Download Sitecore Fundamentals: Interfaces, Items, and Components and more Exams Social Sciences in PDF only on Docsity!
SITECORE CERTIFICATION QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Name two key components that make up Sitecore XP. - Answers -Experience CMS and marketing platform What should you do before contacting support? - Answers -Refer to Help Desk best practices What are your responsibilities as a developer? - Answers -Build according to recommended practices Name three Sitecore interfaces - Answers -Desktop, Content Editor, Experience Editor Everything in Sitecore is an... - Answers -Item An item is not a... - Answers -File An item's URL is determined by... - Answers -It's position in the Content tree Name the process by which items are synchronized between the master and web database - Answers -Publishing Which Experience Editor mode would you use to add a new component? - Answers - Designing Mode Which Experience Editor mode would you use to add an image or edit text? - Answers - Editing mode When a request comes in, Sitecore... - Answers -maps URL to an item in the content tree and dynamically assembles presentation Name the three databases that are installed by default. - Answers -master, web, and core Name some foundation features that Sitecore provides out of the box. - Answers - Content versioning, multi-language support, Devices (adaptive design) support What is the name of the digital marketing management part of the Experience Platform that collects and aggregates contact information? - Answers -xDB (or Experience Database) An item's type is determined by the __________ used to create it. - Answers -Data template What is an item composed of? - Answers -Field sections and fields
What do you need to specify when creating a new field? - Answers -Field name and type In the Content Editor, where can you find out which data template an item is based on?
- Answers -The Quick Info section on that item Some examples of field types are... - Answers -Single-line text, rich text, image, date In which scenario would you use data template inheritance? - Answers -When fields are repeated in multiple data templates Why is it important to think of your data template creation and inheritance structure from the beginning? - Answers -Refactoring template inheritance may cause data loss By default, all data templates eventually inherit from which Sitecore data template? - Answers -Standard Template What happens if the same field section name is used in multiple templates in a data template's inheritance tree? - Answers --The field sections will merge -Fields will be listed under this single section What happens if the same field name is used in two separate inherited data templates?
- Answers --Fields do not merge -Both fields will appear -Best to avoid reusing the same field names Describe the Standard values item. - Answers --Always named _StandardValues -Child item of owning data templates -Is a special instance of an item --contains all fields What type of settings can be applied to standard values? - Answers -Default field values, default insert options, Default presentation, Default Workflow What are two types of default field values? - Answers -Dynamic (uses tokens) and Static How do tokens work? - Answers -Tokens are replaced when an item is created. For example, there are tokens for the name of the item or the ID of the parent item. Name three tokens: - Answers -$name, $date, $id, $parentid, $parentname, $time, $now What are the Insert Options? - Answers -A list of item types (data templates) that can be created under a specific item
What is the Sitecore control that allows you to dynamically bind components to a page?
- Answers -sc:Placeholder What is the Sitecore control to statically include Sublayouts on a page? - Answers - cs:Sublayout Describe the process by which a component is bound to a placeholder. - Answers - Open presentation details->Add Rendering->select rendering->Edit Placeholder Key property Name the property that you must set on a placeholder to identify it. - Answers -Key If all items of a particular type require a particular component, where should these presentation details be configured? - Answers -On the standard values of the data template What type of components might be good candidates for static binding? - Answers -Page scaffolding, like headers and footers Name three specialized Sitecore field controls. - Answers -, ,
How can Sitecore help you resize images dynamically? - Answers -Set MaxWidth and/or MaxHeight on the sc:Image tag Name the one mandatory property that must be specified on the Sitecore web controls - Answers -Field (note: on , the equivalent is FieldName) Sitecore Namespaces - Answers --Sitecore.Data - CRUD operations, item manipulation -Sitecore.Context - Information about current request -Sitecore.Links - Links management In which .dll can you find the majority of the API - Answers -Sitecore.Kernel When Sitecore makes a request, what is the name of the static class that is assembled?
- Answers -Sitecore.Context Name four properties that you might get from Sitecore.Context. - Answers -Context user, language, database, and item When you are looking at a page in Experience Editor mode, what is the context database? - Answers -Master Name the method used to retrieve items? - Answers -GetItem()
Items can be retrieved by path or... - Answers -By ID What does the Sitecore.Context.Item.Database property return in the context of a live website visitor? - Answers -Web How should you compare two items in code? - Answers -Using their IDs What method do you use to retrieve an item's URL? - Answers - LinkManager.GetItemUrl() Why should you not use GetDynamicUrl() for your site's front end? - Answers - Unreadable 'developer' URL, uses IDs What object can you pass into the GetItemUrl() method to customize the way your item's URL is rendered? - Answers -A UrlOptions object Where can you customize how URLs are rendered globally? - Answers -In the LinkManager section of the web.config Sitecore security is an extension of... - Answers -Standard .NET membership All code is executed in the context of.... - Answers -The current user What affects whether or not a piece of code will run? - Answers -The user's permissions What permissions does extranet\anonymously lack by default? - Answers -Permission to create or edit items When creating or editing an item, the code must be executed with the appropriate security rights. Name two ways that this can be done. - Answers -UserSwitcher or SecurityDisabler How do you put an item into an editing state? - Answers -Creating an EditContext Why should you create / edit items in the master rather than the web database? - Answers -Web overwritten by publish Why is it a bad idea to output a field's value straight to the screen? - Answers -Not editable in Experience Editor and complex fields contain custom XML Which field types are suitable for editing using the .Value property? - Answers -Simple text fields. For example, single-line text fields Why should you use FieldRenderer.Render()? - Answers --Transforms field content into valid HTML - Sitecore controls ultimately go through this method -Automatically makes fields editable in Experience Editor
How does the XML of a Layout delta differ from the XML specified on a template's standard values? - Answers --Layout deltas only contain differences between an item's standard value presentation and any changes made by the author on the item. -The standard value XML contains all presentation details What can you do with methods that could be used across multiple Sitecore projects? - Answers -Abstract code to a generic utilities project Why can't you preview items under Global? - Answers -They do not have presentation details Why is the Settings item outside any individual site folder structure? - Answers -Values shared across all sites What kind of content can you display using a General Widget? - Answers -Promotions, announcements - anything that can be used across the site Name 2 devices you may want to target with different presentation details: - Answers - Tables and mobiles When will Sitecore use the language attribute of the site's definition in the web.config? - Answers -If there is no explicit language in the URL nor a language cookie. How do visitors to your site change the site's language? - Answers -You have to build language switching for the front-end yourself - using a query string, for example What kind of error checking should you do when rendering items to the screen? - Answers -Check that each item has a version in the context language What are some important considerations with a multi-site implementaion? - Answers - Large codebase, sites affect each other's performance Which shared field is used to store presentation information for all versions of an item? - Answers -_Renderings field What does the presence of the _Final Renderings field allow an author to do? - Answers -To define individual presentation details for each version of an item How do you access the Layout Details window for each items? - Answers -In Content Editor or Experience Editor, click the Details command. In Sitecore Rocks choose Tasks->Design Layout What is the difference between the Shared Layout tabs versus the Final Layout tab of the Layout Details window? - Answers -The Shared Layout tab is for defining presentation details for all versions of an item while the Final Layout tab focuses on the presentation detail of that specific version of the item.
What will .return? - Answers -Context item Name two axes available in Sitecore query: - Answers -ancestor-or-self::, parent:: Why shouldn't you query the entire content tree? - Answers -Expensive - particularly if you are iterating through all descendants Unless you are doing a very simple query on a very limited area of your Sitecore tree, what should you use instead? - Answers -Sitecore Search How does Sitecore suport each of the CMS pillars: Data Definition, Content, and presentation? - Answers -Data definition: data templates, Content: items, Presentation: layouts and components Describe some xWeb Content Management System features that separate Sitecore from other systems - Answers -AIDA: Analytics, Insights, Decisions, Automation.(Also accept: goal tracking, testing, reporting, personalization) What is Site core's easy-to-use authoring tool and what functionality does it provide? - Answers -The Experience Editor provides editing and designing functionality. (Also accept: marketing) Which interface would an author use to see and edit items in a tree structure? - Answers -Content Editor What should you define in a template? - Answers -Fields, Field sections, Icon and parent templates What field type would you use to store formatted HTML? - Answers -Rich Text Field What happens if you use the same field name in a template that is already used in a parent template? - Answers -You will get two fields with the same name, whichleads to confusion both to users and developers. It should be avoided. What is the name of the template all templates should inherit from? - Answers - Standard Template Why should you avoid defining the same field multiple times in more than one template?
- Answers -It makes it much harder to manage later on. What would you use the Field source for in the following field types: Image, Rich Text Field, Drop link? - Answers -Image: Set the folder in the Media Library it will open when selecting an image for the field. | Rich Text: Configuration of the toolbar and functionality of the Rich Text Editor. | Drop link: Set the items to be displayed as options.
What do you need to do to allow users to add and remove components from a placeholder using the Experience Editor? - Answers -Create a Placeholder Settings item for that placeholder. What happens when you request a page that has no layout defined in the presentation details? - Answers -Sitecore shows a Layout not found error page. Why do you define Presentation Details on Standard Values if the Standard Values item is never going to be mapped to the requested URL? - Answers -You want to define those Presentation Details as a default for all items based on that template. This will allow items to have valid presentation details already set when they are created. Can you edit an item in the Experience Editor when the item has no presentation details set? - Answers -No, since it cannot be presented. Which fields are editable inline using the Experience Editor? - Answers -Text fields (Single-Line, Multi-Line, Rich Text), Date/datetime, Image, General Link. Give an example of when you would use the DisableWebEdit parameter when rendering a field. - Answers -Rendering a field inside the tag in the <head> of the HTML. How does Sitecore define a type of item (data schema)? - Answers -Using data templates What is the name of the feature that makes WCM possible in Sitecore? - Answers - Experience Management ( xManagement) What do you need in addition to the Experience Management to take full advantage of the Sitecore Experience Platform? - Answers -You need the Experience Database to take full advantage of the available features. It supports the Analytics and Marketing features. Are all items pages in a Sitecore project? - Answers -No, items that are pages have their presentation details set. What is the recommended version of Visual Studio for Sitecore development? - Answers -Any version that supports the .NET framework 4.0 will work for Sitecore development. What tools can you use to install Sitecore? - Answers -Manual or zip file, EXE, Sitecore Rocks, SIM What additional databases are required when running xDB? - Answers -Collection Database (MongoDB), Reporting, Session State
How do you patch in changes to the "sitecore" section of web.config? - Answers -Put a .config patch file in the App_Config/Include folder You have just created new content but you cannot see it on your live website. Why not?
- Answers -You need to publish new or edited content. When you set up multiple site structures in the content tree, what is the recommended practice for handling content that will be shared between sites? - Answers -Keep it outside of any site structure. What types of Visual Studio projects does Sitecore support? - Answers -ASP.NET Web Application, supporting MVC or Web Forms How can you make your Visual Studio project portable? - Answers -By working outside the webroot What is the difference between publishing and deploying? - Answers -Publishing copies items from the Master to Web databases while deploying copies files from your Visual Studio project to your webroot. Name some the attributes that can be configured in the site node for a website. (think SiteDefinition.config file). - Answers -Name, host name, rootPath, startItem, language What are some of the features of Sitecore Rocks? - Answers -Integration with Visual Studio. Creating and editing items, management tools, viewing website file system To provide a rich user experience, what are some recommended practices you should use when you create templates? - Answers -Provide default values, use user friendly names and icons, limit the use of Rich Text Editors. Where are default field values defined? - Answers -On the Template Standard Values item Why is storing media in the Sitecore database an advantage? - Answers -It makes publishing easier because the item and the media are both published so you do not have to keep files in sync. What item setting needs to be specified for authors to be able to add content? - Answers -Insert options What is the recommended practice for setting insert options? - Answers -Insert options are set on the Template Standard Values item Describe the anatomy of a Sitecore Layout? - Answers -A code file on the file system and definition item in the content tree
What are Compatible Renderings? - Answers -Components that can be exchanged or replaced with each other(Components that can be used in place of another component) What should you keep in mind when configuring Compatible Renderings? - Answers - They should be set on both components so you can exchange them. Both need to be in the Allowed Controls for any placeholders they will appear in. They may need to share data source and parameters. You have a component you would like cached anywhere it is used. Where would you define its cache settings? - Answers -On the component definition item in the Sitecore tree. Why should you never cache a component that displays personal information? - Answers -Another visitor to your site can see that information You have a component that you want cached on every Event Details page. Where would you define its cache settings? - Answers -On the component on the Event Details Template Standard Values item. Why would you want to have the languageEmbedding option set to never? - Answers - The site is not multilingual. How would an author cause a broken link when renaming an item? - Answers -The URL is usually made using the item names. If the page was bookmarked in the browser, it will no longer work. You will need to implement 301 redirect logic. How would you disable .aspx being added to all URLs that are generated from Sitecore? - Answers -By changing the addAspxExtension attribute of the LinkManager. How can you globally change characters in the URLs that are generated from and resolved from Sitecore? - Answers -Using the encodeNameReplacements option in the web.config. In which situations would you want to change the Links that are generated for an individual link? - Answers -If you need to force the language of content that is to be rendered from Sitecore. Why is it important to have friendly folder structures within your content tree? - Answers -Because they dictate the segments that are within your URL. How would you display the direct children of the Home item? - Answers -By retrieving the Home item using the Sitecore.Context.Site.StartPath.By invoking the GetChildren() method.
What is the danger of using a method like Axes.GetDescendants()? - Answers -It retrieves recursively all the children of all the children of the item. If invoked in an item near the root, it would load the entire tree in memory, with the corresponding performance penalty. How can you skip certain items when you build the navigation? - Answers -Use LINQ to filter by template or the value of a particular field. How would you render the content of an Image field on the website? - Answers - @Html.Sitecore().Field().FieldRenderer.Render() What happens if you use one of those methods to render a Multilist field? - Answers -It would render the raw value of the field: pipe-delimited GUIDs How would you render a Multilist field? - Answers -By retrieving its value in code and using it to create some output. What class would you use to retrieve the contents of a Tree list field? - Answers - Sitecore.Data.Fields.MultilistField How do you get the children items of an item? - Answers -.Children.GetChildren() In what order do children item appear by default? - Answers -Alphabetically Why would you preferably avoid sorting items in code, for example, using LINQ? - Answers -It might confuse authors to see items appear in a different order to the order shown in the Content Editor. What is the name of the pop-up window in the Experience Editor that can be used to edit fields that are not editable inline? - Answers -A Field Editor How would you enable the use of a Field Editor? - Answers -By adding a Field Editor Button to a toolbar How would you show a toolbar in a random part of the page? - Answers -Using an Edit Frame How would you configure the buttons shown in an Edit Frame? - Answers -By creating some definition items in the Core database by adding the Buttons property to the Field Editor What is the biggest challenge when you post forms with Sitecore MVC? - Answers - Having multiple controllers invoked in the same page request. Only one of them should handle the post.
Where can you find more information? - Answers -Knowledgebase (support articles), Marketplace (modules), Developer network (forum, downloads) Before contacting support you should... - Answers -Refer to help desk best practices Name 2 key components of Sitecore XP - Answers -Experience CMS, Marketing Platform An item's URL is determined by... - Answers -Its position in the Content Tree Name the process by which items are synchronized between the master and the web DB - Answers -Publishing Having multiple controllers invoked in the same page request. Only one of them should handle the post. - Answers -Opens the Select the Associated Content dialog when authors add a new component What happens if the Datasource Location and the Datasource Template fields are both filled in? - Answers -The "Select the Associated Content" dialog opens and authors can create a new content item using the template specified What happens if the Datasource Location field is empty, but the Datasource Template field is not? - Answers -The dialog doesn't open automatically, but when the author requests it, they see the whole tree with irrelevant items ghosted What is the benefit of rendering Parameters Templates to authors? - Answers -Reduces error, Authors do not have to specify the parameter name, Authors can choose values from dropdowns. Which data template is used as a base template for your Parameters Template? - Answers -Standard Rendering Parameters template If you want your component to use this new Parameters Template, where do you assign it? - Answers -On the components definition item in the Parameters Template field When you add to your sublayout, what must you do for the placeholder to be selectable in the Experience Editor? - Answers -Create a Placeholder Settings definition item in Sitecore What else do these Placeholder Settings items allow you to specify for authors? - Answers -Which components authors can insert into a placeholder. What are Allowed Controls? - Answers -They determine which components can be added to a particular placeholder
Which Experience Editor mode supports adding components into placeholders? - Answers -Designing If a component is not in the Allowed Controls list, can it be added into that placeholder through the Experience Editor? - Answers -No What two elements should you keep in mind when setting up Compatible Renderings? - Answers -Both components need to be able to accept the same Datasource and the same Parameters If a component is not in the Allowed Controls list, can it still be used as a Compatible Rendering? - Answers -No Once Custom Experience buttons are assigned, where do they show up? - Answers - On a component / field and displayed in the Experience Editor Name two examples of custom buttons: - Answers -FieldEditor and WebEdit buttons On what type of definition item can you assign Custom Experience buttons? - Answers - component definition item or a field definition item What do Edit Frames do? - Answers -Surround an area on a page or component and display buttons allowing you to edit fields that would not be normally editable in the Experience Editor In which database do you create the Custom Experience buttons and Edit Frames? - Answers -Core Use a bucket when ... - Answers -You do not need a hierarchical item structure and/or you have a large number of items In order to store an item in a bucket, you must... - Answers -Make that item or the data templates standard values it is based on bucketable After making changes to the bucket ability of the items in a bucket, you must... - Answers -Sync the bucket What do facets allow you to do? - Answers -Progressively apply filters (based on fields) to narrow down your result set How do you create a bucket? - Answers -Select the item you want to turn into a bucket and click the 'Bucket' command on the Configure tab What defines how Sitecore items should be indexed? - Answers -Index configuration files in /App_Config/Include
Name the 3 publishing modes - Answers -Incremental, Smart, Republish Publishing restrictions can be applied to _____ , _____ and _____ - Answers - Numbered versions of items , the item itself and targets List some benefits of using Sitecore Installer - Answers -Checks prerequisites, correct DLLs, logs, remove an existing installation What are the recommended servers for an installation and which databases are on each server for a production environment? - Answers -CM with core, master and web | CD with core and web | Separate DB server -xDB with separate collection, reporting and aggregation servers Name some features of Sitecore Instance Manager - Answers -Packages, customize, extend, reinstall & remove instances Name two development models - Answers -Inside and outside the web root Which is the best practice? - Answers -Development outside the web root What are the options to source control your items? - Answers -You can serialize your items for source control with Sitecore Rocks or use a product like TDS to do it. What is the recommended way of patching in changes to web.config? - Answers -Patch web.config with include files, located under /App_Config/Include What are Sitecore packages and what do they contain? - Answers -Zip files that contain items and code files What is the name of the .aspx that you go to when upgrading Sitecore? - Answers -/sitecore/admin/updateinstallationwizard.aspx Which application (in sitecore start menu) is used to view the resolved access rights - Answers -Access Viewer You can assign access rights to _____ and _____ - Answers -Users and roles Can access be explicitly given to a user to override the role access right? - Answers - Yes Name three permissions that are applied to access rights - Answers -Allow, deny and not specified = deny What are workflows used for? - Answers -Content approval, versioning and tracking Items go through a series of ______ - Answers -States
Each state can contain certain ______ and ______ - Answers -Commands and Actions When is an item publishable? - Answers -In the Final State When is a new numbered version created? - Answers -When an items version is in a final workflow state and then subsequently is edited by a non-Administrator. What tool will show you all contacts that have been to your site? - Answers -Experience Profile How does Sitecore store visitor data? - Answers -Data is collected in a MongoDB collection database | That information is aggregated and stored in a SQL Server database optimized for reporting Engagement is measured using ... - Answers -Goals Goals can be assigned to specific items and/or ... - Answers -They can be triggered programmatically What's the purpose of testing? - Answers -Establish which content or components makes your visitors react more favorably When can authors start a test? - Answers -As part of workflow-whenever they have made a change on a page What can be tested? - Answers -Content, components or entire pages What to do to make sure your author can use the testing functionality? - Answers -Add 'Launch Create Test Dialog' to workflow | Make sure the Experience Editor works and is configured correctly | Ensure components that should be tested are configured to accept data sources What does it mean to profile content? - Answers -Assigning points in certain categories based on the audience that a content item is aimed at How does componentization and use of data sources support personalization? - Answers -As a visitor navigates around the site, components can be added / hidden or their data changed to match a particular pattern card or profile key score
