thanks, -Alex

ressister wrote:

I could simply tweak the code from one site and re-deploy, but then I'm maintaining two different codebases for essentially the same site. Are there any good resources on how to set this up? Does anyone in this community have direct experience of running two different .coms on one codebase in Rails?

You could factor out the underlying functionality into a gem or a plugin. This is how Rails was born.

Great idea Mark, thanks for the suggestion. If there are any specific reference materials that you know of on the web that you think I should check out for this, let me know. Thanks for you response.

-Alex

ressister wrote:

Great idea Mark, thanks for the suggestion. If there are any specific reference materials that you know of on the web that you think I should check out for this, let me know. Thanks for you response.

This looks like a good place to start: