Add Pages from Code

You can add pages programmatically using C#. In the current version of C1 CMS you can do it by creating raw page objects using the CMS Data API.

We have encapsulated this logic in a more user-friendly function call, available in this PageCreationDemo class.

using System;
using System.Globalization;
using Composite.Data;
using Composite.Data.Types;


namespace Demo
{
    /// <summary>
    /// A demo class that allows you to create pages programmatically
    /// </summary>
    public static class PageCreationDemo
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Adds a new page to the system and publishes it. This sample expects that 
        /// the Layout Template used has a &lt;rendering:placeholder /&gt; with id="contentplaceholder" 
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="parentId">ID of the parent page for structural placement. Use Guid.Empty for the top-level page.</param>
        /// <param name="templateId">ID of a template to use</param>
        /// <param name="pageTypeId">ID of a page type to use</param>
        /// <param name="title">Page title</param>
        /// <param name="pageDescription">Page description</param>
        /// <param name="pageCulture">Language (culture) of the page</param>
        /// <param name="menuTitle">String to use in menues. Use an empty string to keep this page out of navigations.</param>
        /// <param name="urlTitle">A single folder name to use in URLs</param>
        /// <param name="pageContentXhtml">Content of the page. This demo only supports single content</param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        public static Guid CreateNewPage(
            Guid parentId,
            Guid pageTypeId,
            Guid templateId,
            string title,
            string pageDescription,
            CultureInfo pageCulture,
            string menuTitle,
            string urlTitle,
            string pageContentXhtml)
        {
            using (var connection = new DataConnection(PublicationScope.Unpublished, pageCulture))
            {
                ////// *** PAGE *** //////

                IPage page = DataConnection.New<IPage>();

                page.Id = Guid.NewGuid();
                page.PageTypeId = pageTypeId;
                page.TemplateId = templateId;
                page.Title = title;
                page.Description = pageDescription;
                page.MenuTitle = menuTitle;
                page.UrlTitle = urlTitle;
                page = page.AddPageAtBottom(parentId);

                ////// *** PLACEHOLDER *** //////

                IPagePlaceholderContent content = DataConnection.New<IPagePlaceholderContent>();

                content.Content = pageContentXhtml;
                content.PlaceHolderId = "contentplaceholder";
                content.PageId = page.Id;

                content = connection.Add(content);

                ////// *** PUBLISHING *** ///////

                page.PublicationStatus = "published";
                connection.Update(page);

                content.PublicationStatus = "published";
                connection.Update(content);
                
                return page.Id;
            }
        }
    }
}

Download the sample code

This function requires information about the page title, content, page type ID, page template ID etc.

Show sample code for v 5.1 or later

using System;
using System.Globalization;
using Composite.Data;
using Composite.Data.Types;


namespace Demo.C1_5_1
{
    /// <summary>
    /// A demo class that allows you to create pages programmatically
    /// </summary>
    public static class PageCreationDemo
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Adds a new page to the system and publishes it. This sample expects that 
        /// the Layout Template used has a &lt;rendering:placeholder /&gt; with id="contentplaceholder" 
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="parentId">ID of the parent page for structural placement. Use Guid.Empty for the top-level page.</param>
        /// <param name="templateId">ID of a template to use</param>
        /// <param name="pageTypeId">ID of a page type to use</param>
        /// <param name="title">Page title</param>
        /// <param name="pageDescription">Page description</param>
        /// <param name="pageCulture">Language (culture) of the page</param>
        /// <param name="menuTitle">String to use in menues. Use empty string to keep this page out of navigations.</param>
        /// <param name="urlTitle">A single folder name to use in URLs</param>
        /// <param name="pageContentXhtml">Content of the page. This demo only supports single content</param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        public static Guid CreateNewPage(
            Guid parentId,
            Guid pageTypeId,
            Guid templateId,
            string title,
            string pageDescription,
            CultureInfo pageCulture,
            string menuTitle,
            string urlTitle,
            string pageContentXhtml)
        {
            using (var connection = new DataConnection(PublicationScope.Unpublished, pageCulture))
            {
                ////// *** PAGE *** //////

                IPage page = DataConnection.New<IPage>();

                page.Id = Guid.NewGuid();
                page.PageTypeId = pageTypeId;
                page.TemplateId = templateId;
                page.Title = title;
                page.Description = pageDescription;
                page.MenuTitle = menuTitle;
                page.UrlTitle = urlTitle;

                // The page.Add(...) method will add the default page placeholder contents, and other data
                // based on a page type referenced in the page.PageTypeId property
                page = page.Add(parentId, PageInsertPosition.Bottom);

                ////// *** PLACEHOLDER *** //////

                /* 
              
                IPagePlaceholderContent content = DataConnection.New<IPagePlaceholderContent>();

                content.Content = pageContentXhtml;
                content.PlaceHolderId = "contentplaceholder";
                content.PageId = page.Id;

                content = connection.Add(content);*/

                ////// *** PUBLISHING *** ///////

                page.PublicationStatus = "published";
                connection.Update(page);
                
                return page.Id;
            }
        }
    }
}

Testing PageCreationDemo

Here is the sample code that calls the function to create a page:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Linq;
using Composite.Data;
using Composite.Data.Types;
using Composite.Core.PageTemplates;

using Demo;


/// <summary>
/// Summary description for TestCreatePageDemo
/// </summary>
public class TestCreatePageDemo
{
   public static string CreatePage()
   {
       using (DataConnection connection = new DataConnection())
       {
           Guid pageTypeId = connection.Get<IPageType>().First().Id; // grab some page type id 
           Guid templateId = PageTemplateFacade.GetPageTemplates().First(template => template.IsValid).Id; // grab some template id

           Guid parentId = Guid.Empty; // make new website
           CultureInfo pageCulture = new  CultureInfo("da-DK" ); // we will add a Danish page 
           string content = "<h1>This is content</h1><p>Hello world!</p>" ; // test markup

           Guid addedPageId = PageCreationDemo.CreateNewPage(
               parentId,
               pageTypeId,
               templateId, 
               "The Page Title", 
               "Page description...",    
               pageCulture, 
               "Menu Title", 
               "urltitle", 
               content);  

           return string.Format("A page added with ID {0}", addedPageId);
       }
   }
}

Download the sample code

(For a quick test, you can add it as a C# external method in the CMS Administrative Console.)