In the process of upgrading a 9.3 instance to 10.1, we chose to create copies of the 9.3 databases and upgrade those, leaving the 9.3 DBs intact. Then, we could just simply point the upgraded 10.1 instance to these new databases. All was going pretty well with this approach until I started seeing this error in the xConnect logs: Could…
Category: Sitecore
Unlock all SXA datasource items for a given page
As you may (or may not) know, any given page on a Sitecore site can be made up of content from both the page Item as well as any number of datasource Items stored throughout the content tree. Especially given the component-driven nature of SXA, the content really could be anywhere. This not only enables much of the personalizing power…
Sitecore 9 Forms and AJAX with SXA
I’m currently working on porting the rbaconsulting.com website over to Sitecore 9 using SXA and one of the new features I’ve been really excited to work with is the new Experience Forms module! I know that it has…um…a few known issues, but I figured I could work around those. One requirement I had, which works nicely functions in WFFM (does WFFM do…
Sitecore 9 Forms: form doesn’t show up after creation
One of the new, exciting features of Sitecore 9 is the new forms module – a long-overdue replacement for Web Forms for Marketers! So, on a rainy, Saturday evening, I sat down to finally play with this magical, new module! I clicked on this cute little button on the launchpad: Then, I clicked on the Create button in powerful ways…
xConnect: Searching for Contacts in Sitecore 9
In previous posts, xConnect was introduced, Contacts were added to xDB and a custom model was deployed. But what about searching for existing contacts? Let’s take a look at a couple of examples! Searching for Multiple Contacts In this example, we’re going to search for any Contacts who have had Interactions recorded in the past 30 days. One particular call…
xConnect: Adding custom facets in Sitecore 9
The default collection model in xDB comes with many of the fields you would normally need for storing information about a visitor, but there are almost always those special cases where you need to store something very specific to your business that doesn’t come out of the box. As with previous versions of xDB, the collection model is very flexible…
xConnect: Creating Contacts in Sitecore 9
As discussed in the previous post, the schema for the collection model in xDB changed from earlier versions, making it simpler and more flexible for different types of interactions. Also, the way you connect to xDB to search, add or retrieve data has changed. Now, everything goes through the XConnectClient. Initializing the XConnectClient In this example, I will be creating…
xConnect: Adding interactions in Sitecore 9
Over the course of the last few posts, we’ve done lots of things with xDB using xConnect! But one thing that hasn’t been covered so far is adding an Interaction to a Contact. Adding an Interaction Let’s take an example of a customer entering your store and purchasing a product. Here’s how you could register that Outcome event in an…
Introducing xConnect for Sitecore 9
The Experience Database in Sitecore is one of the platforms most differentiating features over its competitors in the Web Content Management System space. It stores all analytics and interaction data for users across all of your digital properties, whether those users are known or anonymous. From the documentation: The Sitecore Experience Database (xDB) collects all your customer interactions from all…
Interview with MaaakStiles & CatchingExceptions
A few months ago, when I was attending the Sitecore User Group in Boston, I got a opportunity to sit down and chat with Mark Stiles (@maaakstiles) for his Catching Exceptions interview series. We talked about Sitecore, Texas, authoring books and…Tacos! Check out the interview and find out what a LonghornTaco really is… 😉 hint: it’s not an actual taco……
