Optimizely CMS Development
Overview
This skill covers core Optimizely CMS (formerly Episerver) development patterns including content types, initialization modules, and the content API.
Content Types
Page Types
using EPiServer.Core;
using EPiServer.DataAnnotations;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
[ContentType(
GUID = "f8d47a38-5b23-4c8e-9f12-3a7e8b9c2d1f",
DisplayName = "Article Page",
Description = "Standard article page with heading and body content",
GroupName = "Content")]
public class ArticlePage : PageData
{
[Display(
Name = "Heading",
Description = "Main heading for the article",
GroupName = SystemTabNames.Content,
Order = 100)]
[Required]
public virtual string Heading { get; set; }
[Display(
Name = "Main Content",
GroupName = SystemTabNames.Content,
Order = 200)]
public virtual XhtmlString MainBody { get; set; }
[Display(
Name = "Published Date",
GroupName = SystemTabNames.Content,
Order = 300)]
public virtual DateTime? PublishedDate { get; set; }
}Block Types
[ContentType(
GUID = "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
DisplayName = "Hero Block",
Description = "Full-width hero section")]
public class HeroBlock : BlockData
{
[Display(Name = "Heading", Order = 10)]
[Required]
public virtual string Heading { get; set; }
[Display(Name = "Subheading", Order = 20)]
public virtual string Subheading { get; set; }
[Display(Name = "Background Image", Order = 30)]
[UIHint(UIHint.Image)]
public virtual ContentReference BackgroundImage { get; set; }
[Display(Name = "Call to Action", Order = 40)]
public virtual Url CallToActionUrl { get; set; }
}Content Areas with Restrictions
[Display(Name = "Main Content Area", Order = 100)]
[AllowedTypes(typeof(TextBlock), typeof(ImageBlock), typeof(VideoBlock))]
public virtual ContentArea MainContentArea { get; set; }
[Display(Name = "Sidebar Blocks", Order = 200)]
[AllowedTypes(typeof(TeaserBlock), typeof(LinkListBlock))]
[MaxItems(3)]
public virtual ContentArea SidebarArea { get; set; }Initialization Modules
Configurable Module
using EPiServer.Framework;
using EPiServer.Framework.Initialization;
using EPiServer.ServiceLocation;
using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
[InitializableModule]
[ModuleDependency(typeof(ServiceContainerInitialization))]
public class DependencyResolverInitialization : IConfigurableModule
{
public void ConfigureContainer(ServiceConfigurationContext context)
{
context.Services.AddScoped<IArticleService, ArticleService>();
context.Services.AddScoped<ISearchService, SearchService>();
}
public void Initialize(InitializationEngine context)
{
// Initialization logic
}
public void Uninitialize(InitializationEngine context)
{
// Cleanup logic
}
}Content Events Module
[InitializableModule]
[ModuleDependency(typeof(EPiServer.Web.InitializationModule))]
public class ContentEventsInitialization : IInitializableModule
{
public void Initialize(InitializationEngine context)
{
var events = context.Locate.ContentEvents();
events.PublishedContent += OnPublishedContent;
events.SavingContent += OnSavingContent;
}
private void OnPublishedContent(object sender, ContentEventArgs e)
{
// Handle content published event
}
private void OnSavingContent(object sender, ContentEventArgs e)
{
// Handle content saving event
}
public void Uninitialize(InitializationEngine context)
{
var events = context.Locate.ContentEvents();
events.PublishedContent -= OnPublishedContent;
events.SavingContent -= OnSavingContent;
}
}Content API
IContentLoader (Cached Reads)
public class ArticleService : IArticleService
{
private readonly IContentLoader _contentLoader;
public ArticleService(IContentLoader contentLoader)
{
_contentLoader = contentLoader;
}
public T Get<T>(ContentReference contentLink) where T : IContent
{
return _contentLoader.Get<T>(contentLink);
}
public IEnumerable<T> GetChildren<T>(ContentReference parentLink) where T : IContent
{
return _contentLoader.GetChildren<T>(parentLink);
}
// Batch loading - more efficient than loading one by one
public IEnumerable<IContent> GetItems(IEnumerable<ContentReference> contentLinks)
{
return _contentLoader.GetItems(contentLinks, new LoaderOptions());
}
}IContentRepository (Write Operations)
public class ContentManager
{
private readonly IContentRepository _contentRepository;
public ContentManager(IContentRepository contentRepository)
{
_contentRepository = contentRepository;
}
public ContentReference CreatePage<T>(ContentReference parentLink, string name) where T : PageData
{
var page = _contentRepository.GetDefault<T>(parentLink);
page.Name = name;
return _contentRepository.Save(page, SaveAction.Publish);
}
public void UpdateContent(IContent content)
{
var writableContent = content.CreateWritableClone();
// Make changes
_contentRepository.Save(writableContent, SaveAction.Publish);
}
}Scheduled Jobs
[ScheduledPlugIn(
DisplayName = "Content Cleanup Job",
Description = "Removes expired content",
GUID = "12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012")]
public class ContentCleanupJob : ScheduledJobBase
{
private readonly IContentRepository _contentRepository;
public ContentCleanupJob(IContentRepository contentRepository)
{
_contentRepository = contentRepository;
}
public override string Execute()
{
var processedCount = 0;
// Job logic here
OnStatusChanged($"Processing... {processedCount} items");
return $"Completed. Processed {processedCount} items.";
}
}Property Value Converters
public class TagListPropertyConverter : PropertyValueConverterBase
{
public override object Convert(object value, Type targetType)
{
if (value is string tags)
{
return tags.Split(',').Select(t => t.Trim()).ToList();
}
return new List<string>();
}
}Best Practices
- Always use GUIDs on content types for serialization
- Use IContentLoader for reads (cached)
- Use IContentRepository for writes only
- Batch load content instead of loading in loops
- Bound queries with Take() to prevent loading thousands of items
- Use constructor injection instead of ServiceLocator