Kentico CMS for ASP.NET - DevNet - FAQs

Enable the Spell Check As You Type feature by default, when using the CK Editor

Mon, 14 May 2012 07:19:42 GMT

Edit the file ~\CMSAdminControls\CKeditor\config.js and add the following code: config.scayt_autoStartup = true; directly above the config.toolbar code for the toolbar you are using. Please see the example below:

    config.scayt_autoStartup = true;
    config.toolbar_Full = config.toolbar_Default =
    [
        ['Source', '-'],
        ['Cut', 'Copy', 'Paste', 'PasteText', 'PasteFromWord', 'SpellChecker', 'Scayt', '-'],
        ['Undo', 'Redo', 'Find', 'Replace', 'RemoveFormat', '-'],
        ['Bold', 'Italic', 'Underline', 'Strike', 'Subscript', 'Superscript', '-'],
        ['NumberedList', 'BulletedList', 'Outdent', 'Indent', 'Blockquote', 'CreateDiv', '-'],
        ['JustifyLeft', 'JustifyCenter', 'JustifyRight', 'JustifyBlock', '-'],
        ['InsertLink', 'Unlink', 'Anchor', '-'],
        ['InsertImageOrMedia', 'QuicklyInsertImage', 'Table', 'HorizontalRule', 'SpecialChar', '-'],
        ['InsertForms', 'InsertInlineControls', 'InsertPolls', 'InsertRating', 'InsertYouTubeVideo', 'InsertWidget'],
        '/',
        ['Styles', 'Format', 'Font', 'FontSize'],
        ['TextColor', 'BGColor', '-'],
        ['Maximize', 'ShowBlocks']
    ];

-eh-

How to make navigation web parts display a custom field

Wed, 09 May 2012 07:53:28 GMT

The Site map web part, as well as other navigation web parts, display the DocumentMenuCaption field. If it is empty, the DocumentName is displayed instead. If you need to let users define the caption on the Form tab, you can simply add a new system attribute to the document type in question which would represent the DocumentMenuCaption. This way, all navigation web parts would display the value of the custom system field.

There might be times when you want one navigation web part to display a different field from other navigation web parts. Let's say that you have created a document type field SiteMapTitle that you want to display using the Site map web part, while other navigation web parts should display the standard DocumentMenuCaption field.

If this is your scenario, you can modify the OnPreRender method of the Site map web part and change the DocumentMenuCaption column for each row in the DataSet so that it contain a value of the SiteMapTitle field:

if (this.smElem.DataSource is DataSet)
{
DataSet ds = this.smElem.DataSource;
foreach (DataRow row in ds.Tables[0].Rows)
{
row["DocumentMenuCaption"] = row["SiteMapTitle"];
}
}

-ml-

How can I extend a shopping cart’s content table?

Thu, 03 May 2012 08:53:54 GMT

Kentico CMS provides a new customization model that allows you to modify each available provider very easily. For example, if you need to extend the shopping cart's content table and include a custom field that you have defined in the Site manager -> Development -> System tables -> edit COM_SKU table, all you need to do is to override the CreateContentTableInternal and CreateContentRowInternal methods of the ShoppingCartInfoProvider class.

First, you need to call their base versions and then modify the returned DataTable (in the CreateContentTableInternal ) and DataRow (in the CreateContentRowInternal) as is demonstrated here:

protected override DataTable CreateContentTableInternal()
{
DataTable dt = base.CreateContentTableInternal();
dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("", typeof()));
return dt;
}

protected override DataRow CreateContentRowInternal(ShoppingCartItemInfo item, DataTable table)
{
DataRow row = base.CreateContentRowInternal(item, table);
row[""] = item.SKUObj.GetValue("");
return row;
}

Then you can, for example, reference the custom field in the transformation, applied to the content table, by doing this:

{% ContentTable.ApplyTransform(String transformationName, String contentBeforeTransformationName, String contentAfterTransformationName) #% }

Links to other resources: E-commerce 6: New customization model, Transformations in macro expressions

-ml-

How do I make the discount coupon information visible on the invoice?

Thu, 03 May 2012 08:31:06 GMT

You can use a macro expression. The field names originate from the DiscountCoupon class (database table COM_DiscountCoupon).

Usage in the invoice template, therefore, would be:

{% DiscountCoupon.DiscountCouponCode #% }

for the coupon code, and in a similar way for getting other fields:

DiscountCouponDisplayName (probably the most informative), DiscountCouponValue, etc...

-zc-

How can I rename an existing custom table?

Wed, 02 May 2012 08:19:25 GMT

To change customtable.oldname to customtable.newname:

First, rename the table using SQL Server Management Studio from “customtable_oldname” to “customtable_newname”.

Then, edit the custom table from Site Manager -> Development -> Custom Tables and change the display name and the second part of the code name to newname.

Next, run the following SQL statement against your Kentico database:

UPDATE [CMS_Class]
SET [ClassTableName] = 'customtable_newname'
WHERE [ClassTableName] = 'customtable_oldname'
GO

Finally, edit the table from the Site Manager again and switch to the Queries tab. Update all of the queries to refer to the new table name.

-ag-

How to make the Default text property of an Editable text web part editable on a Page tab

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:35:54 GMT

If you want to display the content you have entered in the Default text property of your Editable text web part to an editor’s field to make it editable on a Page tab, please open the ~\CMSWebParts\Text\editabletext.ascx.cs file and update the code as it is shown below. The code is located around the line 711 in the LoadContent() method:

…
case CMSEditableRegionTypeEnum.HtmlEditor:
         // HTML editor
         if ((forceReload || (!RequestHelper.IsPostBack()) || (viewMode != ViewModeEnum.Edit)) && (this.htmlValue != null))
         {
             if (content == "") this.htmlValue.ResolvedValue = DefaultText;
             else this.htmlValue.ResolvedValue = content;
         }
         break;
…

-jh-

How to display URLs of blog comments in the CMS Desk

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:07:55 GMT

If you want to display the URL address of a blog post which is related to a comment in CMS Desk -> My desk -> Blogs -> Comments, please open the ~\CMSModules\Blogs\Tools\Comments_List.xml file and add an extra column into it:

The comment grid is now prepared to show URLs, but you need to fill that new column with the correct data, so please edit the ~\CMSModules\Blogs\Controls\Blogs_Comments.ascx.cs file and update the line 233:

gridComments.Columns = "CommentID, CommentDate, CommentApproved, CommentUserName, CommentText, CommentIsSpam, CommentPostDocumentID";

Finally you can get a document’s URL from its ID by adding an extra case into the gridComments_OnExternalDataBound() method in the same file:

case "postdocument":
return CMS.CMSHelper.CMSContext.GetDocumentUrl(ValidationHelper.GetInteger(parameter, 0));

-jh-

Is it possible to delete license keys on the Client portal?

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:27:39 GMT

Currently, you cannot delete license keys directly, but you can archive them instead. There is a Archive button in the Actions column, which can be used for this purpose. When a license key is archived, is not shown in the list anymore. However, you can still display them if you want, using the Show archived keys checkbox. Furthermore, you can always Unarchive it, which is the advantage of archiving when compared to deleting.

Particular options can be seen here:

-rm-

What kinds of transformations can I use for ApplyTransformation?

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 08:30:56 GMT

K# syntax allows you to apply transformations in macros. See here: Transformations macro expressions for more details.

However, the ApplyTransformation method does not work with all kinds of transformations. Text/XML and HTML type of transformations are supported. Others, regrettably, are not.

-hg-

How to filter products without images

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:40:57 GMT

You may need to display only products with images in a smart search result web part. To achieve this goal you need to follow these steps:

In the Site Manager –> Development –> System tables -> select Edit for table Ecommerce – SKU and go to the Search fields tab. Among these fields find SKUImagePath and check boxes Tokenized and Searchable. Do not forget to click on the OK button to confirm this change
As always, if some field definition is changed, you need to rebuild the index. Go to the Site Manager – Administration – Smart search and Rebuild the index. You need to make sure that Analyzer for this index is set to Simple.
Now you just need to configure the Search condition property in your smart search result web part. Its value should be: +SKUImagePath:getmetafile

Links to other resources: Using the smart search filter

-it-

Why does my control inserted in the root not fire postback?

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:35:15 GMT

This is typical for IIS 7 version and form controls which should do the postback. The solution is simple: you need to add/modify the following code to your web.config file:

...

...

Links to other resources: IIS 7 configuration

-it-

Why does my custom filter not work in aspx templates?

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:33:22 GMT

If you are using aspx templates, it might happen that the custom filter does not work as you are used to in the portal engine and your data is not filtered.

<%@ Register Src="~/CustomFilters/CustomFilter.ascx" TagName="Customfilter" TagPrefix="cms" %>

If this is your case, you will need to register the OnFilterChanged handler of the filter in the Page_Load method:

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
filter.OnFilterChanged += new CMS.Controls.ActionEventHandler(filter_OnFilterChanged);
repeater.DataSource = datasource.DataSource;
repeater.DataBind();
}

and within the handler, bind the repeater control with the datasource as demonstrated here:

void filter_OnFilterChanged()
{
repeater.DataSource = datasource.DataSource;
repeater.DataBind();
}

Other resources: Custom filter development

-ml-

How to generate html output of some control by API

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:10:29 GMT

In special cases you may need to generate html code and provide it as a web service. The example shows how to create a repeater control dynamically, configure its properties and return html code.

[WebMethod]
    public static string GetDate()
    {
        Page pageHolder = new Page();

        CMSRepeater rep = (CMSRepeater)pageHolder.LoadControl(typeof(CMSRepeater), null);
        rep.ClassNames = "cms.article";
        rep.Path = ".";
        rep.TransformationName = "cms.article.default";

        pageHolder.Controls.Add(rep);

        StringWriter output = new StringWriter();
        HttpContext.Current.Server.Execute(pageHolder, output, false);

        return output.ToString();
    }

-it-

How to change the algorithm for password generation

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:07:05 GMT

If you want to generate passwords as alphanumeric strings (without special characters) or as strings which contain only special characters, you can implement your own algorithm for password generation in the ~\CMSModules\Membership\Pages\Users\User_Edit_Password.aspx.cs file and in the btnGenerateNew_Click method:

protected void btnGenerateNew_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Check modify permission
CheckModifyPermissions();
string result = ValidateGlobalAndDeskAdmin();
if (result == String..Empty)
{
string pswd = ...; // your own algorithm
…

-jh-

The Editable image web part does not work inside another web part

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:28:47 GMT

The Editable image web part is not designed to be used inside another web part. You can separate the web parts; use the original Editable image web part and the rest of code in a custom web part.

If you need to use the Editable image inside your custom web part, the parent web part must:

inherit from the CMSAbstractEditableWebPart class and
implement the LoadContent and GetContent methods.

You can take inspiration from the Editable image web part:

~/CMSWebParts/Text/editableimage.ascx.cs

-hg-

How to use jQuery with native Kentico web parts

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:46:48 GMT

Some Kentico web parts will stop working if you use the standard jQuery linking in your custom web parts because they are using jQuery in some of their libraries. That’s why you need to use the jQuery noConflict version. Please check this link for more information:
http://docs.jquery.com/Using_jQuery_with_Other_Libraries

-bp-

When using ASPX templates, how can I change the value of DocType?

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:43:42 GMT

As seen in the Developer’s Guide documentation Creating ASPX Master Pages, you can use <%=DocType%> as your doctype declaration in your master pages. The default value is . If you would like to change this, for instance to declare HTML5 (), you can do so in the code behind of your master page. In the OnPreRender method of your master page codebehind (e.g., Root.master.cs), add a line defining this.Doctype:

    protected override void OnPreRender(EventArgs e)
    {
        base.OnPreRender(e);

        ltlTags.Text = HeaderTags;

        // Declare the doctype as html5
        this.DocType = "";
    }

-ag-

How can I configure Kentico to use SSL?

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 07:42:04 GMT

Configuration of SSL must be handled at the IIS level, not within Kentico. Please see the following Microsoft documentation:

http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/144/how-to-set-up-ssl-on-iis/

The feature within Kentico that uses SSL is the Document option under Properties -> Security that specifies whether a page should redirect to SSL (to use https instead of http). You can set this up per document, or you can set this in your master page and use inheritance to apply the setting to all pages.

This subject is explained in further detail in the following Kentico documentation:

http://devnet.kentico.com/docs/devguide/index.html?ssl_https_support.htm

-ag-

Single application pool or multiple application pools

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 02:27:20 GMT

This article is meant to discuss a few differences between using a single application pool and using multiple application pools in IIS. If you are looking for a more hands on approach for setting up your environment, you might want to take advantage of our paid consulting services http://www.kentico.com/Support/Consulting/Overview, which can tailor a solution for your individual environment.

When using multiple application pools, you can dedicate an application pool to a single site. This will usually keep any problems isolated to one site, instead of spreading the issue across all sites located on the same machine. You can also use different ASP.NET versions on the same machine when using multiple application pools. This is because you can assign a different application pool for each version of ASP.NET. When using multiple application pools, you can use different Windows accounts on each application pool. This can not only enhance security, but it can also help when trying to track down performance issues.

Pros:
• Your sites will be isolated from each other. So if the application pool locks or has an error, it will only affect the single site.
• You can run different sites under different .NET versions.
• You can have unique settings for individual application pools.
• You can setup unique security features for each application pool.

Cons:
• Each application pool uses its own memory, which can use up a lot of resources on a single machine.
• It may also be harder to debug the site, since you are running multiple sites in one application pool.

While there are more Pros/Cons for each scenario, this should give you a general overview.

-eh-

How to remove duplicates from the UI after upgrading to version 6.0

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:58:12 GMT

In special cases, it may happen that tabs and icons in the version 6.0 user interface (CMS Desk, Site Manager) are duplicated. For example if you import an older site to version 6.0 or if the upgrade procedure was not followed properly during previous upgrades.

If this happens, UI elements stored in the CMS_UIElement table are created twice and displayed in the UI. To fix this issue you can apply the latest hotfix for version 6 or you can delete the elements which are duplicated by this script: RemoveDoubledUIElements.sql The 6.0 elements have a unique ID, and the script attached will delete all elements which should not be there. As always, do not forget to create a database backup to be able to restore it if needed.

-it-

How to maintain scroll position after postback

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:05:06 GMT

In case your application runs on .NET version 4.0 the position should be fixed automatically. A combination of .NET 3.5 and browsers like Chrome or Safari causes the position on a page to be lost after postback.

The workaround is to use the AJAX update panel and check e.g. the Use update panel property in repeater based web parts.
If the update panel cannot be used for some reason, you can change the ~/App_Browsers/outputfilter.browser file and add the following code into the section:

Please make sure that your master template, in case of Portal Engine it is file ~/CMSPages/PortalTemplate.aspx, contains the following property set to true:

<%@ Page … MaintainScrollPositionOnPostback="true" ..%>

-it-

How to include global Calendar events in the Department-specific calendar(s)

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 07:30:09 GMT

The Calendar web part in Departments uses a dynamic path according to the alias path of the department:

{ %cmscontext.currentdepartment.nodealiaspath#% }/Calendar/%

where the global calendar (displaying Events) uses a fixed path (like /Events/%). Please remove the spaces from the macro expression if you copy it.

To see the global Events in the department calendars, you can join the global event and department-specific event document paths and set the general path to the global scope.

Example department-specific calendar settings look like:

Path: /%
Where condition: NodeAliasPath LIKE '{ %cmscontext.currentdepartment.nodealiaspath#% }/Calendar/%' OR NodeAliasPath LIKE '/Events/%'

Management of the calendar items will take place in the appropriate scope. You may also need to
modify some of the transformations, because clicking on the event details can take
you from a department calendar to the global one.

-zc-

Which options do I have for price formatting?

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 07:23:40 GMT

The price formatting (and any other number formatting) uses .NET number and price formatting syntax. Besides the default documentation, we would recommend checking a nice reference at
http://blog.stevex.net/string-formatting-in-csharp/. The thousands separator syntax and other options are described, too. Additional examples can be found at http://blog.stevex.net/2007/09/string-formatting-faq/.

-zc-

Why can I not read a cookie on the client in Kentico CMS 6.0?

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 04:51:36 GMT

The HttpOnly is a flag set on the server side when sending a cookie that instructs the browser to avoid giving client-side scripts access to that data. Prior to Kentico CMS 6.0 the default value of the HttpOnly flag for all cookies generated by Kentico CMS was false. Since Kentico CMS 6.0 this behavior has been changed in the way that all cookies have the HttpOnly flag set to true for security reasons. Therefore it might happen that some of your client-side scripts trying to read some cookie and working in the previous version are no longer working in Kentico CMS 6.0, as you would expect. If so, you have two options.

You can either use the overloaded version of the CookieHelper.Setvalue method that accepts the HttpOnly value as an input parameter and set it to false:

public static void SetValue (
                string name,
                string value,
                string path
                DateTime expires
                bool? httpOnly
)

or change the following value in the web.config file so that all cookies are sent with the HttpOnly flag set to false:

Links to other resources: HttpOnly flag

-ml-

How to add a new font into the CK Editor

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:42:51 GMT

If you want to add a new font into the drop-down list of fonts in the CK Editor, you need to add the definition of that font into the ckeditor.js file, which is located in the ~\CMSAdminControls\CKeditor\ directory. However, the content of the file is minimized so it is difficult to navigate there. The code where you can make changes to fonts is on line 57 and it looks like this:

i.font_names='New font/Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;Comic Sans MS/Comic Sans MS, cursive;Courier New/Courier New, Courier, monospace;Georgia/Georgia, serif;Lucida Sans Unicode/Lucida Sans Unicode, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;Tahoma/Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;Times New Roman/Times New Roman, Times, serif;Trebuchet MS/Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, sans-serif;Verdana/Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif';

where the format of font definition is:

Title/Font style definition;

-jh-

Can I apply the hotfix manually instead of using Kentico Installation Manager?

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 07:04:53 GMT

Yes, it is possible. You can download the hotfix package here: http://devnet.kentico.com/Bugtracker/Hotfixes.aspx. It is a self-extracting package. You can extract it and open the instructions. Please follow the chapter: “Creating File Structure for Deployment” to create the necessary files for your project. Backup your project folder and database, make your site offline and copy the new files into your project folder. Then apply the SQL script from the /SQL on your database and make your site online. In this way you can see which files the hotfix re-writes and you can see the exact error messages.

-hg-

When does Import consider page templates to be the same and re-write them?

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:43:20 GMT

If you import some page templates or stylesheets into an existing installation, the import process can re-write some existing objects. It happens when:

the objects have the same GUID-s and
they have the same code names.

That is why it is not enough to change their code names if you want to keep the existing objects and import the new ones. The future versions will support a general Clone function for all objects.

-hg-

How to stop CMS from deleting users automatically?

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:57:22 GMT

There is a web site related scheduled task named “Users delete non activated user” responsible for deleting non-activated users. Its execution interval is set to one hour by default. This scheduled task deletes users which are not enabled or waiting for approval based on your settings (Site Manager -> Settings -> Security & Membership -> Delete non-activated user after (days)). You can either disable this scheduled task or make sure that the users which you do not want to lose are enabled and/or not waiting for approval.

-mr-

How to disable the"Skip payment" button in the last shopping cart step?

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:12:47 GMT

You can hide the "Skip payment“ button (ButtonBack control) in the ~\CMSModules\Ecommerce\Controls\ShoppingCart\ShoppingCartPaymentGateway.ascx.cs file by using the following code:

this.ShoppingCartControl.ButtonBack.Visible = false;

-mr-

How to empty the shopping cart content outside the shopping cart control?

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:53:24 GMT

Here is an example code of how to empty the shopping cart content:

if (ECommerceContext.CurrentShoppingCart != null)
{
ShoppingCartInfoProvider.DeleteShoppingCartInfo(ECommerceContext.CurrentShoppingCart);
ECommerceContext.CurrentShoppingCart = null;
}

The DeleteShoppingCartInfo method removes all records related to the current shopping cart from the database (COM_ShoppingCart and COM_ShoppingCartSKU tables). By entering the null value to the CurrentShoppingCart (ShoppingCartInfo object) property of the ECommerceContext object, we will ensure that the session and/or cookie information is deleted as well.

-mr-