This repository contains the source code of the Kentico Xperience - Kentico Kontent publishing module.

The module automatically synchronizes all published content (pages, page types) and assets (media files, page attachments) from a specific single site in Kentico Xperience to a specific project in Kentico Kontent using the Content Management API.

The module is designed to publish content only from Kentico Xperience to Kentico Kontent, not vice-versa.

The typical use case for the module is providing a reliable headless endpoint for your additional channels, e.g. a mobile application.

To install the module to your Xperience instance:

1. Copy the contents of this repository to the root of your Xperience installation.

   • You can do that by cloning the repository to a local folder (other than your Xperience folder) and then copying the files over to your Xperience folder.

   • Only the files from the following folders are necessary for a proper installation of the module:

     • /Kentico.KontentPublishing
     • /CMS

2. Open the Xperience solution in Visual Studio, and add the Kentico.KontentPublishing project to the solution.

   • Include all the content from the /CMS/CMSModules/Kentico.KontentPublishing folder to the CMSApp project.

   • Add a reference to the Kentico.KontentPublishing project in the CMSApp project.

     • OPTIONAL: In case you have more projects, e.g. an MVC site instance, add the same reference to those projects, as well.

3. Update Kentico NuGet packages for the the Kentico.KontentPublishing project to the same version as your current hotfix version of Kentico Xperience.

4. Build the solution.

1. Create a new empty project in Kentico Kontent.

2. Add the following keys to the web.config (or app.config) of your project(s)

<add key="KCSyncSitename" value="[SITE CODE NAME]" />
<add key="KCSyncWebRoot" value="[URL OF THE TARGET WEB SITE]" />
<add key="KCSyncAssetsDomain" value="[KENTICO KONTENT ASSET DOMAIN]" />
<add key="KCSyncProjectID" value="[YOUR PROJECT ID]" />
<add key="KCSyncCMAPIKey" value="[YOUR CM API KEY]" />

• KCSyncSitename is the code name of the site you want to synchronize with your Kontent project, e.g. DancingGoatMvc

• KCSyncWebRoot is the root URL of the target site, to which relative URLs will be resolved, e.g. https://www.dancinggoat.com

• KCSyncAssetsDomain is the domain name on which the assets in your Kontent project will be located. It depends on the geographical location in which your Kontent project is hosted, e.g. assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com.

  • The easiest way to find out this domain name is to upload a new temporary asset (in Kontent) in the Content & Assets, and use the Copy asset URL action in the actions menu. You can then find the domain in the copy dialog.

  

  • After you get the domain name, you can delete the asset.

• KCSyncProjectID and KCSyncCMAPIKey can be found in the API Keys section of the Project settings of your target Kentico Kontent Project.

1. Navigate to the Xperience administration -> Sites application -> Import Site or objects
2. Import the Kentico.KontentPublishing_1.0.0.zip package. If you properly copied the module files, the package should be automatically offered in this dialog.

3. Refresh the administration interface, e.g. by reloading the page in your web browser.

The Kentico Kontent Publishing application should be now available in your application list.

To synchronize your content between Kentico Xperience and Kentico Kontent:

1. In the Xperience admnistration interface, open the Kentico Kontent Publishing application.

2. Click the Synchronize all button to copy all currently published content to Kentico Kontent and wait until the synchronization finishes.

   

After the synchronization is finished, Kentico Kontent will contain all your published content from Kentico Xperience. Examine the content and update the content structure in Xperience if necessary.

New changes to the published content in Xperience will synchronize automatically.

Once you perform the synchronization, you should edit your content only in Kentico Xperience. Any modifications done in Kontent might get overwritten by changes in Xperience. However, you can still observe and navigate data in Kentico Kontent while developing or debugging your target application.

It is possible to transfer all the content and assets from Kentico Xperience to Kentico Kontent as plaintext HTML using this module.

In case you would like to embrace a fully headless CMS:

1. Set up the module and run full synchronization as described in the sections above.
2. Remove the module from your Xperience instance.
3. Continue with editing the content in your Kontent project.

Please, note the following:

• The content is migrated as plaintext and any styles applied in Xperience (such as bold, or italics) are transferred to Kontent as HTML tags. Therefore, we recommend to use this approach of migrating content only in specific scenarios, e.g. when majority of your content is in plaintext form without any styles.
• The module synchronizes only published content. If you have any unpublished content that you wish to migrate, publish it before the data migration.

If you wish to customize this module, you can edit the synchronization part of the code in the Kentico.KontentPublishing project.

To perform partial updates while customizing the code or to purge all project data:

1. Click on the Synchronize all button in the Kentico Kontent Publishing application.
2. Click on the Show advanced actions button and select the action you wish to perform.

Please, note that it is not recommended to mix synchronized content from Kentico Xperience with manually created content in Kentico Kontent. "Mixing" content could result in overwritten or lost data, because deleting the project data removes all the content from your project, no matter where it originated.

To remove the module from your Xperience instance:

1. Remove the Kentico.KontentPublishing project from your solution(s).
2. Remove all files introduced by this repository.
3. Delete the Kentico Kontent Publishing module from the Xperience administration interface.
4. Rebuild the solution(s).

• Pages set to be published in the future (with the PublishFrom field correspondingly set) will be automatically synchronized to Kontent once they are published in Xperience. However, pages unpublished in the future (with the PublishTo field set) will stay in Kontent even after unpublished in Xperience.
• Only certain page fields and relationships are synchronized. E.g. SKU-related page fields are not synchronized.
• Files from Xperience media libraries are always synchronized into a "flat" structure in Kontent. I.e. the original folder structure of media library files is not preserved.
• The preview file of media library files is not synchronized.
• Only limited conversion of page type fields between Xperience and Kontent projects is supported.
• Workflows configured in Xperience might not work correctly when content will be manipulated with through the Kontent project.
• Synchronization of content is always performed either manually (via the Xperience application) or triggered by events. Regular content synchronization is not yet supported.
• The module is designed for single site projects only.

See the Kentico home repository for more information about the product(s), general advice on submitting your questions or directly contacting us.