Category: Sitecore

Sitecore : Dynamic Tag Enhancement for Algolia Search Provider

While integrating Sitecore with Algolia Search Provider, I encountered a scenario where I needed to add many fields dynamically. The field name and value are both dynamic based on the content page.

Initially, I thought of it as a computed field, but then the field name is dynamic, and I was wondering how to add dynamic fields to the Index records.

The TagProcessor comes to the rescue – The existing Tag Processor ensures that tags are dynamically added, structured, and optimized before indexing, which outputs _tags in the indexing record.

Algolia Record Search:

The config for the existing tag processor looks like this –

AlgoliaConfiguration.sc1021.config:

CategoryDataProcessor:

Since we needed to incorporate dynamic tags into our project, I began exploring the functionality of AlgoliaTagsProcessor. Creating another Tag processor, for example, CategoryDataProcessor –allowed us to generate dynamic tags efficiently.
The ProcessDocument method ensures that the Sitecore items being processed match the expected Category Listing Template.
After Processing, the extracted data is added dynamically to the JObject doc to the Alglolia Index record.

However, this overwrites the existing_tags in Algolia index. I’m looking for a way to make both work together while also allowing the flexibility to add more dynamic tags in the future if needed.
Adding a wrapper class – AlgoliaCustomTagProcessor, which should loop through each Processor and call the ProcessDocument method.
This will ensure that each TagProcessor is called and doesn’t overwrite the existing _tags.

AlgoliaCustomTagProcessor:

AlgoliaDocumentBuilder:

Modify the AlgoliaDocumentBuilder to process both tag documents –

Initialize the new CustomTagProcessor in the Constructor.
Add the GenerateCustomTags() method, which should call ProcessDocuments in the CustomTagProcessor class.

The following is the modified AlgoliaDocumentBuilder code –

AlgoliaConfiguration.sc1021.config:

Let’s add the new CustomTagProcessor to the config file.
Now, we have two tag processors nested into each other and wrapped into our CustomTagProcessor class.
It can be extended to any dynamic Tags we want in the future.

The final dynamic category tags were added to the Algloia record, yay!

It worked!

Hope this helps.

Happy Sitecoring!

September 10, 2026

Optimizely / Sitecore

Optimizely CMS 12 and .NET 10 Upgrade: Resolving a TinyMCE Dependency Injection Exception

Framework upgrades often expose hidden compatibility issues that have remained dormant for years. While upgrading one of our Optimizely CMS solutions to .NET 10, we encountered a runtime exception that initially appeared to be a dependency injection problem but ultimately turned out to be an outdated TinyMCE package.

This post documents the issue, the investigation journey, and the surprisingly simple fix.

The Problem

After upgrading our solution to:

.NET 10
Optimizely CMS 12.34.4

the application failed during startup with the following exception:

AggregateException: One or more errors occurred.

Unable to resolve service for type

‘EPiServer.ServiceLocation.ServiceAccessor<EPiServer.Cms.TinyMce.Core.TinyMceConfiguration>’

while attempting to activate

‘DXP.Core.Model.TimelineBlockXhtmlStringEditorDescriptor’.

The exception pointed to our custom TinyMCE editor descriptor:

[EditorDescriptorRegistration(

TargetType = typeof(XhtmlString),

EditorDescriptorBehavior = EditorDescriptorBehavior.OverrideDefault,

UIHint = UIHint)]

public class TimelineBlockXhtmlStringEditorDescriptor

: XhtmlStringEditorDescriptor

{

public const string UIHint =

"TimelineBlockXhtmlStringEditorDescriptor";

public TimelineBlockXhtmlStringEditorDescriptor(

ServiceAccessor<TinyMceConfiguration> tinyMceConfiguration)

: base(tinyMceConfiguration)

{

}

public override void ModifyMetadata(

ExtendedMetadata metadata,

IEnumerable<Attribute> attributes)

{

// custom implementation

}

At first glance, it looked like a service registration or dependency injection issue.

Environment Details

The key package versions at the time were:

Optimizely CMS 12.34.4
EPiServer.CMS.TinyMce 4.8.3
.NET 10

The application had been working correctly before the framework upgrade, which made the issue particularly challenging to diagnose.

Initial Investigation

Our TinyMCE registration was straightforward:

services

.AddCmsAspNetIdentity<ApplicationUser>()

.AddCms()

.AddTinyMce();

and custom configuration was registered using:

services.Configure<TinyMceConfiguration>(config =>

{

// custom TinyMCE settings

});

Everything appeared to be configured correctly.

Testing on Alloy

To isolate the problem, we reproduced similar TinyMCE configuration in a clean Alloy solution running on .NET 10.

The result:

CMS started successfully
TinyMCE loaded correctly
No dependency injection errors

This immediately suggested the problem was not a generic Optimizely or .NET 10 issue.

Reviewing Custom Editor Descriptors

Since the exception referenced:

TimelineBlockXhtmlStringEditorDescriptor

we spent considerable time reviewing:

Editor descriptor registrations
Dependency injection registrations
Startup ordering
TinyMCE configuration extensions

Everything looked valid.

Checking Service Registration Order

We also reviewed whether .NET 10 had introduced behavioural differences in service registration and startup initialization.

Multiple registration orders were tested:

services.AddCms();

services.AddTinyMce();

services.Configure<TinyMceConfiguration>();

and

services.Configure<TinyMceConfiguration>();

services.AddCms();

services.AddTinyMce();

No change.

The Root Cause

After eliminating configuration and dependency injection possibilities, attention shifted to package compatibility.

EPiServer.CMS.TinyMce 4.8.3

Although the package had worked successfully before the upgrade, it was clearly not behaving correctly in the .NET 10 environment.

The Fix

We upgraded TinyMCE from:

EPiServer.CMS.TinyMce 5.0.3

After upgrading:

Application started successfully
TinyMCE initialized correctly
Dependency injection exception disappeared
Custom editor descriptors continued to work
CMS editor experience was fully restored

Happy Optimizely!

September 4, 2026

Forms / Sitecore

Custom Hidden Field in Sitecore Forms

I came across a scenario in Sitecore Forms where I needed to build a hidden field. The form is intended for employees, and when they access it, it should automatically recognize them and capture their name and email address upon submission.

Let’s get started.

Create the Hidden Field in Core DB

Navigate to /sitecore/client/Applications/FormsBuilder/Components/Layouts/PropertyGridForm/PageSettings/Settings

Create the HiddenField based on /sitecore/client/Business Component Library/version 2/Layouts/Renderings/Forms/Form/Form Parameters

Fill out the following fields –
- Details

- Validation

- Conditions

- Advanced

Create a Custom Field Type

Inherit from the StringInputViewModel class to create a new view model for your hidden field.

Create the View for the Field

Define the HTML and JavaScript needed to render the hidden field and set its value.

Custom Submit Action

Let’s create a custom submit action and read the properties from formSubmitContext.

Let’s bind it to the Form’s Submit Action.

Now I’m able to drag and drop the hidden field into the Form.

Make sure to publish the Form and its related items.

Hope this helps.

Happy Sitecoring!

May 16, 2026

Coveo / Sitecore

Coveo Computed Field for Retrieving Page Content and Renderings in Sitecore

I needed to index all text from the page content and its associated renderings, including single-line, multi-line, and rich text, into a single Coveo-computed field.

Let’s get started.

Text Extraction:

Created a TextExtraction class that inherits BaseComputedField.
GetComputedFieldValue: Computes the concatenated text from the item and its renderings.
GetRenderingSource: Retrieves the source item for a given rendering reference.
GetDatasourceItem: Resolves and retrieves the data source item using the pipeline manager.
GetAllReferencedText: Extracts text from fields and adds them to a result list.
GetReferenceFieldData: Handles reference fields and extracts text from referenced items.

Configuration:

Let’s add the TextExtraction computed field into the config file.

I published all the files, and it’s time to check.

I selected the page that has many renderings and hit Rebuild Tree (I set the indexing strategy as SyncMaster. If you have intervalAsyncMaster or onPublishEndSyncSingleInstance, publish the item to see the record in Index.)

If any issues, you can put a breakpoint in Visual Studio, and Rebuild Tree will hit the breakpoint to debug.

Let’s check the Coveo index – Yay! Its page content and its associated rendering content were extracted successfully.

Hope this helps.

Happy Sitecoring!

March 25, 2026

Sitecore

2025 – Contributions

The year 2025 has been great, featuring presentations at various Sitecore User Groups around the world and meaningful interactions with numerous members of the Sitecore community.

Blog Posts :

Dec 22, 2024 – 2024 – Contributions

Jan 12, 2025 – Automate Sitecore Content Synchronization using Sidekick PowerShell

Feb 1, 2025 – Instantly Download Sitecore Logs from Azure Web Apps

Mar 1, 2025 – Sitecore Forms : Custom Submit Action to Create and Publish Content Item(Part 1)

Mar 24, 2025 – Integrating External Website into Coveo Index for Seamless Search in Sitecore

April 20, 2025 – Sitecore Forms : Custom Submit Action to Create and Publish Content Item (Part 2)

May 6, 2025 – Sitecore Personalize : Custom Web Template Integration

May 20, 2025 – Bulk Updating Sitecore Workflow

June 19, 2025 – Algolia Search Provider for Sitecore 10.2.1

Presentations : 

Mar 31, 2025 – Navigating Coveo Frontend Frameworks for Sitecore Integration – SUG Pittsburgh

April 14, 2025 – Navigating Coveo Frontend Frameworks for Sitecore Integration – SUG Columbus

July 10, 2025 – Navigating Coveo Frontend Frameworks for Sitecore Integration – SUG Atlantic Canada

Feedbacks:

Dec 22, 2024 – MVP Application Review

May 15, 2025 – Sitecore Learning Update Framework Survey

August 16, 2025 – Alpha Reviewers: Content Hub Developer Exam

Co-organized SUG-Pittsburgh Meetups:

Jan 20, 2025 – Implementation of Mobile Application with Personalization using XM Cloud

Feb 18, 2025 – XM Cloud Migration Tool: What’s New and Improved?

Mar 31, 2025 – Navigating Coveo Frontend Frameworks for Sitecore Integration

Apr 23, 2025 – Sitecore XM Cloud – Wildcard Pages and Sitecore Search

May 19, 2025 – SUGCON Europe 2025 Recap: Sitecore Stream, AI and Composable Evolution

June 19, 2025 – Sustainable CX: Sitecore building eco-friendly Digital Experiences

July 17, 2025 – Micro Frontends with XM Cloud

Aug 13, 2025 – Why Sitecore Content Hub DAM?: Evaluating DAM Options

Sep 18, 2025 – How I built an Android App on Sitecore XM Cloud in under 4 Hours

Oct 29, 2025 – Integrating Sitecore XM Cloud Content with Coveo using Next.js API

Nov 18, 2025 – Bridging AI and Experience: Crafting Agentic Marketplace Apps in Sitecore

Nov 25, 2025 – From Idea to Marketplace: Building and Launching Your First Sitecore App

Co-organized SUG-Philadelphia Meetups:

Mar 03, 2025 – Multisite Solutions with Sitecore XM Cloud and Vercel: Approaches, Pros, and Cons

Jun 25, 2025 – XMCloud Embedded Personalization using custom conditions

Nov 19, 2025 – Reimagining Search in the AI Era with Sitecore Search

Conferences I attended:

MVP Lunches

MVP Webinars

All SUG Pittsburgh and Philadelphia meetups

Many SUG Boston/ Columbus/ Atlantic meetups

Plans for 2026:

Learn and contribute:

Sitecore AI

Sitecore Saas Offerings

Containerization

Co-organize :

Monthly SUG-Pittsburgh meetup

Quarterly SUG-Philadelphia meetup

Present:

SUGCON EU/Symposium

SUG Meetups

Happy Sitecoring!

February 26, 2026

CDP and Personalize / Sitecore

Sitecore Personalize Demo using TamperMonkey

I started exploring Sitecore Personalize, which allows to craft tailored web experiences based on customer behavior and preferences.

In this blog, I’ll walk through how to integrate Sitecore Personalization for the Sitecore XP/XM/XMCloud website without installing EngageSDK – using TamperMonkey, a browser extension for running custom JavaScript.

Create a Point Of Sale (PoS)

In Sitecore CDP or Personalize create a PoS for the website.

Create a Web Experience

In Sitecore Personalize, let’s navigate to the Experiences section and click Create New Experience.

Select from experience types such as:

Web Experience (e.g., personalized banners or pop-ups)
Interactive Experience (e.g., Chatbots, real-time API integrations)
Triggered Experience (e.g., email, push notifications)

OOTB Templates

Sitecore Personalize offers 14 out-of-the-box (OOTB) templates for creating web experiences. These templates are designed to help you quickly set up and customize your web experiments and experiences without needing to write code. Here are some of the templates available:

Alert Bar (Boxever Library)
Corner Popup (Boxever Library)
Email Capture Bar (Boxever Library)
Email Capture Corner (Boxever Library)
Notification Widget (Boxever Library)
Popup takeover (Boxever Library)
Sidebar (Boxever Library)
Alert Bar (Sitecore Library)
Corner Popup (Sitecore Library)
Email Capture Bar (Sitecore Library)
Email Capture Corner (Sitecore Library)
Notification Widget (Sitecore Library)
Popup takeover (Sitecore Library)
Sidebar (Sitecore Library)

Select any of the out-of-the-box templates or custom web templates, if they have been created.

Let’s start to customize it. You have the option to use Advanced Edit for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to enhance web templates.

The final Popup looks like this – changed the following

Background color
Title
Description
Button Text

Page Targeting

I chose all the pages for simplicity.

If you like specific pages – add the condition for the page URL.

Goals

I chose not to track performance for testing purposes. Feel free to add any goal according to website needs.

Filter, Decisioning, and Notifications

They are optional, going to leave them as it is. The Decision Model is so powerful that, will be exploring it in upcoming blogs.

Preview

Let’s Preview what it looks like –

https://madhuanbalagan.com/?bxQATool=true&bxFlowRef=f536d1f2-646d-406e-8bb4-7e434912ce6b&bxVariantRef=77069aa5-dd50-44d2-ac5b-243ff8c246f6

The preview isn’t working because the EngageSDK needs to be installed on the website. If you have EngageSDK installed on the website, feel free to skip the TamperMonkey part.

Now this is where the TamperMonkey plugin comes to the rescue to pre-load the Engage SDK on any website using Sitecore Personalize script.

Download TamperMonkey Chrome extension –http://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/tampermonkey/dhdgffkkebhmkfjojejmpbldmpobfkfo?hl=en

Note: Make sure it is enabled and the Developer mode is turned on.

Let’s make a new script. By default, TamperMonkey uses the website domain where you clicked ‘New Script’ as a match.

Replace the following placeholders –

clientkey : <CDP-Settings-API Access should give the info>
targetURL : “https://api-engage-us.sitecorecloud.io”
pointOfSale : <PoS that you have created for the site>
cookieDomain: <Website domain>

The clientkey is found in CDP->Settings->API Access

Let’s add the script to TamperMonkey and save it. The @name value determines how the script is named.

Now it should detect the script when you visit the website.

Live

Let’s publish the Experience to make it live – If you have a notification set, it will email when it’s live, paused, etc.

The email notification is pretty helpful especially for Marketers to track their Experiences.

Preview

Let’s try the Preview – make sure to add a new script for the preview URL in TamperMonkey.

Let’s load the Preview with the page URL.

The Popup showed up and the QA Tool shows at the left side of the page.

QA Tool

The QA Tool shows the validation of everything. Feel free to change the variant to test different scenarios. It’s super helpful for troubleshooting any issues.

Testing

Let’s reload the page, Yay! Popup showed up!!

Hope this helps.

Happy Sitecoring!

February 20, 2026

Sitecore

Sitecore Forms : Custom Validation to Exclude the Default Value for Dropdown

I came across a scenario where I needed to exclude the default value for dropdowns in Sitecore Forms. By default, dropdown fields in Sitecore Forms often preselect the first option, which might be a placeholder like “Select an option.”

If users submit the form without changing this value, it can lead to unreliable data. Custom validation helps enforce user interaction, ensuring the selection is meaningful.

Steps to Implement Custom Validation in Sitecore Forms

Step 1: Create a Custom Validator

Navigate to your Sitecore solution and open the project where Sitecore Forms is configured.
Create a new class that extends FormConditionalValidator and override the validation logic.

Step 2: Register the Validator in Sitecore

Open Sitecore Content Editor and navigate to:
/sitecore/system/Settings/Forms/Validation
Create a new validation item:
- Name: Department Validator (Change it according to Project needs)
- Type: Reference the class you created, e.g., Custom.Validators.DropdownDefaultValueValidator, CustomAssembly
- Message: "{0} is required"
- Parameters: "{"fieldToCompare":{Guid-of-the-dropdown}", "valueToCompare": "Select"}
Save and publish the changes.

Step 3: Apply the Validator to Your Dropdown Field

Open your form in Sitecore Forms Designer.
Select the Dropdown field where validation is needed.
Under the Validation section, add the newly created validator.
Save and publish the form.

Let’s test – It’s working! Yay!!

Hope this helps.

Happy Sitecoring!

January 16, 2026

Sitecore

Sitecore – Favorite Free Add-On Modules

Over the years, I’ve worked with numerous Sitecore modules that simplify our tasks and boost efficiency.

Sharing my favorite free modules –

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions (SPE) (Huge thanks to Michael West, Adam Najmanowicz, and contributors) is a robust module that adds the power of PowerShell scripting to the Sitecore platform.

It empowers Sitecore developers and administrators to automate repetitive tasks and extend Sitecore’s functionality with custom scripts.

https://github.com/SitecorePowerShell/Console

Check out my PowerShell script blogs –

https://madhuanbalagan.com/efficiently-bulk-edit-sitecore-content-using-sitecore-powershell-extensions-spe

https://madhuanbalagan.com/bulk-update-fields-using-spe

https://madhuanbalagan.com/migrate-sitecore-media-library-assets-to-dam

SiteCron

The SiteCron Module (a huge thanks to Akshay Sura) is a valuable tool for managing and scheduling tasks within Sitecore.

It provides a flexible way to automate and run various Sitecore jobs, such as publishing, indexing, or custom tasks, on a scheduled basis.

Check out the installation and recent blogs –

https://akshaysura.com/2017/09/07/sitecore-scheduling-with-sitecron-2-1-6/

https://akshaysura.com/2018/04/19/sitecore-precision-scheduling-with-sitecron-3-0-4-released-in-powerful-ways/

Azure Tools

Downloading Sitecore Logs from Azure Web Apps wasn’t easy. To troubleshoot any issues, I used to spend decent time trying to find recent logs.

AzureTools (Thank you Sitecore Community – You are simply awesome!) comes to the rescue. It’s a simple .aspx page that can be dropped into CM environments and download logs in just seconds.

Check out my detailed blog – https://madhuanbalagan.com/instantly-download-sitecore-logs-from-azure-web-apps

Sidekick

To pull content locally, we relied on packaging content from upper environments or restoring the database – which was quite time-consuming.

The Sitecore Sidekick module (a big thanks to Jeff Darchuk) was a lifesaver for quickly pulling content into local or lower environments.

Take a look at my in-depth blog on installation and setup – https://madhuanbalagan.com/sitecore-sidekick-installation-and-setup

Content Export Tool

The Sitecore Content Export Tool (many thanks to Erica Stockwell-Alpert) is a powerful utility designed to streamline the process of exporting content from your Sitecore instance.

It enables developers, content authors, and administrators to easily extract content in bulk, simplifying tasks like data migration, content backups, or sharing content across environments.

Explore the usage guide and documentation –https://ericastockwellalpert.wordpress.com/2017/08/24/content-export-tool-for-sitecore/

Sitecore Log Analyzer

The Sitecore Log Analyzer (SCLA) (Sitecore Community Rocks!) is a powerful tool designed to help Sitecore developers analyze and interpret log files with ease.

It simplifies the process of identifying issues, tracking errors, and monitoring system performance by providing a user-friendly interface to view and filter Sitecore logs.

This ClickOnce installer sets up the application and enables automatic updates. After installation, the app can be launched from the Start menu or pinned to the taskbar for easy access.

https://support.sitecore.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0870095

Hope this helps.

Happy Sitecoring!

December 20, 2025

Sitecore

Algolia Search Provider for Sitecore 10.2.1

The Algolia Search Provider for Sitecore is a powerful integration combining robust content management capabilities with Algolia’s lightning-fast, full-text search engine.

This provider enables Sitecore-driven websites and applications to deliver instant, relevant, and highly customizable search experiences to end-users, ensuring faster content discovery and improved user engagement.

While exploring, I found that Dmitry Harnitski and Peter Procházka have implemented the Algolia Search Provider for Sitecore 9.1 and previous versions. Thank you so much!

https://github.com/dharnitski/Sitecore.Algolia

https://github.com/chorpo/Sitecore.Algolia/tree/sitecore91

Upgrading to Sitecore 10.2.1

The following are the steps taken for upgrading Sitecore 10.2.1 –

I forked from Peter Procházka’s Sitecore 9.1 branch

https://github.com/chorpo/Sitecore.Algolia/tree/sitecore91

Upgraded the Sitecore NuGet packages to 10.2.1.

Algolia.Search NuGet package upgraded 6.12.1

Started resolving build issues – many interfaces changed, and tons of changes on the following commit. https://github.com/chorpo/Sitecore.Algolia/commit/20baf2a5578cac474f16d15938f57068875b8915

Finally, able to build the solution successfully.

After the build was successful, I shifted the module to the existing solution.
I didn’t get a chance to upgrade the unit test project. If you have upgraded, please let me know.

The module is checked into the following repository.

https://github.com/Madhumidha/Sitecore.Algolia/tree/Sitecore1021

The repo has all the instructions on how to set up and configuration details.

Hope this helps.

Happy Sitecoring!

June 19, 2025

Sitecore / SPE

Bulk Updating Sitecore Workflows

I was working on Sitecore SXA 10.3.1 and the workflow was somehow messed up.

Manually modifying can be time-consuming and error-prone. Sitecore SPE is a powerful tool that allows for efficient modification of content in bulk through find and replace text functionality.

In this article, we will explore the steps of using Sitecore SPE to quickly and easily bulk update workflow, streamlining the process, and saving time.