Sitefinity Watch

Migrating from Sitefinity 3 to 4 is about to get easier

Gabe Sumner — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:58:17 GMT

A lot of Sitefinity web sites (this web site included) are still running on Sitefinity 3.x. When Sitefinity 4.0 was released, Telerik open-sourced a migration tool, but there were several use cases that weren’t 100% addressed by this tool. Consequently, many of us have remained on the 3.x platform due to lack of time to address these remaining scenarios.

Earlier today, Georgi Chokov published a blog post informing the Sitefinity community that migration from Sitefinity 3 to Sitefinity 4 is about to get a refresh reboot:

We realize that a better solution is needed to migrate Sitefinity 3.x projects to 4.x and we feel the need to take a stronger position on this matter. Therefore we’ve assigned one internal team to enhancing the migration tool and this will be their main focus over the next weeks. We will deliver weekly iterations with the new enhancements so everything we do gets released as soon as possible. We are also taking the migration tool off Codeplex and are going to include it as a module inside Sitefinity 4.x.

This is welcome news to everyone (myself included). I’ve used Sitefinity 4.x in several green field projects, but historically it’s been challenging to move existing projects to the latest Sitefinity platform. I’m looking forward to reporting the upgrade of this web site soon.

Be sure to watch the Sitefinity blogs for updates.

New Sitefinity 4 Book - Now Available

Gabe Sumner — Tue, 24 May 2011 20:24:56 GMT

Falafel Software recently released a comprehensive Sitefinity 4 book that covers the entire spectrum of Sitefinity project development. This book provides step-by-step walkthrough’s, as well as detailed background information.

Here are the sections of the book:

Setting up Your Environment
Introduction to Sitefinity
Getting Started
Using Sitefinity
Designing and Administering Sitefinity
Developing for Sitefinity
Testing Sitefinity Sites Using Telerik Test Studio

This book can be purchased through Falafel’s web site.

Licenses extended for Sitefinity 4 early adopters

Gabe Sumner — Tue, 03 May 2011 15:14:56 GMT

Earlier today, Martin Kirov (Executive VP, Sitefinity/Telerik) posted a blog post to the Sitefinity Blogs. In this post, Martin announced that licenses for early adopters of Sitefinity 4 would be extended:

We have extended the subscriptions of all new licenses and upgrades purchased between the Sitefinity Release Candidate (November 18) and the Sitefinity 4.1 release (April 19) to start from July 31, 2011.

Each Sitefinity purchase comes included with 1 year of upgrades. After that year, a subscription must be maintained to get access to newer releases. This offer means that Sitefinity 4 early adopters have complimentary access to upgrades until July 31, 2012.

Thank you for being an early adopter

In his post, Martin also expresses the original inspiration for Sitefinity 4:

This was not just the next version of Sitefinity which introduces some new things and improvements, this was the beginning of a completely different system where we put all our past experience and our passion and did a lot of things we wanted to go back and do differently, do better so we can ensure a future growth that benefits all our clients.

However, you can’t completely remodel your house without causing some temporary disruption. Martin also alludes to this disruption:

The most difficult part is behind us and things have and will continue to improve quickly.

It sounds like the dust is settling and we can focus on polishing the finer details.

Where can I get the details?

Sitefinity 4 license holders have already been emailed the details. Beyond that, the best place to ask questions is Sitefinity.com (blogs or forums) or sales@sitefinity.com.

Getting started with the Sitefinity 4.1 SDK’s Module Creation Template

Gabe Sumner — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 20:54:32 GMT

Included in the Sitefinity 4.1 SDK is a new Visual Studio template. This template can be used to create a new Sitefinity 4.x Products module. Modify this sample module to create other types of Sitefinity modules.

This post below describes how to get started with this Visual Studio template:

Creating a new module with the Sitefinity Module Template

1. Open Visual Studio

2. Open your Sitefinity Project

3. Right-click the Solution and click Add –> Add New Project

4. Search for Sitefinity, select the Sitefinity Module template

5. Type the name & location for your new Sitefinity module and click the OK button

6. Click the Finish button

What now?

Module creation is a challenging topic right now. The Products Module, created by the template above, as been around for awhile. It’s also present in the SDK sample projects:

A lot of documentation, pertaining to this module, can be found here. However, this documentation is in the midst of being revised. If you have success modifying this template to create a custom module, please share your experiences with others.

Live blogging the Sitefinity 4.1 SDK

Gabe Sumner — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:19:13 GMT

Earlier today Telerik released the latest version of the Sitefinity SDK (Software Development Kit). This tool is designed to help developers create extensions and customizations for Sitefinity.

This blog post contains a real-time record of my exploration of this tool.

Download – It’s big

The SDK has a lot packed into it and weighs in at a hefty 558 MB.

What’s in this thing?

While it’s downloading I quickly scanned Hristo’s blog post. Here are the highlights from my extremely biased perspective:

New Samples Browser
- Lots of new samples
- Easily reset sample code & database to its original state after I ruin it ;)
- Define my own database connection details for samples
Visual Studio Wizard for creating new Sitefinity Modules

There is other stuff in the SDK (see Hristo’s post), but these are the items I’m primarily interested in.

Download finished – Time to Install

Installation wizard…

Here is what is included…

Promoting the Sitefinity marketplace even during installation…

It’s installing all the Telerik tools, this is taking awhile… Ok done.

Dashboard – SDK

Release Notes, Features videos & resources on the start page

Samples

The samples that comes with the 4.1 SDK:

Run sample & licensing…

Your license key can be downloaded from your Telerik account. Hopefully this step can be built into the SDK in the future.

I’m asked my SQL information. Very nice.

Don’t forget “\SQLEXPRESS” in the “Server name” if using SQL Server Express. Also, notice my super secret localhost SQL username & password:

Uh-oh…

This probably has something to do with UAC. I located this directory, right-clicked and granted permission to full control to Everyone. This probably isn’t a great solution but it made the error go away.

Sitefinity Forms notification, now available through the Marketplace

Gabe Sumner — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 21:17:52 GMT

Sitefinity makes it easy for anyone (not simply developers) to create web-based forms using simple drop & drop interfaces:

Watch the video to learn more.

However, Sitefinity does not currently (as of 4.1) notify administrators by email when a user completes the form. This feature has been requested and is being planned for a future release.

What Sitefinity Form notification solutions are available today?

Thankfully an industrious Sitefinity community member (George Saadeh) invented a solution and graciously donated it to the Sitefinity marketplace.

Sitefinity + WebUI Test Studio = <3

Gabe Sumner — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 21:37:57 GMT

Busy web sites are constantly evolving & changing. Sitefinity helps facilitate this change by providing an easy-to-use web-based interface for managing content. However, there are many changes that are introduced that extend beyond content. For example:

Add new features or custom code
Upgrading Sitefinity
Changing the database
Changes to the web server (IIS)

When these changes are introduced, many of us randomly click into a handful of web pages to ensure everything works. However, it’s easy to overlook problems using this haphazard technique. When this happens, we unintentionally introduce issues that create bad customer experiences.

Create automated tests without 1-line of code

I’ve sat through a fair among of unit testing lectures. I recognize it’s something I should probably be doing…but I’ll probably continue to not do it. For a product, like Sitefinity, unit testing is essential. However, for my own web sites (and the handful of customer web sites I’m involved with), it represents a bigger investment than anyone involved is willing to make.

However, I like the idea of an automated test that tells me when I broke something. If I could create this test relatively easily, then I might do it…

Enter Telerik’s Web UI Test Studio

Web UI Test Studio fully integrates with your web browser. This enables you to interact your web site (just like normal) and Web UI Test Studio will record your actions. These actions can then be run automatically and Web UI will tell you if you broke something. It’s the equivalent of having a robot that will dutifully click through everything in your web site and tell you if something isn’t working.

Check it out for yourself

Anton Hristov and Dan Levy recently conducted a webinar that shows this hot racy Sitefinity & Web UI love in action. Click the photo below to watch the recorded webinar.

Watch the recorded webinar

Read Dan’s blog post

Get a Sitefinity discount by throwing ninja stars

Gabe Sumner — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 15:12:12 GMT

That’s not a headline I ever expected to write…

The Q1 2011 release all Telerik’s products (including Sitefinity) is rapidly approaching. There are numerous new features and enhancements planned for all product lines. To celebrate this major release, Telerik organized a game that enables you to earn discounts on Telerik products.

The object of the game? Channel the .NET ninja and hit falling Telerik dollars from the sky.

Click here to play!

The upcoming Sitefinity Q1 2011 Release

As shown on the roadmap, Sitefinity will now align with the wider Telerik release schedule (3 releases a year, Service Packs in between). However, Sitefinity’s release will follow the other Telerik release by a few weeks. ** Sitefinity releases are slightly delayed so the latest OpenAccess & RadControl releases can be included.

All Telerik products enjoy a high-level of synergy. Furthermore, Sitefinity includes many other Telerik products (OpenAccess & RadControls). All Sitefinity customers are encouraged to attend the webinars for these other products.

Learn more about Telerik’s Q1 2011 release.

Learn more about Sitefinity’s Q1 2011 release.

Sitefinity 4.0’s first Service Pack hits the web

Gabe Sumner — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:53:55 GMT

Waiting for the Service Pack, is a time honored tradition in the Microsoft ecosystem. New issues are always discovered with fresh releases and many customers choose to let the dust settle before getting involved. If this describes your perspective on Sitefinity 4.0, then the wait is over!

By contrast, if you’re one of the intrepid explorers who braved a freshly minted release, then you’re going to love this service pack.

Lots of fixes, lots of improvements and a few new features

In the weeks following the release of Sitefinity 4.0, Telerik delivered a steady stream of improvements. However, many of the improvements were only visible in the weekly developer builds. These weekly developer builds are available for download, but they aren’t officially supported or recommended. Consequently, they aren’t useful for real-world project.

Thankfully, all of these improvements (and more!) are found in the Service Pack. All of this is officially supported by Telerik and provides a clear upgrade path (4.0 –> 4.0 SP1 –> Q1 2011).

Click here to download the Sitefinity 4.0 Service Pack.

What’s included and how do I upgrade?

Here is how to get started with the Sitefinity 4.0 Service Pack:

Parting Words

This service pack is an essential upgrade for any serious Sitefinity 4.0 project. It addresses a ton of troublesome issue and will greatly improve your Sitefinity experience.

As wonderful as this Service Pack is, there is still more work to be done though. Telerik recently added Sitefinity to PITS to provide visibility into many of these reported issues. Be sure to report your issues, vote and subscribe to stay informed.

Happy upgrading!

How to validate Sitefinity 4.0 form elements

Gabe Sumner — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:44:07 GMT

Sitefinity 4.0 includes a form builder that enables non-technical audiences to easily drag & drop elements to create web forms. As of this writing, Sitefinity’s form builder primarily addresses basic form scenarios. Other scenarios can be partially addressed through custom form widgets.

However, one common scenario is input validation:

Going beyond basic validation…

Out-of-the-box Sitefinity 4.0 can validate required fields and number ranges. However, there are many validation scenarios that do not fit neatly into those 2 narrow cases. Telerik is aware of these other use cases, but has not yet handled these through the UI.

Thankfully many of these use-cases have been addressed through the API. Tapping into this backend capability was the subject of a blog post by Gary Campbell at Falafel.

Getting Started

For more information on using these additional form validation techniques, be sure to read Falafel’s blog post. As Sitefinity evolves, I’m sure we’ll see more of these backend capabilities exposed through the UI.

More Information

How to upgrade a Sitefinity 3.x module to Sitefinity 4.0

Gabe Sumner — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:57:05 GMT

Sitefinity has always been a very developer friendly and extensible CMS platform. This adaptability led to a rich collection of custom modules available through Sitefinity’s Marketplace. However, Sitefinity 4.0 has now arrived and many of these modules require tweaking before becoming usable in the latest version of Sitefinity.

Sitefinity partner Falafel has been a very active contributor of modules to Sitefinity’s marketplace. Recently Falafel published a blog post demonstrating the process used to upgrade these modules to support Sitefinity 4.0:

Be sure to read this article for instructions on how to move from 3.x to 4.0.

Sitefinity CMS fights cavities & the gum disease gingivitis

Gabe Sumner — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 20:31:51 GMT

Last week, Shawn Brandt was contacted by a friend who works for a non-profit organization called Just Kids Dental. This organization is a school-based dental health program focused on providing children with oral hygiene services & information.

This organization was looking for a web site, but didn’t have a budget to work with. Shawn thought immediately of GiveCamp…

The first thing that popped into my head was a GiveCamp. A GiveCamp is a weekend-long event where technology professionals from designers, developers and database administrators to marketers and web strategists donate their time to provide solutions for non-profit organizations. [ Read more ]

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a GiveCamp scheduled in Shawn’s area in the near future. On a whim Shawn decided to shoot Telerik an email…

So I went out on a limb and sent Telerik an email asking if they would support JKD by providing a license to Sitefinity. I explained that they don't have a budget for their site and I'm volunteering my time to help them. I got an email back the next business day! They were happy to support JKD by providing Sitefinity. [ Read more ]

Shawn will be using the Sitefinity Charity Starter Kit for this project and will chronicle this journey on his blog. Be sure to subscribe to follow along.

It’s been a big week for Sitefinity

Gabe Sumner — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 23:29:54 GMT

It’s been quite a week. I’m again behind on this blog and there is a lot of news I need to quickly relay. Below I’m going to quickly run through the highlights:

The webinar to rival all webinars

Last week, we had a webinar to show the latest pre-release version of Sitefinity 4.0 (the RC release). This webinar had a record number of attendees (not to mention a record number of questions). For those who missed the webinar, you can watch it here.

Watch the full-sized video on Sitefinity.com.

The questions & answers from this webinar can be found on Falafel’s web site.

New Sitefinity 4.0 features in the RC

The latest release of Sitefinity 4.0 includes a number of brand new features. These features are described in Josh Morales’ blog post and shown in the video below.

Watch the full-sized video on Telerik.TV

The RC will be released for everyone to download this Thursday (Nov. 18th 2010).

Sitefinity 4.0 pricing details finally unveiled

During the webinar, we unveiled Sitefinity 4.0’s new pricing details. This new pricing is summarized here and explained, in detail, by Martin Kirov. Telerik has cast off Sitefinity 3’s one-size-fits-all pricing and introduced several new editions of Sitefinity (Community, Small Business, Standard, Professional & Professional Unlimited). These new editions are designed to make Sitefinity a better fit for a wider spectrum of projects.

Reactions to this pricing have been varied. There is a very active forum thread discussing this new pricing. Many customers have voiced specific concerns and, in some cases, Telerik has agreed to some compromises. However, Telerik has also expressed strong commitment to the overall direction expressed by this new 4.0 pricing. Current customers have the opportunity to take advantage of discounts to help make the transition to 4.0 easier.

For more analysis, read the following blog posts from Sitefinity customers:

Sitefinity, the evolution of a CMS by Matt Cooper
Telerik Sitefinity 4.0 and the public’s reaction by Lino Tadros

What’s next?

I’m sure discussion surrounding the pricing will continue. There might even be a few more compromises, but the overall direction has now been communicated. My goal is to get everyone transitioned over to 4.0. We have lots of discounts designed to make that happen.

Beyond that, we have a content series planned that centers on real-world project explorations with the Sitefinity 4.0 RC. My hope is that all of you will be part of this content series as well. Share your stories and experiences! I’ll be sure that your stories get recognition.

5 leaked Sitefinity 4.0 RC screenshots

Gabe Sumner — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 20:03:14 GMT

Hey everyone, I just downloaded a fresh build of the upcoming Sitefinity 4.0 RC release and grabbed a few screenshots (posted below). We’ll show a lot more in the upcoming webinar but this will hopefully give everyone a small taste of things to come.

Easily configure common Sitefinity settings

See, at a glance, which pages await language translation

Easily create custom data export feeds

Edit Sitefinity Widget templates using Sitefinity

Compare data using dimensional web analytics

Please attend the webinar

If you haven’t already registered, be sure to register & attend the upcoming Sitefinity 4.0 RC webinar. In addition, to showing the RC and the features above, I’ll also show:

4.0’s new pricing & licensing
Discounts available to current customers
4.0’s official release date

Please register & attend.

Busy with the Sitefinity 4.0 RC Release

Gabe Sumner — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 17:41:39 GMT

Wow, I’m way behind on my blogging. 2 weeks ago I was visiting with the Sitefinity product team in Bulgaria. After returning from Bulgaria, I became immediately focused on the upcoming RC release. This is an exciting release and it has kept me very busy lately.

Plenty of new Sitefinity stuff

This upcoming release will introduce the following new features to Sitefinity 4.0:

Workflow
Localization
~~Meta Field Editor~~ – slightly delayed, :(
Widget Template Editor
Basic Settings Editor
Additional Web Analytics
Publishing System
Live Writer Support
Migration Tool

See these features in the upcoming RC webinar.

Old programmers don’t die, they just relocate to MS Word

While the development team is hard at work on the features shown above, I’ve been helping to create messaging around these features. Meaning I spend a lot of my time in Word instead of Visual Studio. If this keeps up, I’m fearful I’ll lose my developer credentials.

I know this doesn’t look very useful to grizzled programmers, but it’s an important mental exercise. Thankfully, for months we’ve worked hard to convert feature requests into user stories. This has helped us greatly from a UX design & usability perspective. Here is a good example:

As a content editor, I want to define custom workflows.

This story has an audience and an objective. As we create the feature, this story helps us understand the terminology we need to use and the interface we need to create. Also, at the end of this process, it helps us understand why the feature is good.

All of this feels completely obvious, but a lot of software feels very feature driven, as opposed to story driven. At the end of this process, everyone is left trying to remember what the inspiration for XYZ feature was. Staying very close to stories has helped us immensely. Anyway, I’m rambling…

To hear more rambling, register for the RC webinar.

The burning question; how much will 4.0 cost?

In addition, to the new features found in the RC, we’re also planning to announce the 4.0 pricing and licensing details. This topic has been the source of tons of community feedback. This level of feedback is equaled only the amount of internal discussion on this topic. We’ve invested a ton of time researching this topic and trying to create a pricing structure that satisfies the concerns outlined by Vassil (Telerik’s CEO) as well as our customers. I’m hopeful that we’ve found a good fit.

Register for the webinar to see the details.

Please attend the RC webinar

All of these details, as well as a look at the new features in the RC, will be covered next week in the Sitefinity 4.0 RC webinar. After the webinar, attendees will be given an opportunity to download the RC.

Please register and attend the RC webinar.