What is a Static Site?

A static site is the frontend application users interact with when visiting RemotePhoto. It consists of static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files that run directly in the user’s browser. Once loaded, the application communicates with the RemotePhoto backend APIs to authenticate users, load organization-specific branding and settings, and submit photos.

Customers with A+ or Enterprise plans can choose between the standard RemotePhoto static site or a custom-branded one. For example, a company might use "idphoto.theirdomain.com". To the end user, the experience feels like it's hosted directly by the client's institution, even though it's powered by our AWS infrastructure behind the scenes.

How does it work?

The process is contained within a series of secure steps:

1. User enters the custom URL: The end user types their branded custom URL, "idphoto.theirdomain.com," into their browser and hits Enter.
2. The browser needs to find where that domain lives. It queries DNS, which resolves to the Route 53 (what is that?) record created for that static site, which points the domain to the corresponding CloudFront distribution.
3. Browser connects to CloudFront (what is that?): With the address resolved, the browser opens a connection to the CloudFront distribution associated with that domain.
4. SSL/TLS handshake: Before any content loads, the browser and CloudFront perform an SSL/TLS handshake using the SSL certificate issued for that specific domain. This confirms the site's identity and encrypts the connection. This is what allows the page to load over https://   without security warnings.
5. CloudFront delivers the static site: Once the secure connection is established, CloudFront sends the RemotePhoto frontend files to the user’s browser. These files include the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that make up the web application.
6. The frontend connects to the backend: After the static site loads in the browser, its JavaScript communicates with the RemotePhoto backend APIs to authenticate the user, retrieve organization-specific settings and branding, and process actions such as photo submissions.

Does a Static Site Support SSO?

Yes — SSO pairs extremely well with a static site.

Using a static site alongside SSO gives a client a clean, well-branded URL (e.g., "idphoto.theirdomain.com" ) to distribute to their organization, rather than sending users to a generic SSO link. Employees or students can go directly to the client's URL, log in with their organization's identity provider, and land in the photo submission experience without creating a separate account.

If the client uses JIT (Just-In-Time) provisioning, this experience is even smoother: a user's account is automatically created the first time they log in via SSO, so there's no manual account setup on our end or the client's end beforehand. The combination means a client can simply share their static site URL internally and know that anyone who logs in via SSO will be automatically provisioned and dropped into their branded experience to submit their photo.

For OEM partners: when setting up SSO for a client, pairing it with a static site is a recommended best practice. It reinforces the client's branding at every step and removes friction from the end-user login/account-creation process.