Microsoft Content Management Server

Microsoft Content Management Server 2002 - Service Pack 2 ships!

Jawad Khan — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 18:33:00 GMT

Real exciting news from Web Content Management team at Microsoft.The MCMS 2002 Service Pack 2 now provides much awaited support for Microsoft SQL 2005 and Viusla Studio 2005 is now available in MCMS 2002.Master Pages as well as the authentication and navigation provider models support. Much more exciting stuff is planned for the next WCM (Web Content Managment) next release of MCMS with Office 12.. It requires you to install Service pack SP1A before you upgrade to SP2 even if you have SP1 you need to upgrade to SP1A. The difference between two is some multilanguage support enhancements.

To Download SP2 Click Here

MCMS 101 - Free downloadable eBooks to get you started with MCMS 2002 ...

Jawad Khan — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 11:28:00 GMT

Via MSDN

Here are few useful online free books listed on MSDN that will get you started with Microsoft Content Management Server before you do your own investment and buy a MCMS 2002 Book or take an official MOC Training.

Note these books are not meant for beginners though. For beginners I will still Recommend the Book Building Websites with Microsoft Content Management Server as per my post here earlier.You can get good deal on this book from Amazon and other online book sellers.

(1) Building, Deploying, and Maintaining Intranet Sites for the Enterprise

           Chapter 1. Setup
           Chapter 2. Examining OTGWeb's Network Architecture
           Chapter 3. Day-to-Day Operations
           Chapter 4. Building OTGWeb with Best Practices
           Chapter 5. Final Thoughts

This book discusses how a small team within the Operations and Technology Group (OTG) at Microsoft uses Microsoft Content Management Server (MCMS) 2002 to build, deploy, and maintain OTGWeb, an internal Microsoft site. OTG uses OTGWeb to provide information and tools to keep Microsoft employees informed and productive. OTGWeb is, as far as we know, the largest intranet site running MCMS today.

(2) Integration Techniques and Strategies for Internet Business

Using the MCMS .NET-based managed APIs
Using the MCMS COM-based Site Deployment API
Creating user controls and dialog boxes within the Web Author
Creating custom placeholder controls in Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET
Creating components that communicate with each external system

In Integration Techniques and Strategies for Internet Business, we'll examine a variety of integration options available to you when designing your Web sites. The methodology we present is simple, secure, and extendable. We take the WoodgroveNet sample site which shipped as a sample with MCMS 2002 and build integration components to show integration with search engines, workflow engines, authentication systems, and other software.

(3) Performance Planning and Deployment with Content Management Server 2002

Explains performance planning for MCMS 2002
Demonstrates capacity planning with transaction cost analysis for MCMS 2002
Provides detailed instructions and best practices for installing a sample MCMS 2002 deployment that can be scaled out to meet your needs.
Provides troubleshooting information and answers to frequently asked questions for getting the best from your MCMS 2002 site.

This Book shows you how to plan your MCMS 2002 deployment to maximize performance, how to estimate site capacity with transaction cost analysis, and provides best practices and instructions for installing an MCMS 2002, 13-computer, 3-tier, sample, secure deployment that can easily be scaled out to meet the needs of your enterprise. Additionally, it provides troubleshooting tips and answers frequently asked questions about installing and using MCMS 2002

MCMS 101 - What is a Web Publishing CMS System, Features,Benefits and Current Market ...

Jawad Khan — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 15:43:00 GMT

Here is a Great article explaining Web publishing Content Management Systems in general. Who should be using them. What are the advantages and benefits of using a web based Content Management System and the different players offering Web based Content Management Solutions.

Web Publishing CMS System

MCMS 101 - Recommended Book to Learn Microsoft Content Management Server 2002

Jawad Khan — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 13:39:00 GMT

I get lot of queries from the Clients and from my Blog readers about the recommendation MCMS 2002 Book/Tutorial. The following book is great for Starters as well as seasoned MCMS professionals. I would highly recommend it ....

Building Websites with Microsoft Content Management Server

Lim Mei Ying, Joel Ward, Stefan Goßner

Here is what packtpub has to say :

A fast-paced and practical tutorial guide for C# developers starting out with MCMS 2002

Learn directly from recognized community experts

Rapid developer level tutorials build logically through out the book
Develops a feature rich custom site incrementally
Tips and Tricks from developer newsgroups and online communities

Get this Book from Here

Utility for searching a substring in Microsoft Content Management Server for Admins/Developers

Jawad Khan — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 12:27:00 GMT

I have created a Windows App utility that can search All or Specific Portal for any particular string to be found in any of the placeholders.

Portal is determined to be the First Level Channel after /Channels root.

All you need is run the attached file from the MCMS Server with admin rights. (i.e. logged in with a user that has admin rights on MCMS local Server). Note you can run as Subscriber too but you might not be able to search all the postings if you don't have rights to them.

This could be very useful for checking for a particular resource file/Image or a URL that needs to be changed because of change in domain names etc.

This is to be used by webmasters/Site Admins to search for a particular SubString in any of the placeholders. This Utility also created a MCMSSearch.log comma delimited file listing the detailed information about Portal, Posting Name, Path and Placeholder where the particular string was found. You can click on Silent Checkbox so that user is not prompted and entries are only written to the file.

MCMS Search Utility

You can alternatively download the .Net Windows App from

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/jawadblogapps (in the folder MCMSApps)

User Id: JawadBlogApps

Password : jawadblog

Note: Don't forget to SignIn or you will get the message that Folder is Empty.

MCMS HotFix KB# 836895 - Problem installing on XP - The query string arrays are not correctly passed to the posting

Jawad Khan — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 16:14:00 GMT

Recently I came across this issue with KB#836895. It installs perfectly on Windows 2003 machines but refused to install on Windows XP development machines.

Since we are using some custom parameters that needed to be passed to different MCMS posting it was hard to debug since all the development machines where Windows XP.

After contacting Microsoft they acknowledged the problem and now have fixed it so it installs on Windows XP development machines as well. So make sure you download the latest copy from Microsoft site.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?id=836895

Microsoft Content Management Server Support for ASP.Net version 2.0

Jawad Khan — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 16:52:00 GMT

Via Andrew Connell Blog

MCMS 2002 Service Pack 2 will have the support for ASP.Net 2.0 though there will still be some New features that will not be supported or fully suported by MCMS running under ASp.Net 2.0 framework for example Web Parts ...

MCMS 2002 Service Pack 2: Expect this to be released after the .NET 2.0 Framwork is released (BTW: today’s keynote at TechEd announced that Visual Studio .Net 2005 and SQL Server 2005 will be released to manufacturing [RTM] the week of November 7, 2005). The primary focus of SP2 will be to add .NET 2.0 Framework and SQL Server 2005 support to MCMS. Yes, you how have access to using master pages (just no placeholders within the master pages… that’s not supported) and all the other great features that are provided by the next generation of ASP.NET 2.0. This does not mean I’m not saying that you can touch the MCMS database, you just can host your database on the new platform. The only thing that isn’t supported is using the new ASP.NET 2.0 web parts within MCMS templates.

MCMS vNext aka: futures: Yes, speculation can now end in the newsgroups and blogs that it's now confirmed there is a new version of MCMS in the works. When will it be available? MCMS is now part of the Office System. At the recent CEO Summit, Bill Gates announced that Office 12 will ship at the end of 2006 and you can expect a beta at the end of 2005/beginning of 2006. Because MCMS is in now part of the Office System, it will fall in line with those dates. Packaging & licensing is still being hashed out so no details on that. Again, just stay tuned for news in the coming months.

How to use different CSS Files in the Same template for Different WebSites in MCMS 2002 ...

Jawad Khan — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 18:09:00 GMT

Microsoft Content Management Server 2002 makes it easy to create multiple websites using the same template set. This feature is very useful if you are creating sites that require different feel and look but same/similar functionality or at-least share some templates between each other.The challenge here is how to add a CSS to the rendered posting so the feel and look is different depending on which MCMS Site Hierarchy you are in.

Following is the solution. This solution allows you to treat CSS files as normal Content and hence can be managed by MCMS and also incorporates the MCMS work flow. Doing so allows the Desktop individuals to make changes to the CSS without bothering the IT team.

This implementation make use of the XML PlaceholderControl that I posted earlier in this Blog

In the .aspx file

In the Register Control Section :

<%@ Register TagPrefix="cnsCtl" Namespace="Jawad.Cms.CustomPlaceholders" Assembly="Jawad.Cms" %><%@ Register TagPrefix="cc2" Namespace="Cdi.Ces.Cms.CustomPlaceholders" Assembly="Cdi.Ces.Cms" %>

(inside the HTML Body) :

  <form id="Form1" method="post" runat="server">
   <cnsCtl:XMLPlaceholder id="PLContentPlaceholder" runat="server" PlaceholderToBind="plSinglePlaceholder" TextBoxHeight="800"
    TextBoxColumns="100"></cnsCtl:XMLPlaceholder>
  </form>

Now in the Code behind file :

  protected Jawad.Cms.CustomPlaceholders.XMLPlaceholder PLContentPlaceholder;
  private CmsHttpContext ctx;

  private void Page_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
  {
   if ( !IsPostBack)
   {
    ctx = CmsHttpContext.Current;
    if ( ctx != null)
    {
     if ( ctx.Mode == PublishingMode.Published)
     {
      Posting pst = ctx.Posting ;
      if ( pst != null )
      {
       Response.Write (((XmlPlaceholder)pst.Placeholders ["plSinglePlaceholder"]).XmlAsString);
       Response.End ();
      }
     }
    }
   }
  }

Once finished the .aspx file you need to create the MCMS Template lets say named “CSSTemplate” using MCMS Explorer from Visual Studio.Net and add an XMLPlaceholder definition to it named plSinglePlaceholder

Now you can place that posting in the Site Hierarchy you want For example

/Channels/PetShop/en-Ca/ConfigFiles/SiteCSS

another site on same server

/Channels/ToolShop/en-CA/ConfigFiles/SiteCSS

Where SiteCSS is posting name and other elements are channels in the Path.

When you create a new template you can add the CSS files as follows in to your template ....

<link href="<%= GetCSSPath() %>" type=text/css rel=stylesheet>

The GetCSSPath is a function that gives the Path to the CSS Posting ....Its implementation is as follows ( Please correct syntax errors if any)

public string GetCSSPath()
{
    string path = string.Empty;
    CmsHttpContext ctx = CmsHttpContext.Current;
    if ( ctx != null)
    {
      string currentPostingPath = ctx.Posting.Path;
      string siteName = currentPostingPath.Split('/')[1]; // Second Element is always site Name
      // You might want to use dynamic approach to find complete path I am hard coding the fix elements here.
     path = string.Format("/Channels/{0}/en-CA/ConfigFiles/SiteCSS",siteName);
    }
    return path;
}

Troubleshooting MCMS 2002 Issues and very Useful Resources .....

Jawad Khan — Thu, 09 Jun 2005 03:46:00 GMT

This post will evolve with time. I wanted to share the resources that I myself use to troubleshoot the issues with MCMS deployments during my consulting assignments. I am just starting this post now but down the road I will also add step by step guide for things to check while installing and running MCMS 2002 installation in Production, Staging, Content and Development Environment. So keep visiting back to get more details.

I can understand the frustrations that client face because there is no easy and all in 1 kind of resource/Guide to reduce the pain and challenges faced while installing, Moving Data or conducting day to day operations of MCMS. Feel free to post your comments if you want to see something in particular or have something you would like to share with other in the community.

Here are the troubleshooting resources in Sequence. Places i will visit to diagnose a MCMS issue:

First place to visit. Chances are you will find an answer here MCMS FAQ
Microsoft Content Management Server 2002 Newsgroup. Stefan Gossner is the most knowledgeable person in MCMS and answers the questions daily at this newsgroup. MCMS 2002 Newsgroup

Here are Great Resources for MCMS 2002.

Here you will found some of the best MCMS resources/News. Stefan is with Microsoft PSS and being production champion from the very start. Stefan's Blog.
Andrews Blog has lot of useful information and utilities for MCMS 2002. He is MCMS MVP. Andrew Connell Blog
AJ has ton of useful code and latest news on MCMS and other .Net Products. Here is the link to his Blog. AJ's Blog
Angus Logan is MCMS MVP.He is also the co author of the MCMS book with Stefan, Andrew and Mei Ying. Here is Angus Logan's Blog
Mei Ying's Tech Blog concentrates mainly on MCMS topics. She has been posting useful code and utilities at her blog.
Chester has posted a lot of MCMS utilities that contain some of the features that are not available from the built in MCMS tools. Some of the tools directly access the MCMS database that might not be recommended by Microsoft. Here is Chester's Blog
Arpan Shah in involved with the MCMS product from the time Microsoft bough it from Resolution. He has worked on the product side of MCMS too. If you want to get latest news about MCMS , that's where you have to go.Here is Aran Shah's Blog
Mark Harison is blogging from UK. He has information about Sharepoint, MCMS and Office Applications at his Blog. Here is Mark's Blog

MCMS 101 - Creating a BreadCrump Control that skips undesired Channels (Folders)

Jawad Khan — Thu, 02 Jun 2005 03:36:00 GMT

I have seem a few Breadcrumb Controls for Microsoft Content Management System that display the Hierarchy/Path of the current Posting(page). While designing a MCMS 2002 site the site-map is laid out in such a way that the Navigation of the site is made simple and its easily accessible by the MCMS API calls.Its common to have a Hierarchy like this
/Channels/RetailerSite/en-CA/LeftNavigation/OurProducts/Computers and
/Channels/RetailerSite/en-CA/LeftNavigation/ThirdPartyProducts/WebCams.

In your breadcrumb you would like to Skip OurProduct and Left Navigation Channels (Folder) as well as Channels Channel(Folder) itself. Further you might want to show the Display name of the Channel rather then the name of the Channel which is more meaningful to the end users.
The Breadcrumb should look like

Retailer Site > English > Computers
Retailer Site > English . WebCams

To accomplish the above goal we could use a property named Important Flag on the Channel. The following Breadcrumb code check if the Important Flag is set on the Channel from SiteManager or Web Author. Only those Channels that have this flag set appears in the Breadcrumb Hierarchy of the current Posting(WebPage) ....

Here is the Code .... You can add it into ASP.Net User Control. All you have to do is add a Label to the User control and insert the following code in the code behind file .....

using System.Text;
using System.Collections ;
using Microsoft.ContentManagement.Publishing ;

  private void ProcessBreadCrumb()
  {
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder ();
     Channel processedChannel = CmsHttpContext.Current.Channel;
     Stack breadCrumbChannels = new Stack();
   do
    {
          if (processedChannel.IsImportant)
        {
            breadCrumbChannels.Push(processedChannel);
          }
          processedChannel = processedChannel.Parent ;
      } while (!processedChannel.Parent.IsRoot);

   int totalChannels = breadCrumbChannels.Count;
   Channel ch = null;
   for(int i=1; i <= totalChannels; i++)
   {
            ch = (Channel)breadCrumbChannels.Pop ();
            sb.Append ("<a class='BreadCrumbAnchor' href='");
            sb.Append (ch.Url );
           sb.Append ("'>");
            sb.Append (ch.DisplayName );
            if ( i < totalChannels)
          {
              sb.Append ("   ");
              sb.Append (">");
              sb.Append (" ");
            }
          sb.Append ("</a>");
       }
        this.lblBreadCrumb.Text = sb.ToString (); // ASP.Net label control in the User Control ...
    }