Sitecore: What do you want to know?

I know that this is only my second post this year and I haven’t done one since November 2010.  I’ve been a bit busy lately and with the holidays, it was tough to get my head on a topic and write about it.  Anyway, I’m getting back to it and I’m hoping to find out what kind of topics you’d like to hear more.  I’ve been all over the place (but maybe that’s what makes you read my blog) from simple hacks that I do, actual real-life best practices, to business and technology insights.

Here are some ideas that I can explore and blog about:

• OMS and Analytics
• More Sharepoint
• Site Creation Best Practices
• Other CMS vs Sitecore
• Azure
• New Sitecore Features
• Selling Sitecore
• Sitecore Beyond CMS
• System Integration

I’ve also been contemplating of writing a comprehensive e-book that guides a developer from installation to deployment.  The audience would likely be more for new Sitecore adopters but I’ll put enough best practices and techniques in there that I hope seasoned Sitecore technologists would at least read and give me some feedback.

I don’t have a set date but I’d like to hear your thoughts on what you’d like to see as well.

What is an In-house Sitecore Resource?

One of the challenges many new Sitecore clients have is what happens after the Sitecore-based Web site is finished and running.  There are obviously many choices out there but the common theme is that whatever you end up with, you will need to have a good Sitecore technical resource…and this person doesn’t always have to be the best programmer you can find.  Of course, you can also apply these when looking for a long-term relationship with a Sitecore vendor.  Here are some of the things you should look for.  Remember, we’re not talking about a resource that just manages the site

Roundedcube.com Launched

We just recently launched our new Website and, of course, it’s managed using Sitecore CMS, what else.  It’s actually something that I had a hand on so that I can get back to doing some actual Sitecore work.  Although I may know the concepts, getting back to it took a bit of time especially when I started it was on v6.2 and now it’s on v6.3.  I think I was going to upgrade to v6.4 but didn’t have enough time.  It would’ve been great to see the new enhancements on v6.4 such as cloning, page editor updates, etc.  Maybe in a couple of months.

Anyway, check our site out and let us know what you think.  We put a lot of effort in making the site mobile-friendly (notice no Flash).  It works so well on iPhone/iPad, webOS, and Droid phones.  However, we are still developing the mobile-version of the site and should be out in the next month.  It will re-use the Sitecore instance we have and its content.  I’m making sure that marketing can maintain/enhance the site easily for any media.  So stay tuned for that.

Also, you may have seen some tweets or posts regarding an Easter egg on the site.  Let me just get the cat out of the bag and just double-click on the main feature on the homepage.  Have a great time with it.

Visit our site (http://www.roundedcube.com) and let us know what you think.

Sitecore 6.4 Cloning – What does it Mean?

If you want to know “what it is”, then check John West’s Blog.  John gives you a quick preview of this new powerful feature, what it does, how it compares with other Sitecore assets, etc.  The concept is not far-fetch and you may have already required or implemented it before.  It essentially allows an item to use another item’s field values.  Let’s say you have a Location page (content item) that has days/hours of operation, amenities, location name, map, address, etc.  Also, let’s say that all locations have the same hours of operation and amenities.  What cloning allows you to do is to “clone” the location content item for another location and just update the address, name, and map.  Upon rendering, you’ll see a complete page with the re-used (or shared depending on how you look at it) content values of hours of operations and amenities together with the specific values for address, name, and map.  This is all without developing any logic specific to this except for rendering the fields.  Cool, huh?

Proud to be a Sitecore Blogger

Yup.  Besides this blog and our corporate blog, I’m now also a Sitecore blogger:

http://www.sitecore.net/Community/Best-Practice-Blogs/Marco-Tana/Posts/2010/09/Marketers-Top-Sitecore-Priorities.aspx

This may sound self-glorifying but I’m actually proud where my writing skills has taken me.  I still have the occasional grammatical errors but I consider that to be part of my personality (nice excuse, huh?).  Anyway, Sitecore is bringing together a group of Sitecore veterans to give you their (our) experiences with the product, modules, and associated technologies and practices.  It’s called the Best Practice Blogs and was recently released.  You’ll find advice and expertise on marketing, implementation, e-commerce, SEO, usability, and analytics.  There’ll be more topics too come as Sitecore gets more articles. 

I’ve read most of the posts already and very interesting ideas.  I definitely learned a thing or two.  I’m sure you will too.  I say you check it out and I’ll definitely write another one.  By the way, if you happen to read mine, leave me a message and let me know what topic you’d like me to tackle in the future (or at least rate my post).  You can suggest anything from design, technology, project management, processes, etc.  If I have some ideas to share, I’ll definitely evangelize it on my posts either here in my blog, at Roundedcube’s blog, or Sitecore’s.

Thanks again for reading.

ASP.NET Vulnerability Allows Downloading of Server Files (and Decrypt Viewstate)

ANOTHER UPDATE: Sitecore released a fix last Friday on SDN.

UPDATE: A FAQ that details more about the workaround and the vulnerability was released on Sep 20.

Yes.  You read that right.  Essentially, by doing some queries on the server that has an ASP.NET-based Website/app, a hacker can eventually figure out how to download restricted files like web.config and even be able to determine the server’s cipher text and decrypt your site’s Viewstate or other encrypted data you may have. 
I’m posting this here because Sitecore is obviously ASP.NET-based.  So, here’s the post form Scott Guthrie on the workaround and more information about the vulnerability.  Spread it around and let’s make sure our community is safe and keep Sitecore’s integrity intact (even though this is not even about Sitecore).  You know how that works : ).
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2010/09/18/important-asp-net-security-vulnerability.aspx

Sitecore for President (well for Government Sites)

Roundedcube will be featuring Sitecore at the National Association of Government Webmasters (NAGW) to be held in St. Louis, MO from Sept. 22 – 24.  We’re definitely excited for being part of the show because I think we definitely got something to show.  One of the highlights will be our work for the City of Ogden, UT which was released last year (a Sitecore case study is also available if you want a copy).
One of our goals in the NAGW show is to feature how Sitecore’s capabilities match up with government sites’ needs and processes.  This is not just in the technical point of view but also with its user-experience, deployment scenarios, maintenance, and multi-site/multi-language capabilities.  I think these are some of the most important factors that government entities look for.  So, let’s take a look at them one by on in summary form.  This is by no means the complete list but I’m highlighting what government sites may be looking for.

Customize the Sitecore System Tray

The Sitecore Desktop is just like Windows, it’s customizable.  Not a lot have utilized it because there’s not much about on how to do so except for typical user-specifics such as wallpaper, desktop shortcuts, etc.  Here is one thing you can do to the system tray. 

WARNING: Make sure to be cautious when making these changes as these updates the Core database.