In Time: 2015

Ah, Experience Manager, can't live with it, can't live without it, so here is how you can make your life a little easier, because in my humble experience, I've seen it misconfigured quite a bit.

I thought about, as with the top winners in any category, leaving the number one reason to the very end, yet the thought of spending even a minute making someone wait for that when they are racing around the clock to make something work as soon as possible really won.

So here it is, in order of frequency, at least in my opinion, starting with the most encountered:

1. Storage for Session Preview - (warning, it is a loaded start).

1a. Wrapper setup in cd_storage_conf.xml for Session Preview webservice and wrapper timeout. In a nutshell, since you are working in-session, all data should be stored in the session database, so make sure your storage type is pointing to the Session Preview database and that the Item types are all going to the same place as well (including pages and binaries which on a regular website may typically go to the file system).

<Wrappers>
<Wrapper Name="SessionWrapper">

<Storage Type="persistence" Id="sessionDb" dialect="MSSQL" Class="com.tridion.storage.persistence.JPADAOFactory">
<Pool Type="jdbc" Size="10" MonitorInterval="60" IdleTimeout="120" CheckoutTimeout="120" />
<DataSource Class="com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDataSource">
<Property Name="serverName" Value="localhost" />
<Property Name="portNumber" Value="1433" />
<Property Name="databaseName" Value="Tridion_Session_Preview"/>
<Property Name="user" Value="TridionBrokerUser"/>
<Property Name="password" Value="passwordvalue"/>
</DataSource>
</Storage>
</Wrapper>
</Wrappers>

<ItemTypes defaultStorageId="sessionDb" cached="false">

1b. The session timeout is set to 60 seconds by default, even when commented out. I have seen new page creation result in 404's when 60 seconds was not enough time for Session Preview or the staging site to complete the round trip needed by the underlying mechanism and be ready to serve content.
Treat it as a tuning exercise, to find what is the best setting start by doubling this value, and continue to increase or decrease until the proper value is discovered.

<Wrapper Name="SessionWrapper">

<Timeout>120000</Timeout>

1c. Preview DAO bundle in storage
Check the preview storage extension using the data access object model is present in cd_storage_conf.xml
<StorageBindings>
<Bundle src="preview_dao_bundle.xml"/>
</StorageBindings>

2. Storage for website
As above, think about this in three sections, 2a, 2b, 2c.

2a. When it comes to the staging website, there are two flows going on for storage (cd_storage_conf.xml): the site uses the wrapper to read session information and uses the broker to write information to. Make sure both of these are configured. Pay close attention to the naming conventions for each.
Item types however, unlike in the Session Preview configuration, will point to the Content Data store (Broker) database, not the Session Preview database. Specific types may even go to different types of storage, such as file system for simpler websites or the Broker in the case of application driven setups.

2b. Applicable as described in 1b.

2c. Required as described in 1c.

3. Ambient Data Framework configuration claim for Session Preview webservice
Check cd_ambient_conf.xml has the webservice preview cartridge applied and the ambient cartridge commented out.

<Cartridges>


<Cartridge File="cd_webservice_preview_cartridge.xml"/>
</Cartridges>

4. Ambient Data Framework configuration for staging website
Check cd_ambient_conf.xml has both the webservice preview and footprint cartridges applied, plus the PreviewClaimStoreProvider

<Cartridges>
<Cartridge File="cd_webservice_preview_cartridge.xml"/>
<Cartridge File="footprint_cartridge_conf.xml"/>
</Cartridges>

<ClaimStoreProvider>com.tridion.preview.web.ambient.PreviewClaimStoreProvider</ClaimStoreProvider>

5. web.config or web.xml for staging website - preview and ambientdata filter (ensure all content is intercepted for processing and temp content)
Ensure the preview and ambient data filters are present in the staging site configuration, these will intercept all requests for processing and temporary content.

5a. For a java staging site, review all settings here, with special tender love and care for steps 21 and 22. Do make sure to read all instructions referenced in the link below, but to save time, these are lines to watch out for.
http://docs.sdl.com/LiveContent/content/en-US/SDL%20Tridion%20full%20documentation-v1/GUID-3F764ABD-462F-43A8-BB3F-83928CE48215

<listener>
<listener-class>com.tridion.storage.persistence.session.SessionManagementContextListener</listener-class>
</listener>

<filter>
<filter-name>Page Content Filter</filter-name>
<filter-class>com.tridion.preview.web.PageContentFilter</filter-class>
</filter>
<filter-mapping>
<filter-name>Page Content Filter</filter-name>
<url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
</filter-mapping>

<filter>
<filter-name>Binary Content Filter</filter-name>
<filter-class>com.tridion.preview.web.BinaryContentFilter</filter-class>
</filter>
<filter-mapping>
<filter-name>Binary Content Filter</filter-name>
<url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
</filter-mapping>

<filter-name>Ambient Data Framework</filter-name>
<filter-class>com.tridion.ambientdata.web.AmbientDataServletFilter</filter-class>
</filter>
<filter-mapping>
<filter-name>Ambient Data Framework</filter-name>
<servlet-name>Content Delivery Web service</servlet-name>
</filter-mapping>

5b. For a .NET staging site, review here, with emphasis on steps 22 and 23. Again, do make sure to read through all steps documented officially, with the highlights below.
http://docs.sdl.com/LiveContent/content/en-US/SDL%20Tridion%20full%20documentation-v1/GUID-77BA0587-F8ED-49FD-A9EE-4A7111B01830

Application pool in classic mode:

<system.web>
<httpModules>
<add type="Tridion.ContentDelivery.AmbientData.HttpModule" name="Tridion.ContentDelivery.AmbientData.HttpModule" />
<add name="Tridion.ContentDelivery.Preview.Web.PreviewContentModule" type="Tridion.ContentDelivery.Preview.Web.PreviewContentModule" />

Application pool in integrated mode:

<system.webServer>
<modules>
<add type="Tridion.ContentDelivery.AmbientData.HttpModule" name="Tridion.ContentDelivery.AmbientData.HttpModule" />
<add name="PreviewContentModule" type="Tridion.ContentDelivery.Preview.Web.PreviewContentModule" />

6. Missing JARs/DLLs
This is another common step easily missed, especially so when upgrading.
A good clue is to look at the version of config files during the steps above, an even better idea is to check the version of the jars / libs directly.
For instance, if upgrading to 2013 SP1 HR1, there are a few required changes.
http://docs.sdl.com/LiveContent/content/en-US/SDL%20Tridion%20full%20documentation-v1/GUID-59F164FB-E69F-4855-ACA8-433D68455208

So pay attention to these:
(.NET)
Tridion.ContentDelivery.Preview.dll

(both .NET and Java)
cd_deployer.jar
cd_preview_web.jar
cd_preview_webservice.jar

7. Bootstrap CMS url script
Look for this script, typically inserted before the closing tag. Is it there? If yes, is this correct, does the url match the Content Manager url?


<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" defer="defer" src="http://localhost:81/WebUI/Editors/SiteEdit/Views/Bootstrap/Bootstrap.aspx?mode=js" id="tridion.siteedit"></script></body>

8. Publication target staging website url
Check the publication target contains the _exact_ staging site url on which the page will be requested.

9. Component Presentation script tags
These are written by the "Enable inline editing for Page" template building block, make sure they are present in the page and contain accurate information, such as the timestamp and content xpaths.
Note if using compoound templates, the "Enable inline editing for Page" TBB will be positioned after the basic Page Dreamweaver template and before the typical "Default Finish Actions" TBB.

<div><span>test field 1</span></div>

10. Component Field script tags
These are written by the "Enable inline editing for content" template building block, so as before make sure they appear and are correct.
Note if using compoound templates, the "Enable inline editing for content" TBB will be positioned after the basic Component Dreamweaver template and before the typical "Default Finish Actions" TBB.
<span>test field 1</span>

11. XHTML compliance - DIV tags
By virtue of W3C, there are very clear rules for what makes XHTML valid or not, and so particularly for <span> tags, no other tags are allowed inside.
With the out-of-the-box Experience Manager templates, the markup is configured to use <span> tags and this can become an issue if there are other tags present in the content which will then be converted to appear inside of the XPM markup.
One option then is to re-configure the XPM markup to use <div> tags instead of <span>. The <div> tag is a lot more forgiving in this respect and will deem the code XHTML compliant once more.
To do this, open the compound template using the "Enable inline editing for content" in Template Builder and click on the TBB. In the "Default Component Presentation HTML Tag" parameter fill in "div", no brackets.

Last - not least remember to restart the applications or respective servers to ensure changes are applied, and don't forget to check the logs - logs - logs (repeating for emphasis), ideally in debug or trace mode.

If all the above are seemingly in place, and things still seem quirky, one more good practice as well is a quick jump here, check potential hotfixes, you never know, you might have stepped on a bug. https://www.sdltridionworld.com/downloads/hotfixes/SDL_Tridion_2013_SP1_HR1/index.aspx

Happy experience!

WebDAV or Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning is a technology which allows files to be shared over the HTTP protocol. As it comes standard with most operating systems, all it costs is time.. to do a little configuring, a little thinking, ensure the proper IIS authentication/configuration is applied, format the Tridion content to be and off we go.

The topic came up before in terms of importing bulk multimedia components, so what about regular components? Albeit not impossible, there are a number of restrictions one should be aware of before embarking on this boat. Should any of these "requirements" turn mandatory, well, there is always the coding warrior path, build a custom application using the Tridion Core Service to do the same and more.

Your best bet is to get a hold of the schemas on which the content to be imported will be based. "Why?" you ask, because the end goal here is to create the content to be imported in Tridion as clean XML files ready to be consumed by WebDAV. When dragged and dropped in Windows Explorer from a normal folder to a Tridion WebDAV folder, WebDAV will connect to Tridion and create the files directly in the CMS. In any case, a proper schema analysis is essential in order to become clear on the following limitations:

1. No metadata on components WebDAV will not bring in metadata type fields content, so if this exists, alternatives for it would be to update the components manually post import or build a scaled down custom application to add it post import. One can also reason that if this is the case, one might as well resort to doing the import entirely by custom application.

2. Strict XML format to match schema definition Any non-adherence to the schema definition will not work. A good idea here is to create a few sample components in Tridion first, then find what they look like in XML format. Proceed based on the format created as such.

3. XHTML compliance Obviously, XHTML format must be properly considered as well, as the system will certainly try and validate the new batch and discard a non-compliant batch.

4. Mandatory fields must be populated I think by now, it has become quite obvious how simplistic WebDAV is, really it cannot handle any kind of logic, rather just passes along what it is given, and so mandatory fields without content will fail schema validation just as they would if an editor was trying to save a Component missing required fields in the Content Manager Explorer.

5. To bind to another schema we must add it to the properties of the folder in which content is imported So long as a schema is found in the publication level the content is imported, all should be well, work as expected, however, if one is looking to ensure some additional schema restrictions, then the above applies. Remember. WebDAV is simple.

6. Categories/keywords are somewhat problematic This is the case in the sense that they must be available at the time of import, and also treated as plain text in terms of field content.

7. Component links Component links are tricky, but not impossible: one must import children~linked_to_components before parents, then apply WebDAV urls in parents, follow by importing parents and making sure the parent target exists - here one reasons twice as much about going the route of a custom application, unless of course the amount of component links is insignificant, so then a little manual work coupled with focus and attention can still get the job done.

8. Circular referencing In the case where a piece of content A points to another B, and B then in turn points to A, which surprisingly can be encountered often and when least expected, we are looking at circular referencing. To achieve this little bit, both components must be created independently, then updated with the reference to each other and only after imported.

Ah, now that we have got all of that out of the way, step freely in the boat, with the content formatted properly and ready to go, updating components can be done again with drag + drop. Unless of course, one reasoned to launch forward with a custom application after all.

In Time

Friday, September 4, 2015

The number one reason SDL Tridion Experience Manager is misconfigured and all the other ten after

Monday, June 15, 2015

8 WebDAV Imports Gotcha's to Watch Out For in SDL Tridion