westtech.dev — all posts

Certz 0.4: A Certificate Management Utility

Certz is a cross-platform CLI for creating, inspecting, linting, and monitoring X.509 certificates — here's what shipped in 0.4.

PrecisionScheduler v1.1.0: Fixing the Bugs That Hurt in Production

Real-world use surfaced six issues in PrecisionScheduler — some cosmetic, some quietly catastrophic — here's what changed in v1.1.0 and why.

Clean Orphaned Blob Records

Over 60% of a Sitecore database consumed by orphaned blob records — here's what we found and how we fixed it.

SXA Search Endpoint Validation

Invalid query strings hitting SXA search endpoints generate thousands of log exceptions. Here's how to stop the noise.

Troubleshoot Certificate Revocation Lookups

Intermittent SSL errors on outbound service calls traced back to blocked LetsEncrypt revocation check domains.

Working with Unicorn and Sitecore CLI

Running Unicorn and Sitecore CLI side-by-side during a staged migration surfaces some subtle compatibility problems worth knowing about.

Hotfix Wiped Out My Roles

A Sitecore 10.2.1 cumulative hotfix changed how federated authentication handles roles at sign-in — and took our users' permissions with it.

Replacement Task Scheduler for Sitecore

Sitecore's built-in task scheduler has some well-known limitations. Here's how we replaced it with Hangfire for more reliable background job scheduling.

Windows Hosts Writer 2.0

Today I'm pleased to announce the release of Windows Hosts Writer 2.0 !

Unicorn Serialization for SXA Projects Part 2

In a previous article I shared how I configure Sitecore projects with Unicorn when developing sites for SXA.

Secure Docker Websites for Sitecore

In this article Michael shares how to configure Sitecore running on Docker locally with HTTPS.

Thank you Sitecore Community 2019

Amazing how fast 2019 has come and gone.

Donut Caching with Custom SXA Components

In this article Michael shares how to make your custom components, built for SXA, support the donut caching feature.

Sitecore Security for SXA Projects

Every new website requires some level of security configuration before launch.

Thank You Community Leaders 2018

Another year to be thankful.

Override SXA Environment Site Resolver

In this very short post I demonstrate how to override the EnvironmentSiteResolver included with SXA to remove the use of fast queries.

Little Book of Sitecore PowerShell Tips

My friend Neil Shack released an excellent series of books that every Sitecore enthusiast should have entitled The Little Book of Sitecore Tips .

Sitecore Developer Trial License

The Sitecore Developer Trial Program was made available to .Net developers and students who do not have access to a customer or partner license with complimenta

Sitecore Support May or May Not Have a GitHub Repo!

I heard from a little birdie that there may or may not be a repository of the git kind on the internet.

The Definitive Guide to siteCore xvNein Installation

Still working out the details.

Access Reference Fields in SXA Rendering Variant

In this article I demonstrate how to create an NVelocity tool to access properties from a Sitecore ReferenceField .

SXA Fake Navigation Link

If you have worked on any website navigation, you may have encountered a scenario where you need to represent a link in the menu, such as to the Home page.

Hamburger Menu In SXA

The following post was typed with one hand while my new born baby sleeps.

SXA Theme Upgrade Tip using SPE

In some recent conversations on Sitecore Slack Chat I needed to determine why a component script in SXA was not working as desired (broke).

Michael West Wins Sitecore "Most Valuable Professional" Award

Michael West Wins Sitecore "Most Valuable Professional" Award Elite distinction awarded for exceptional contributions to the Sitecore ecosystem Dallas, TX, USA

Improve the Experience for Designers in SXA with Styles

Recently I saw a nice article by Barend Emmerzaal proposing a way to improve the Experience Editor when using SXA .

Thank You Community Leaders 2017

In the season of Thanksgiving, it felt appropriate to share some appreciation for members of the community.

SPE Workflow Action using Slack Notifications

Have you ever wondered how to notify a user about workflow changes to an item in Sitecore, but not through email?

Custom Rendering Variant Token Tool for SXA

Sitecore Experience Accelerator ( SXA ) provides a great way to alter how components render using a feature called Rendering Variant .

Unicorn Serialization for SXA Projects

Sitecore Experience Accelerator ( SXA ) is organized in a way that aligns with Sitecore's Helix design principles and conventions.

Build a Location Finder search using SXA

Recently I've been playing around with the new Sitecore Experience Accelerator (SXA) and wanted to share something that is possible without any coding.

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Remoting v2

Let me start off by saying that the work done by Himadri here is a great example at the flexibility of SPE .

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions - System Maintenance

Here recently I was thinking about how I could perform some of the system maintenance tasks that you would have to manually run from the Sitecore Control Panel.

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Tip - Count Items

Today I needed a quick report to find out the number of "pages" on our site.

Move Workstation To New OU With PowerShell

Question came up at work today on how to move a workstation in Active Directory from one OU to another.

Sitecore Code Editor 1.6 Preview

Developing on the Sitecore platform has been some of the most enjoyable time in my career.

Sitecore PowerShell Extended with Gutters

Recently I challenged myself to find integrations with Sitecore PowerShell Extensions that have not yet been published.

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Tip 2 - Set Random Wallpaper

As of late I've spent more time using Sitecore PowerShell Extensions .Today I decided to change the wallpaper with a random image from the media library.

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Tip - Delete Unused Media Items

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Delete unused media items older than 30 days.

Sitecore PowerShell Extended with Pipelines

Every once in a while I have what I think is a cool idea.

Sitecore PowerShell Run Task On Demand

Recently I needed to help a colleague run a scheduled task on-demand.

Sitecore Code Editor 1.5 Preview

Recently I've spent some time on the Sitecore Code Editor Module to add Markdown support.

Sitecore Custom Login Details With Version

It sure has been a while since I last posted anything interesting...or anything at all!

PowerShell Revisited - Running Commands

Running PowerShell Commands The command Get-Verb is an example of a cmdlet (pronounced "command-let").

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Manual

This document is a work in progress.

Archive Log Files with Sitecore PowerShell Extensions

The other day I was talking to Mike Reynolds (@mike_i_reynolds) about his idea of a FileWatcher for the Sitecore CMS log files.

Reports with Sitecore PowerShell Extensions

I was trolling through the Sitecore Marketplace the other day and found this cool module for reporting about media library items called Unused Media Manager .

Sitecore Code Editor 1.4 Preview

It's raining today here in Dallas which probably explains why I sound like I'm falling asleep in the video.

Format Excel Column for Size in GB

Today I was doing some reporting on file sizes and saw that I had columns with data in bytes.

Site Down for Maintenance

Here is something that I've been trying to setup as part of our deployment process.

Report Duplicate AD Users By EmployeeID

Note: The employeeID is formatted to 7 characters so that if you had numbers with leading 0s they would still be matched.

Hedgehog TDS - Package Version

I wanted to create TDS packages using the version from the project assembly version.

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions - Scheduled Tasks

Decided to try out using gists.

Windows PowerShell 4 - WMF 4.0

Here's the link to get the latest version of Windows PowerShell.

Sitecore Integrated with Ace Code Editor

Check out my latest video showing you how to configure the EditHtml dialog with the Ace Code Editor!

Sitecore Generic Shortcodes

I really enjoyed reading Sitecore Junkie's post about using Shortcodes in Sitecore.

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Mixing C# and PowerShell

$code = @" using System; namespace AwesomeNamespace { public enum AwesomeActivityType { Nothing, Sleeping, Eating, UsingSPE } public class AwesomeClass { public

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Unlock Items

Below is an example of how to unlock all items under the Content tree.

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Kick Users

Here's a quick way to kick users :) # Use the static class to get the list of sessions then for each session kick the user using the session id.

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Packages and Serialization

I'm at it again. Had fun today creating packages and serializing items with SPE.

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Creating Functions

Creating a function. Code below.

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Publishing

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Running Commands

Sounds like I have a lisp :) Need to work on my annunciation.

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Variables

So so so so so so.. Lord help me.

Find Active Directory Users with Duplicate EmployeeId

Today I needed to create a report of all Active Directory users with duplicate EmployeeId.

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Basic Usage

Basic run through on using the Console and ISE from within Sitecore.

Sitecore PowerShell Extensions Introduction

Finally put together an introduction to the Sitecore PowerShell Extensions module.

Active Directory - Find Difference Between Group Membership For User

While getting access transferred from one user to another, you may need to know how the group memberships are different between two users.

PowerShell Bible Scripture Function

I've been meaning to put this together for a while and just now got around to doing it.

Add Users to AD Group Using First Initial

Today at work we had a need to add users to specific Active Directory groups based on the first letter of the first name.

PoweShell Script Module

I put together a PowerShell Script Module some time ago and thought I would make it available for others.

CSharp String to SQL Table

I have a problem at work in which I need to convert a comma separated string into a SQL temp table.

Scripting Games 2013 Advanced Event 2 - My Submission

If you have not already, I highly recommend you work on the events for the Scripting Games .

Embedding Csharp in PowerShell Script

I wanted to use a "using block" found in C# to dispose of objects in PowerShell such as Streams or other object types that require the calling of Dispose.

PowerShell Module In Session

I found it a little difficult to bring in functions into a session so I thought this would help others with what helps me get the job done.

Run with PowerShell Context Menu

Today I was working on our automated build process at work, and found myself running a batch file in a console window that I wanted to remain open.

PowerShell Github Projects

I've been working on a few projects in PowerShell.

Disable PowerShell Remoting

Here are a few quick steps to "undo" the default changes performed by Enable-PSRemoting.

Discover PowerShell - Episode 4

I've been playing around with PowerShell remoting quite a bit lately and I thought making a tutorial on the basics would help solidify my understanding.

Discover PowerShell - Episode 5

Introduction on using the splatting feature in Windows PowerShell 3.

Determine If A Command Exists In PowerShell

Ed Wilson "The Scripting Guy" posted a great article a while back on how to determine if a command exists here .

Add Font to PowerShell Console

I saw an article about Adobe's release of a new font called Source Code Pro which was designed in part to help reduce the confusion between certain characters.

Get ValidateSet or Enum Options in PowerShell Command

Edit: I renamed the function because I didn't really like the name.

Discover PowerShell - Episode 1

I started a training series on using Windows PowerShell 3.

Discover PowerShell - Episode 2

I found that making these videos at home is far more relaxing than trying to sit in my cube at work.

Discover PowerShell - Episode 3

Final post of the training series tonight.

PowerShell : Downloading with BITS

PowerShell : Downloading with BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) The background: Recently I have been learning PowerShell.

Corner Bakery Cinnamon Creme Coffee Cake Recipe

I found this delicious recipe for coffee cake.

time for something new

It's a new year, and in my attempt to further my understanding in a plethora of areas, I've decided to start a blog.