Content sync FAQ

Here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about syncing content.

What is my content sync plan?

Content sync is available as part of Dynamic Content, however capabilities and usage limits depend on your sync plan.

Your plan determines allowances such as the number of items you can sync each calendar month, with higher plans providing greater capacity.

Tip

Your administrator can view your current sync plan in Account Management.

Sync always attempts to process the entire content graph for an item (up to 15,000 items) - even if it exceeds your plan limit. For example, if your plan allows 1,000 items per month and you sync an item with a 13,000 item graph, all 13,000 items are processed. This will use your full monthly allowance, and you won’t be able to sync again until it resets.

To discuss your sync plan, contact your Account Manager.

How does sync work with folders?

When content is synced, it’s placed into the matching folder structure in the destination hub.

If the folder structure in the source and destination hubs doesn’t match:

• Missing folders in the destination are created automatically

• If the destination folder structure partially matches the source hub (for example, different nested folders), only folders in the relevant path for the content being synced are recreated in the destination hub

Folder name matching is case-sensitive

Sync compares folder names using exact letter case. For example Testing will not be matched to testing.

Example: Sync to folder

This example shows syncing a running-shoe content item, from source hub folder: /Clothing/Summer/Shoes

The source hub also contains unrelated folders (Winter/Boots).

• The destination hub, contains only the /Clothing folder

Before sync:

• Source hub

.
└── Clothing
    ├── Summer
    │   └── Shoes
    │       └── running-shoe
    └── Winter
        └── Boots
            └── snow-boot

• Destination hub

.
└── Clothing 

After sync:

• Destination hub

.
└── Clothing
    └── Summer
        └── Shoes
            └── running-shoe

Only the folders for the running-show path are created in the destination hub.

The Winter/Boots folders are not created, because they are not part of the synced item's path.

What happens with renamed folders?

If you rename a folder in the source hub after an initial sync, the next sync will attempt to match the renamed folder with the destination hub.

• If a folder with the same name already exists on the destination hub, content is synced to that folder
• If no matching folder is found on the destination, a new destination folder with the renamed title is created
• Content from the source hub is then synced into the matched or newly created folder

How does sync handle...

Localized content

When syncing localized content, the content being synced must have matching locales on both the source and destination hubs.

• Each content item on the source hub is synced along with all of its locale variants

• If matching locales are not configured on the destination hub, the localized content cannot be synced

Locale sync behavior summary:

• Locales match on both hubs - Localized content can be synced

• Different or missing locales - May prevent syncing

• Different localization groups - Localization group mismatch prevents sync

These examples show how sync works depending on the hub locale setup:

Source hub locale setup	Destination hub locale setup	Notes
en-gb, en-us	en-gb, en-us	Locales match - content with either of these locales can be synced.
en-gb, en-us	en-gb, en-us, fr-fr	Locales don't match exactly - only content with en-gb and en-us can be synced
(none)	en-gb	Matching locale missing in source - non-localized source content will sync to create non-localized content in the destination
en-gb	(none)	Matching locale missing in destination - localized source content cannot be synced if the destination locale is missing
en-gb, fr-fr (grouped)	en-gb, fr-fr (not grouped)	Localization group mismatch - sync fails

What are localization groups?

Learn about localization groups.

Hierarchies

When syncing content that contains hierarchy nodes, the following rules apply:

• Parent nodes - Syncing a hierarchy node will also sync all of its parent nodes

• Content links - If the hierarchy node contains a content link, both the node and its linked content will be synced

• Content references - If the hierarchy node contains a content reference, both the node and all of its referenced content will be synced

• Child and sibling nodes - These are synced as part of the content graph

Syncing large hierarchies

For hierarchies that exceed the maximum content graph size supported by sync, you will need to run the sync in stages. See How content graph size affects syncing.

To learn more about hierarchy nodes, links and references, see Developer concepts.

Delivery keys

Delivery keys are included as part of sync operations. In most cases, the delivery key in the source content is transferred to the destination content. However, if the delivery key that's transferred to the destination hub is the duplicate of an existing mandatory key, the sync will fail.

Archived content

Archived content items are synced if linked to a non-archived item that is being synced. See Scope and limitations.

How does content graph size affect syncing?

To keep all related content together, content sync considers each content item and its linked content as a single connected structure, called a content graph.

Sync processes up to 15,000 items per content graph. If a graph exceeds this limit (for example, large hierarchy graphs), the first 15,000 items are processed in the initial run. You can then rerun the sync to continue - previously processed items are skipped, and the remaining items in the graph are synced.

How are cyclic graphs handled?

To prevent sync going into a loop with cyclic graphs, the sync cycle is completed once, and then stops.

Why won't sync start?

If setup is incomplete, sync may not start. Commonly flagged issues include:

Issue	What to do
Developer permissions are required for both hubs.	Make sure you have the developer role (or higher) on both hubs. See Permissions.
Both hubs must have repository mappings configured.	Ensure that repository mappings are configured for both hubs. See Configuring sync mappings
****** The number of root content item IDs to sync exceeds the limit of X.	Reduce the number of items to stay within the allowed limit. See Scope and limitations
** The destination hub ID is missing or invalid. Please verify the hub ID in the mapping.	Check the mapping configuration and update with a valid hub ID.
** Missing or invalid root content item IDs.	Verify the IDs and try again.

** Issue typically only occurs when using the API to sync content.

Why does sync show ’Page won’t load’?

If the message “Page won’t load” is displayed when you attempt to set up mappings, this could be because your environment is blocking the sync feature. Talk to your IT support team, they may need to allow the following domain: https://dynamic-content.extensions.content.amplience.net.

Scope and limitations

The scope and limitations for content sync are:

• Sync supports running only one job at a time, per organization
• Up to 20 content items (content graphs) can be synced at a time.
• Each sync job supports up to 15,000 items per content graph. See How content graph size affects syncing.

Info

Your sync plan determines how many content items you can sync per calendar month. See What is my content sync plan?

• The following content properties are not included as part of a sync:

  • Publish status - synced items will need to be published on the destination hub
  • Assignee
  • Content status workflow
  • Edition specific information
  • Revision history (sync operations are recorded in revision history)

• Extensions are not included as part of a sync - these should be recreated in the destination hub

• Archived content - Syncing archived parent items may cause unexpected results and is unsupported.