Sitecore Scheduled Publish Module Enhancements

Sitecore Scheduled Publish Module gives the content author the option to delay the publishing of an item for a future point in time. This module has been updated to Sitecore 10.3 recently. Also, I did update this module with few additional features for better usage. 

• Set Scheduled Publish Requestor as Publisher
  
  A content author schedules a publish request. When the scheduler job executes the request at the appropriate time, it publishes the content as the requestor user. This allows Ops teams to track who initiated the request. If you want to track what items are published, you can override the publish:itemProcessed event to log the details.. 
  
  With this change, the actual publish request will be executed in the requestor user context. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Alert content authors if the item is not in final workflow state
  
  The final workflow state is an important part of Sitecore's workflow system. It helps ensure that content items are published in a controlled manner and are not accidentally changed after they are published.
  
  If an item scheduled for publishing is not in the final workflow state, the publish job will not publish the item or will publish the last approved item version. To remind the content authors, a warning has been added to the dialog that shows whether the item is in the final state. If the item does not have a workflow, this section is hidden. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Set the current time + 2 minutes as default for publish time
  
  Choosing the date and time when scheduling a publish was an extra step for content authors. With this change, the current date and time plus 2 minutes will be set as the default publish time in the publish time field.

• Updated to latest Sitecore CLI and Serialization plugin
  
  Updated to use the latest version of Sitecore CLI (5.2.113 as of 11/07) with Serialization plugin. 

The Sitecore packages (.zip) are yet to be updated in the repository. Please take the latest codebase for the enhancements.  

XM Cloud Certification Exam Preparation

I am excited to announce that I have recently cleared the Sitecore XM Cloud Certification exam! This certification demonstrates my skills and knowledge in using Sitecore's cloud-native SaaS CMS to create and deliver engaging omnichannel experiences.

Few community members reached out to me to share the exam experience. So I have provided all the details in this blog post. 

The Sitecore XM Cloud Certification exam is somewhat challenging one, but it is well worth the effort. The exam covers a wide range of topics, including:

• Competency 1: XM Cloud Architecture and Developer Workflow - 12% 
• Competency 2: Deployment of XM Cloud Projects - 16%
• Competency 3: Renderings and Layout - 14%
• Competency 4: Sitecore Content Serialization - 14%
• Competency 5: Sitecore APIs & Webhooks - 10%
• Competency 6: XM Cloud Pages - 10%
• Competency 7: Security for Developers - 10%
• Competency 8: Data Modeling - 14%

Exam Details

• Multiple-choice Questions
• 100 minutes to complete the test
• Closed book exam
• 50 questions (more compared to other Sitecore certs :) )
• Schedule it in Kryterion WebAssessor
• Cost: $350

All the exam details are clearly explained in the Study Guide: Sitecore XM Cloud Developer Certification Exam in learning portal and there are 10 sample questions in the Study guide course. 

 

How to prepare for the Sitecore XM Cloud Certification exam

Here are a few tips to help you prepare for the exam:

• Take few Sitecore learning courses. This course will give you a solid foundation in the basics of Sitecore XM Cloud.
• XM Cloud for Headless JSS Developers (must)
• XM Cloud for Content Authors (optional)
• Read the Sitecore XM Cloud documentation. 
• XM Cloud Documentation for Developers
• XM Cloud User
• Headless SXA (must)
• If you are working with a partner or a customer who uses XM Cloud, then that will help you to practice using Sitecore XM Cloud. The best way to learn Sitecore XM Cloud is by using it. Set up a test environment and start experimenting with different features.

Topics

The study guide course in learning portal has certain links on each competencies. It is highly recommended to read those articles. I have listed below some of the topics that I remember.

• Headless SXA knowledge is important for the exam. Site Collection, Site, Modules, Page Variants, Creating component, Placeholder, Placeholder restrictions, Dynamic Placeholder.
• Registering XM Cloud Components
• Webhook
• Features of XM Cloud Pages 
• Experience Edge Publish Process
• Using CLI for XM Environment Setup
• Sitecore Content Serialization - Similar to XP certification. 
• Understand the sample GraphQL queries
• XM Cloud Environment and Source Control link
• XM Cloud User roles and access

Exam Discount

• MVPs get one free Sitecore exam voucher to use. 
• (from Sitecore learning portal) Don't forget that Partners have Sitecore Special 20% promotion for all Sitecore certification exams. Promo code is CYBERCERT20. 

Good Luck and Happy Learning !!!

XM Cloud Component - Recursive Loop

In XM Cloud Components builder, we can add another component as an element in the canvas. 

Once you add the component element, you can choose what component to render in the right panel.

You can select other components from the list and also you can choose the same component as well. 

This will end up into infinite self-referential recursive loops and it is going to crash the application. 

Continuous calls to FEaaS Url to load component

Sitecore can do some check or warn before allowing content authors or developers to add same component.  

As of 11/08/2023 - Sitecore has fixed it by filtering out the current component from the available component list.