Why I don’t like Google Tag Manager

Andy BurnsLeave a comment

Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a tool that lets marketers put code for tracking users/analytics onto a website without having actually change the code of the website. Essentially, Google Tag Manager will inject the code, after the page has loaded. “Tags” in this instance aren’t just #hashtag, but are snippets of code that can record data and send it to third party services.

The advantage of this is that Marketers can put JavaScript code into your production website without needing a developer, and that is genuinely useful to them. However… it’s allowing marketers to put code into your live website! Continue reading “Why I don’t like Google Tag Manager” →

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Why I don’t like Google Tag Manager

XConnect certificate expiry

Andy BurnsLeave a comment

So, the SIF install scripts for Sitecore create certificates for securing the XConnect communication. There are 4 certificates involved – 2 “DO_NOT_TRUST_XXX” trusted root certs for signing 2 other certs, and those 2 are a) for the IIS XConnect site binding (as normal with HTTPS), and b) one for the XConnect client.

Unfortunately, these only last for a year… and the process of renewing them isn’t well documented. Continue reading “XConnect certificate expiry” →

XConnect certificate expiry

Make Media Browser show a Tree View, rather than List view

Andy BurnsLeave a comment

Sitecore’s media browser shows an annoying List View, rather than a Tree view by default. This is sad, ‘cos the Tree view is much more intuitive for users – they’re used a having a drive and folders.

Fortunately, you can make Sitecore use this. I think this tip came from Gert Gullentops originally, but I’m not sure. Continue reading “Make Media Browser show a Tree View, rather than List view” →

Make Media Browser show a Tree View, rather than List view

Sitecore: System.InvalidOperationException: Ensure definition type did not complete successfully

Andy BurnsLeave a comment

I started getting this error this morning in my Sitecore logs:

System.InvalidOperationException: Ensure definition type did not complete successfully. StatusCode: 500, ReasonPhrase: ‘Internal Server Error’, Version: 1.1

I noticed this ‘cos analytics stopped working overnight:

What gives? Continue reading “Sitecore: System.InvalidOperationException: Ensure definition type did not complete successfully” →

Sitecore: System.InvalidOperationException: Ensure definition type did not complete successfully

Handling IIS Error pages in Sitecore

Andy Burns, Leave a comment

Sitecore lets you direct errors, such as page not found, to other pages within Sitecore. This is good – it lets you have an error page with all your dynamic content (navigation menus, account details, etc).

You can patch this in with something like:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration xmlns:x="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
<sitecore>
<settings>
<!-- Default: /sitecore/service/notfound.aspx -->
<setting name="ItemNotFoundUrl">
<x:attribute name="value" value="/errors/Item Not Found" />
</setting>
<!-- Default: /sitecore/service/nolayout.aspx -->
<setting name="LayoutNotFoundUrl">
<x:attribute name="value" value="/errors/Item Not Found" />
</setting>
<!-- Default: /sitecore/service/notfound.aspx -->
<setting name="LinkItemNotFoundUrl">
<x:attribute name="value" value="/errors/Item Not Found" />
</setting>
<!-- Default: /sitecore/service/noaccess.aspx -->
<setting name="NoAccessUrl">
<x:attribute name="value" value="/errors/No Access" />
</setting>
<!-- Default: /sitecore/service/error.aspx -->
<setting name="ErrorPage">
<x:attribute name="value" value="/errors/Error" />
</setting>
</settings>
</sitecore>
</configuration>

Great, job done, right?

Nope…  Continue reading “Handling IIS Error pages in Sitecore” →

Handling IIS Error pages in Sitecore