Sitecore Xperience

Adding a Publish button in the contextal menu

2012-02-01T23:45:00.000-08:00

To add a publish button in the contextal menu as in the screenshot below it is very simple:

Open the core database
Go to the item /sitecore/content/Applications/Content Editor/Context Menues/Default and duplicate the item Insert for example
Set the fields values to:

Display Name: Publish Item
Message: item:publish(id=$Target)

Sitecore Searcher and Advanced Database Crawler

2012-02-01T23:29:00.000-08:00

There is a new way to search which is represented by a few classes within Sitecore.Search namespace.

You can view the full presentation at the below mentioned link -
http://sitecoreblog.alexshyba.com/2010/11/sitecore-searcher-and-advanced-database.html

Great stuff - Thanks Alex...

How to Get the Hits from any IP Address??

2011-12-13T23:12:00.000-08:00

I was thinking of if we can get the counts of hits from IP Addresses on my site.

Well - got a small query that needs to be run on the Analytics database which would return the hits:-

SELECT TOP (10)[IpAddress],[IpId],COUNT (IpAddress) AS 'Total count'
FROM [Session]
GROUP BY [IpAddress],[IpId]
ORDER BY [Total count] DESC
GO

2011-11-13T21:53:00.000-08:00

Sitecore Positioned as a Leader in 2011 Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management

In a new Gartner Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management, released today, Sitecore has been positioned in the Leaders quadrant, based on an evaluation of the company's completeness of vision and ability to execute.

View this new report, compliments of Sitecore, to see Gartner’s ratings of Web CMS vendors based on “ability to execute” and “completeness of vision,” using these criteria to place vendors into one of four quadrants: Leaders, Visionaries, Challengers or Niche Players. Read the key strengths and cautions for each Web CMS vendor listed in the Magic Quadrant.

Just released: Gartner 2011 Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management

Must-have information for anyone actively considering or researching web content management systems. Access your complimentary Gartner Magic Quadrant Web CMS report now.

Michael Seifert, CEO of Sitecore, states, “the founder of Apple, Inc. once said ‘innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.’ This reigns true for Sitecore, and our leadership position in the Magic Quadrant validates it. As the industry continues to evolve with new entrants and technology integration, we are continuing to lead in a market that will exceed the success of the ERP and CRM industries.”

Sitecore's leadership position in the Magic Quadrant validates its strategy to intelligently guide customer conversations across all interactions and communications channels. We are pleased to offer this report for providing perspective on Sitecore's leadership position within this quickly evolving industry.

Want to be different?

2011-01-13T02:29:00.000-08:00

Lets try to have your taskbar at the top of your Sitecore Desktop instead of the bottom.
Then we need to change a part of the source code in the /sitecore/shell/Applications/Shell.xml file from :

<GridPanel>
<Border ID=”Desktop” GridPanel.Class=”scFill” ContextMenu=”ShowContextMenu”>
<Border ID=”Links” DblClick=”Launch”/>
</Border>
<Startbar GridPanel.Class=”scStartbar”/>
</GridPanel>

to

<GridPanel>
<Startbar GridPanel.Class=”scStartbar”/>
<Border ID=”Desktop” GridPanel.Class=”scFill” ContextMenu=”ShowContextMenu”>
<Border ID=”Links” DblClick=”Launch”/>
</Border>
</GridPanel>

Hope it works and probably now, you can see the difference.... :)

Forgotten your admin password?

2011-01-10T04:29:00.000-08:00

Forgotten your admin password?

No worries, if you have access to the core database then you can change the password from there. (This works in 6 and above)

Open the dbo.aspnet_Users table and find the record where the UserName column contains the sitecore\admin value.

Note the value of the UserId column of this record.

Open the dbo.aspnet_Membership table and find the record where the UserId column contains the saved value in the point above.

In this record change the current value of the Password column to the “qOvF8m8F2IcWMvfOBjJYHmfLABc=” value (this is the hash value of the “b” password).

Prevent Sitecore from logging into the log file

2011-01-10T03:50:00.000-08:00

If you have something that Sitecore is logging into the log file and you no longer want it to show up you can ask the log4net class to clear it by updating your web.config accordingly by adding a filter like so within the web.config (this will stop the string “INFO: sitecore/admin has logged in” from being logged into the Sitecore log files.

<log4net>

…

<appender name=”LogFileAppender” type=”log4net.Appender.SitecoreLogFileAppender, Sitecore.Logging”>

…

<filter type=”log4net.Filter.StringMatchFilter”>

<stringToMatch value=”INFO: sitecore/admin has logged in” />

<acceptOnMatch value=”false” />

</filter>

…

</appender>

…

</log4net>

Get Month from a DateTime Field in Sitecore

2010-02-01T23:25:00.000-08:00

Using sc:formatdate(), is a sweet and simple method to format a date in a Sitecore rendering.

For Example:
sc:formatdate(sc:fld('MyDateField', .),'d MMM yyyy @ h:mm')

Using the format string 'MMM' gives us the three-letter month names, while the 'MM' gives months in the numeric format (eg. 02 for Feb), and 'M' gives us the full month name along with the date.

Another way is using the substring-after in conjunction with the format '/M'.

For Example:
substring-after(sc:formatdate(sc:fld('MyDateField', .), '/M'), '/')

Working with Session inside XSLT

2010-01-19T04:50:00.001-08:00

Here we would be seeing two XSLT statements - firstly on how to set a value in session and secondly how to retrieve that session value:


<xsl:value-of select="sc:SetSession('sessionval','2451')"/>


<xsl:value-of select="sc:Session('sessionval')"/>
The output can be observed on the front-end as: 2451

Sitecore Tweets n Tricks

2010-01-11T06:37:00.000-08:00

Untitled DocumenHey Folks,

Got some really cool stuff and out of the box solution for things that could otherwise turn into some real headache...

1. Modifying page editor buttons

What would you do if you wanted to add a button to the page editor default toolbar? Well here's what I found.

Locate the page edit button:

Core: /sitecore/system/setttings/html editor profiles/rich text default_old/webeditButtons/

Duplicate an item there and you have a new button. In the datasection on the new item you find 3 options:

Icon - self explanatory

Tooltip - selfexplatory

Click: A call to a javascript function,

(Example)

Striketrough: javascript:Sitecore.WebEdit.execute("strikeThrough", true, true);

Italic: javascript:Sitecore.WebEdit.execute("Italic", true, true);

All the standard javascript execute commands should work

The result is a strikethough button:

Settings:

Click field: "javascript:Sitecore.WebEdit.execute("strikeThrough", true, true);"

Icon field: found an strike through icon in the standard sitecore image library.

Tooltip field: "Strike through"

The javascript-file with functions are found here : website/shell/applications/webEdit.js

Regarding calling sitecore functionality. There is only created 2 functions in the js file:

Insert image:

javascript:Sitecore.WebEdit.insertImage($JavascriptParameters)

Insert Link:

javascript:Sitecore.WebEdit.insertLink($JavascriptParameters)

So if you wan't to make something more that that we would have to write new functions for that.

2. using Sitecore.Kernel.Webutils

Webutils functions are great helper functions as well. If we want to get the url of the server, we can have it as a great help.

Install it in web.config:

...

</xslExtensions>

Now declare it in your xslt:

xmlns:webutil="http://www.sitecore.net/webutil"

Now it’s ready for use (example):

<xsl:text>Display Url: </xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="webutil:GetServerUrl()" /><xsl:value-of select="sc:path(.)" />

3. util:GetString

It might not strike us at the first thought but it’s really a common one - util:GetString(string, default).

A xsl:choose used to display the title of an item can be replaced as follows:

<xsl:choose>

<xsl:when test="sc:fld('menutitle',.)">

<xsl:value-of select="sc:fld('menutitle',.)">

</xsl:when>

<xsl:when test="sc:fld('title',.)">

<xsl:value-of select="sc:fld('title',.)">

</xsl:when>

<xsl:otherwise>

<xsl:value-of select="./@name">

</xsl:otherwise>

</xsl:choose>

simpler call:

<xsl:value-of select="util:GetString(util:GetString(sc:fld('title',.), sc:fld('menutitle',.)),@name)"/>

Hope they work for you.... :-)

Sitecore Makes it Effortless to Create Content and Experience Rich Websites

2009-08-20T05:50:00.000-07:00

Sitecore helps you achieve your business goals such as increasing sales and search engine visibility, while being straightforward to integrate and administer. Sitecore lets you deliver sites that are highly scalable, robust and secure, and is built to simplify your life, automate your processes, and let you deliver results faster.

Fast Intuitive Editing

If you know how to use Microsoft Word, you will feel right at home with Sitecore CMS. Sitecore CMS presents users with an Office 2007 style "ribbon" interface, so you'll be immediately familiar with its editing environment. You'll be editing your site and up to speed in no time.

Integration Anywhere and Everywhere

Today’s modern websites are more connected to our businesses than ever. Sitecore was built from the ground up to enable you to weave your strategic applications into your websites and deliver compelling user experiences. Built on the .NET framework and based open standards and international accessibility standards, Sitecore lets you integrate any and all of your line of business applications, from ERP suites to CRM systems.

Multi-Site Deployment Made Easy

Award-winning architecture enables you to manage and deploy an unlimited number of sites and share content, code and processes across any of your sites.

Built to Scale

Sitecore is designed to drive the largest sites on the planet. Having a site powered by Sitecore gives you the confidence that you can deliver compelling user experiences at lightning speeds using a combination of high availability options, intelligent caching controls, and the power of ASP .NET 2.0.

Google-Friendly URLs Improve Site Rankings Instantly

Search engine optimization is an important part of every company’s marketing strategy. Sitecore natively delivers URLs that improve organic search results. Once visitors arrive at your site, Sitecore offers a powerful site search function that leads visitors directly to the information they want.

Rapid Development

Sitecore lets you use the tools you want to use and provides unparalleled support for .NET developers. Sitecore lets you work directly in Sitecore or lets you use external tools such as Microsoft Visual Studio. By providing capabilities such as code-completion enhancements and integrated debugging tools, we make developer’s lives easier by reducing errors and increasing programming speed.

Ideal For International Companies

The world is getting smaller every day, and more and more companies are going global. Sitecore allows editors to work with the CMS in their native languages by supporting all major languages, and allows you to build websites in any language. Sitecore also lets you to coordinate the management of the many language versions of your website, as well as the translation processes as content changes across those language sites.