28Nov, 2024
Reviewing my 2024 Sitecore MVP contributions
It's that time of year again! No, not Thanksgiving, Black Friday, holiday preparations, etc. I'm talking about Sitecore MVP application time!
The MVP program recognizes those who contribute to the community under the category of Ambassador, Strategy or Technology. You can read more about it on the dedicated MVP website.
One component of the application is online contributions, so I have listed mine on this page for the last year as a simple summary. Next year I'll be working more towards the upgrade paths we see in front of us and the process around being a technical lead on a Sitecore project.
These posts are in no particular order:
Lessons Learned From Troubleshooting GeoIp Results in Sitecore
We are closing in on the final phases of a Sitecore upgrade, which leverages GeoIp for CTAs and branding throughout the site including the global navigation. Invariably, we get reports from the testing team of inaccurate results. Today I will walk through the validation and tricks I've used when I need to support someone without being at their same location.
I Made a Package for the Unrestricted Boost Operation Known Issue
This week Sitecore released a known issue stating, “Any Sitecore Client user is capable of performing boost and kick operations after the maximum number of allowed users has been reached”. A starting point for the code fix was provided, but teams will need to complete it, then package and deploy it. I've done that and uploaded the package for anyone who needs it.
Reset Your Sitecore Accounts After a Configurable Amount of Time Has Passed
A common question raised in the community is, “How do I unlock a Sitecore account due to bad password attempts?”. The fix is easy enough with a simple SQL command, but why not use a task that will do this for you?
The Publish Page URL Module for Sitecore Now Offers Root Override Support!
About a year ago I released the Published Page URL module, which shows authors the actual public URL for pages (something that Sitecore doesn't do). Well, now it supports media library items, allowing you to get the final URL for PDFs, Documents, etc. in multisite, multilingual environments.
This feature has operated under the context of navigable pages, referencing the public domain based on its path in the Content Tree. It also offers different domains based on language, like we have with some clients. Here's the new data section you see once this is installed, with an example of a Contact Us page.
The Road to Headless
It's safe to say the one thing on almost everyone's mind lately is, how do we get our websites modernized so they remain under support, and even better, headless and in the cloud. Like many of you, I recently drew up the roadmap for such an effort for a bunch of supported clients. In one project, I'll be upgrading my company's v9.1 managed cloud multisite instance to XM Cloud-based v10.x. When the words “full rewrite” hit our stakeholders, the request was to break this down into digestible chunks, so it could be dispersed across a couple budget cycles.
So here we are. This is the first installment in my series called, “The Road to Headless”.
Sitecore Broken Links Are Not 404, and You Should Be Checking for This Setting Before Going Live
You know the deal. Before going live, you check for all possible use cases in your site, including 404 URLs. You'd assume broken links will route a User to said 404 pages, but you'd be wrong, and the result won't be what your content team is looking for.
Sitecore does a good enough job at displaying an explanation for missing items if you don't implement a change from the OOTB solution, but it's far from ideal. The result is a unilingual, unbranded page that may not be clear for the entire audience.
The Coming of Sitecore 10.1 Means It's Necessary to Move HTML Content From the Multi-Line Text Field to Rich Text Field Type
Another change the team has found recently was the ability to place HTML content in fields has been updated. Though it was never meant to contain HTML, the Multi-line text field allowed it, and even though this is poor practice, at times our hands are forced.
Making Transferring User Passwords Between Instances a Little Faster
Part of my Sitecore upgrade projects this year is to copy data from the old instance to the new ones. One of those tasks will be to copy Users, and of course, their passwords. You've probably seen Sitecore's ASPX file which allows you to transfer User passwords between Sitecore instances. This is needed since Users that are exported/imported will have their passwords scrambled or set to “b”. The tool only allows for one User to be selected at a time, but this small tweak let's you choose a limitless number of Users at a time.
Cloning a Sitecore Xm Instance, Step by Step
I'm going through a project right now where I need to duplicate some vanilla environments. Due to resource locations being spread out I decided a manual clone was the easiest and fastest path, so today I'll share the process of cloning a Sitecore installation with SQL in Azure, and SOLR in a dedicated VM.
The steps will be duplicating the SQL databases, setting up SOLR, and finally copying the Sitecore installation.
A System's Default Regional Iso Code and the Trouble of Parsing Different Date Formats
I recently migrated a project to a new environment, only to find that rendering a date field was inconsistently working. Not Sitecore's fault, but I've never seen this before, and I know as a seasoned developer I should have all (ok most) of the answers. It's a good catch and I wanted to share.
Like All of Us, Renderingcontext Is Changing, so Better Watch Out
As covered in my earlier article, The Road to Headless, I'm going through a number of Sitecore upgrades this year. Right now we're at phase 1, "Get to the latest version", where code is updated. For the most part there have been no gotchas in our coding, but this week one of our team members came across a RenderingContext issue that will be sure to catch some teams off guard.
How to Resolve SQL Connection Errors During Sitecore Installation Due to Non-verifiable Certificates
The Sitecore installation process has come a long way since the introduction of SIF. It has been flawless under countless runs, but I was recently tripped up due to a SQL connection error. In this post I'll explain the cause, resolution, and some steps to make your next try of the installation easier.
Understanding What Makes a Good Article
Being part of the Sitecore Mentor Program, I'm often asked, “What makes for a good article, that will get me noticed during application time?”. There's more than one answer to this question, so I'm sharing my own thoughts on contributing to our community.
A New Security Exploit Is Making Its Rounds via polyfill.io and Must Be Removed Immediately
The polyfill.io domain, which used to be the source for a library that helps resolve inconsistencies across different browsers, has been purchased by the Chinese company Funnull in February 2024, and is now using it to inject malware into well over 100,000 websites around the world.
Security Bulletin SC2024-001-619349 Is Needed for Your CM/Standalone Instances
A critical vulnerability has been announced, which allows for unauthenticated file reads on a CM or Standalone instance. It's recommended this patch is installed on all instances from version 8.0 initial release to 10.4 initial release.
