Sitecore MVP Summit 2015 in New Orleans

Flying in from Toronto on the early flight to a comedian discussing taking our 8-track out to get checked.  You could tell he really loved his job and everyone enjoyed the humor.

Arriving in Atlanta, I ran into Ben Golden, an fellow MVP from Aware. Another MVP from Arke was boarding as well.  On landing in New Orleans, we met up with the rest of the Arke gang and shared a taxi to the hotel.  I got to meet another Chris who is from Arke and who is also an MVP.

The elevators displayed the start of our journey for the week.  I will post more pics and stories as the week progresses.

IIS is not Serving CSS or JavaScript or Images when accessing Sitecore Admin

A possible reason is that IIS is not serving Static Content.  On the server access Server Manager and choose Role Services.  Ensure the Static Content checkbox is checked.

Sitecore 8 and Windows 2012 running .NET 4.5.2 gives 500 error

When you first install Sitecore 8 it will complain about the TargetFramework and as trained well you will go to IIS and change the version of the App Pool to 4.0.  Now you don't get the error but you do get a 500 Error.  You check the logs but no leads.

If you go to IIS and click on the sitecore website and then click on .net compilation you will see the real error.

It turns out that by setting the right .NET Version you hide the real error which is resolved by running aspnet_regiis -r

Sitecore 8 and Amazon RDS

This is my first install on Amazon so I thought I would document the steps as I go and provide any gotchas I have run into.  If you have run into any gotchas email me at chris.williams@readwatchcreate.com and I will add them here.

Step 1: Install Sitecore 8 Locally

The first step is to install Sitecore 8 on your local computer or another server instance where you have a true SQL Server (could be express).

Step 2: Set up RDS

Next set up your RDS database. There are lots of articles on how to set this up so I wont dive into that here however when setting up your RDS database make sure you apply these settings so you can access the database from your local SQL Management Studio.  You will need this in order to migrate the content from your local instance

Step 3: Migrate Sitecore 8 Databases to RDS using Migration Wizard

Download SQLAzureMW - SQL Database Migration Wizard to migrate the database to RDS

Oshyn has a good article on Sitecore Deployment on Amazon RDS that explains this migration step


To Be Continue ....

Method not found: 'Boolean Sitecore.Data.Templates.TemplateField.get_IgnoreDictionaryTranslations()'

I actually had this happen to me on Sitecore 7.1 and found this article suggesting the Sitecore.Kernel is the wrong version.

We're using Sitecore 7.5 for our sites. In the Content Editor, any time I click on a template, I get the following error: Method not found: 'Boolean Sitecore.Data.Templates.TemplateField.get_IgnoreDictionaryTranslations()'.

I will give it a try and if it fixes it will let you know.  If  I find another solution I will post it here.

If you have any ideas please email me at chris.williams@readwatchcreate.com

Sitecore Community

The Sitecore Community is officially in beta. This is a great source to Ask Questions and Find Answers from knowledgeable people in the community.  I highly recommend you register and check it out.

When you check it out and connect with me at https://community.sitecore.net/members/chriswilliams_5f00_1888265814

If you have any tips, tricks or resources you would like to share with the Guild please email them to me at chris.williams@readwatchcreate.com

Sitecore MVP Award : Brightlane

The Sitecore MVP Award made the journey once again via Go Train to Toronto where it arrived at the front desk of Brightlane to sign in.

Now it sits on the desk of the MVP it belongs to.

The award will continue on its journey tomorrow as it arrives at LSSO.

Sitecore MVP Award : The Arrival In Burlington

My Sitecore MVP award had an interesting journey.  It left its home in Manchester, NH on a Flight to  Toronto and then likely via truck to Stoney Creek.  It then boarded another truck to arrive in Burlington only to find nobody home.  It spent the night surrounded by other packages waiting for the chance to be free.

The next morning it boarded the truck and arrived  and was signed for.  It now has a new home and and a proud owner.  The award will continue to follow its owner around and will blog about its various expeditions.

Thank you Sitecore for the award.  I really appreciate it.  It looks stunning.

Use This Instead of That

As a new Sitecore developer we quickly learn that there are many ways to do something in Sitecore.  Some ways are better depending on what you are looking to do however there are cases where using the wrong methods can really hurt you going forward.

This spreadsheet is meant to help new developers with some of those cases.  It lists the task you wish to perform, the method not to use and the alternative one to use.  This could be an actual method, an object, a module, etc.

Use This instead of That

This spreadsheet is viewable by anyone.  If you would like to become a contributor send me your account that has access to Google Drive to me at chris.williams@readwatchcreate.com and I will share it with you for edit.

Installing Web Forms For Marketers (WFFM) 2.5 for Sitecore 7.5

I am writing this post to share some issues I faced while installing WFFM 2.5 for Sitecore 7.5. Although it is minor issues but it can save you few precious hours when you are too busy to figure it out.

• The installation was smooth and straightforward, however, if the browser stuck or the installation took extra time just be patient and don’t interrupt the process.
• Don’t forget to do the Post installation steps, especially, the following two steps:

1. In the [site root]\Website\Data find WFFM_Analytics.sql and run it on the reporting db of your current instance.  This will create 3 additional tables in your reporting db.
2. Add the following nodes to the Web.config:

    <add name="CaptchaImage" verb="*" path="CaptchaImage.axd" type="Sitecore.Form.Core.Pipeline.RequestProcessor.CaptchaResolver, Sitecore.Forms.Core" />
    <add name="CaptchaAudio" verb="*" path="CaptchaAudio.axd" type="Sitecore.Form.Core.Pipeline.RequestProcessor.CaptchaResolver, Sitecore.Forms.Core" />

• For IIS 6.x under the configuration\system.web\httpHandlers node
• For IIS 7.x and up under the configuration\system.webServer\handlers 
• Check that Mongo Server is running and well configured.
• There is no longer “Save to Database” action in WFFM 2.5, the forms are saved by default.
• Remember with the release of WFFM 2.5 the submitted forms are saved in the MongoDB; you will see nothing in the SQL server DB instantly after posting the form but data will be transferred to SQL after sometime.
• While validating a form with “Captcha” field I got the following message “Error: Reference to undeclared entity 'nbsp'. Line 107, position 40. [107, 40]” , this message will disaper by replacing “&nbsp;” by “#160” in “Captcha.ascx” file where you can find in : “Website\sitecore modules\Web\Web Forms for Marketers\UI\UserControl”.

If you have any tips, tricks or resources you would like to share with the guild please email chris.williams@readwatchcreate.com

Error when installing WFFM 2.5 rev.150209 in Sitecore 8.0

Issue: While I was trying to install Web Forms For Marketers "WFFM 2.5 rev.150209" on a fresh installed Sitecore 8.0 instance i got the following error:



On pressing on details here is the error message:

Could not load type 'Sitecore.Shell.Applications.WebEdit.Commands.WebEditCommand' from assembly 'Sitecore.Client, Version=7.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'.
  Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.
 Exception Details: System.TypeLoadException: Could not load type 'Sitecore.Shell.Applications.WebEdit.Commands.WebEditCommand' from assembly 'Sitecore.Client, Version=7.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'.
Source Error:  An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below. 
Stack Trace:

[TypeLoadException: Could not load type 'Sitecore.Shell.Applications.WebEdit.Commands.WebEditCommand' from assembly 'Sitecore.Client, Version=7.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'.]
   System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.GetType(RuntimeAssembly assembly, String name, Boolean throwOnError, Boolean ignoreCase, ObjectHandleOnStack type) +0
   System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.GetType(String name, Boolean throwOnError, Boolean ignoreCase) +41
   Sitecore.Reflection.ReflectionUtil.CreateObject(String assembly, String className, Object[] parameters) +41
   Sitecore.Reflection.ReflectionUtil.CreateObject(String typeName, Object[] parameters) +122
   Sitecore.Shell.Framework.Commands.CommandManager.ReadCommands() +467
   Sitecore.Shell.Framework.Commands.CommandManager..cctor() +50
[TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for 'Sitecore.Shell.Framework.Commands.CommandManager' threw an exception.]
   Sitecore.Shell.Framework.Commands.CommandManager.GetDispatchCommand(String command) +0
   Sitecore.Web.UI.Sheer.ClientPage.Dispatch(String command) +28
   Sitecore.Web.UI.Sheer.ClientPage.RaiseEvent() +101
   Sitecore.Web.UI.Sheer.ClientPage.OnPreRender(EventArgs e) +525
   System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal() +83
   System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +974
 

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:4.0.30319; ASP.NET Version:4.0.30319.34209

Here is the environment information:

• OS: Windows 7 32-bit
• MS Sql Server Express 2012
• Mongodb 3.0.1 32-bit
• IIS 7.5.76

After that i am not able to access several modules including the Desktop!

Solution: I came across this article on Web Forms for Marketers on Version 8 that helped me solve the issue

The solution is to download and install Sitecore 8 - Update 2 and the WebForms for Marketers specifically for Sitecore 8.0 on the Sitecore 8 download page.

Alternatively, you can contact us regarding a Sitecore Environment QuickStart.  Email us at chris.williams@readwatchcreate.com for details.

Configuration Include Folders Order of Inclusion

Question: Now that you can place folders below the /app_config/include folder what is the order in which the files are appended?

Answer:  Thanks to Andrew Vieau for investigating the answer. The files are appended in the following order:

1) All the files in the root of include in alphabetical order from A-Z.
2) All the folders are included in alphabetical order from A-Z.
3) Within each folder the files are include in alphabetical order from A-Z.

Example: This would be the order the contents of the file are processed.

/include/apple.config
/include/zebra.config
/include/apple/apple.config
/include/apple/zebra/config
/include/zebra/apple.config
/include/zebra/zebra/config

Additional References: 

Working with web.config include files:

• Sitecore web.config include files (auto-include)
• The Web config include files: The definitive guide – a post by John West!
• Organizing your Sitecore Patch include files

If you have any questions, please email us at chris.williams@readwatchcreate.com

Sitecore QuickStart Environments

Based on our past experience and from talking to other partners we have realized that partners waste a lot of time repeating the following two tasks:

1) Installing and Configuring Sitecore and various other modules over and over again.
2) Attempting to diagnose issues in Sitecore after applying custom modules and not knowing a what point things broke.

Some of this time could be saved using Sitecore QuickStart Environments.  A Sitecore QuickStart Environment is basic install of Sitecore and/or other modules configured to work with a specifically documented list of changes.  The shorter the list the better.

The idea is that you would start your project by logging into the portal and choose the best QuickStart Environment to meet your needs.  You drop that QuickStart Environment onto your servers make the small modifications and test it works.

Once you have it working in your environment they you can back it up and start adding custom code. If something fails, later you can compare it with the working environment.

Read Watch Create is currently building Sitecore QuickStart Environments for its own use and are working to build out a portal for use by other partners.

If you are interested in assisting in building them or are interested in subscribing to have access to them please email us at chris.williams@readwatchcreate.com

Cassette Bundles not loading when Previewing pages in Sitecore

As you are aware Cassette is an awesome tool to bundle your css and javascripts etc so you can swap it out. However if you are previewing pages that are using Cassette you may notice that some of the calls return blank.

A fellow blog poster has discovered this issue and the solution. You can check out the article Sitecore JavaScript Compression Minification and Less Compilation.  This same blogger has also written this article on Using Cassette bundles with Sitecore MVC

Andrew Davey has submitted the changes to his branch.  You will need to do a get on this branch and then recompile.

Andrew Davey's Cassette Branch

If you are trying to recompile Cassette and get reference errors regarding Iesi.Collection use Nuget Console and it will prompt to restore packages.  After this you will then be able to rebuild.

Mr. Roboto Or How A Tester Becomes A Robot

Update: If you are using Sitecore 8.x you do not need the hot fix rather use this fix instead. Disable Robot Detection on a Content Management Server

Dennis Augustine and I were working with a client that all the sudden started to experience loss of login status.  We followed all the usual timeout checks, compared code, compared configurations, tried to find a solid way to reproduce.  We had two test users and everyone was sharing them. With all the testing happening, it turns out that Sitecore detected them as a robot. 

Finally Ken Gray discovered this gem: Sitecore Dialog Timeout Issue

Here are the instructions for deploying the Login Timeout Fix:

1. Modify the Website\web.config by adding following module to the ‘system.webServer’ section (in case site is running on the Integrated Mode on IIS7
   
   <- default setting  ; and ‘httpModules’ section in case Classic mode is used) :
   <add type="Sitecore.Web.HttpModule,Sitecore.Kernel" name="SitecoreHttpModuleExtensions" />
   <add type="Sitecore.Support.FixHttpSessionTimeout.CausedByRobotDetection,Sitecore.Support.414299" name="RevertingAnalyticsBotSessionDuration" />
2. Add the Sitecore.Support.414299 into the Website\bin folder.

If you have any tip, tricks or resources to share with the Guild please email them to chris.williams@readwatchcreate.com