Method and apparatus for deploying data among data destinations for website development and maintenance

A method and apparatus are provided for dynamically organizing and tracking website content during its deployment. Organizing and tracking may be done internally to a website development system during development and externally to outside destinations such as production servers that provide access to websites via the Internet or intranet. The method of internal deployment includes the process of deploying data among workstations, storage areas, such as a backing store, staging areas, editing areas and other internal areas during the development of website content. According to the invention, a tracking system is able to track such changes as the content is being created, including information regarding their source and history. The method of external deployment includes different schemes for deploying the finished website content to one or more destinations, such as production servers, including a method for tracking the external deployments as to what content is sent, to where and by whom. The invention also includes a method and apparatus for creating templates for use in deploying data, both internally and externally. The method of using templates provides a highly configurable way to capture, edit and store data imported from end-users who are developing websites. The method also provides for the integration of captured data with other applications. The invention accomplishes this by efficiently keeping the data separate from the data template presentation. The method allows the transfer of the data separate from the presentation so that the data can be modified and so that different templates can be utilized for presenting the data.