ai

Essential Tools for the Modern #Sitecore Developer in an AI-Driven World

/ sitecorerunner (@reilleyweb) / Leave a comment

Several years ago I posted about essential tools for every Sitecore developer. A lot of things have changed since then. You can find that blog here if you want to go down memory lane. Fast forward to the current world of AI. A lot has changed since then, but not just because of AI. As it is inevitable, languages have changed and the way we code has. Here is my list of what I like to use in the current year. Let me know what you would add.

Visual Studio Code

VS Code has taken over a lot of functionality that we used to use with Visual Studio. With React components I have not gone back to using Visual Studio unless it is for MVC. Not only does VS Code work well with development environments it works well with opening text files that I used notes for in the past. It also works well on MacOS and seems to have no limitations.

Microsoft Copilot

If you needed a virtual developer that was a parrot on your shoulder this would be it. Using AI you get so many more features now in your development environment. Inlined code previews and contextual recommendations just to name a few. I believe Cursor has become popular, but I haven’t used that as much yet.

Your Preferred AI

ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini etc… are all battling it out. It is good to have some options to run things by. You will be surprised the different answers you get.

Sitecore Starter Kit

Every great project has to start somewhere. I always suggest starting with the starter kit. It not only benefits your architecture, but if you have any support tickets with Sitecore it will be easier for them to troubleshoot. You can find XM Cloud/SitecoreAI starter kit here.

Storybook

You don’t always have access to test something real time and/or you just want to see if things in theory will work. With Storybook as part of your React solution you can test your components before they are used anywhere else. A good example is if you don’t have access to the Content Hub at the moment and you just need to test if something will work. You can simulate the data and see the expected results.

Sitecore Serialization

Unicorn and TDS were both essential products for classic Sitecore sites. However Sitecore Serialization is the way to go for the smoothest transition to serialize your Sitecore items. It works well and easy to setup.

PowerShell

I can’t count the number of times I needed to use PowerShell. You can use it for so many things. From fixing data, to uploading a big set of images and creating reports. You can use AI to help you write scripts. Of course they should be tested with a small set of data. You can find more about it here.

Accessibility Checker

Having an accessible site is important. There are a lot of tools to use. One of the more popular ones is Siteimprove. Anyone should be able to browse a website no matter their special abilities.

AstroGrep

I may not use this as much as I did in the MVC world, but as your solution grows and serialized items this tool will come in handy still. Searching inside files is key when you need to find that hard to find bug issue. You can find it here.

Sitecore Icon Search

Always use this tool to find the correct icon for the right Sitecore item. You can find it here.

Sitecore Community

Saving the best tool for last. I dare you to find a better community that helps each other out. Here is a list of Sitecore community sites to join.

  • Join the Sitecore Slack community. You can find it here.
  • Sitecore Reddit channel has all the latest blogs and news. Find it here.
  • Follow and like Sitecore on LinkedIn. Find it here.
  • Find a local Sitecore meetup group. They also have online ones as well.

Wrapping Up

This list will keep changing, but one thing is for certain. AI is a great tool for developers, but will not replace them. You need to make sure code is clean, scalable, secure and ready for production. Code reviews and thorough developers are needed more than ever. So what tools do you use?

#SitecoreAI Exam: Tips for Helping you Pass #Sitecore

/ sitecorerunner (@reilleyweb) / Leave a comment

Within the last year I passed the XM Cloud exam. When it was announced that XM Cloud would become SitecoreAI I was wondering if I would need to take the exam again. The answer was yes. Now I will say it was close to the XM Cloud exam, but somewhat different. I believe there were more questions. Here is my quick summary to help you pass. On a side note I did one for the Content Hub exam a few years back. You can find that here.

Use a Sandbox if available.

If you have access to a sandbox go through the steps of creating a SitecoreAI site and setting up a development environment. This will help make things more clear to see the actual process of what is involved. Get a site up and running is key.

Use the exam study guides online documentation.

Sitecore learning has study guides and documentation available that will go over much of what you need to learn for SitecoreAI. Here is a link to check it out. https://doc.sitecore.com/sai/en/developers/sitecoreai/sitecoreai.html

Create your own study guide.

Take notes and make a study guide. Even create your own quiz. If you don’t pass the exam the first time quickly write down what you struggled with and put that in your study guide. Using the link above for SitecoreAI you should be able to come up with a great study guide.

Understand Sitecore basics.

  • Templates how inheritance works and how they are defined.
  • Understand how standard values work and why you should use them.
  • Understand the presentation layer and the difference between SXA and non-SXA sites.

Understand how deployments and archtecture work.

You will need to understand how code goes from your local environment to the cloud. Understanding basic integration and Git hub is important. You are already probably using it, but brush up on CI/CD deployment. The deployment setup for SitecoreAI is different than traditional MVC. Make sure you know environmental variables needed and how new sites are provisioned.

Go through the process of creating a component.

Creating a component is pretty straightforward. Following https://doc.sitecore.com/sai/en/developers/sitecoreai/build-your-first-component.html#create-the-rendering-definition should get you started. This will give you a better idea how SitecoreAI differs from Sitecore MVC.

Serialization

Learn how Sitecore serialization works. Make sure you get to know the parameters needed and why such as path. Look at the starter kit and how that is setup.

Use multiple choice strategies.

This is always better said than done. However you have four answers to choose from. I found at least two answers didn’t make sense. So I tried to eliminate those. The last two you really need to figure out which one the answer should be. Look into the question for help, but also look at other questions that may also give you clues. At the end of the day if you can’t decide, choose the one that makes the most logical sense.

Breathe and Relax.

I am getting better at this. I tend to be nervous going into any test I take. I soon relax as the test goes on. I tend to get a little anxious when I don’t have a clear answer to questions. Just breathing and relaxing really does help. Just don’t breathe too loud because the microphone may pick it up and the exam could get paused.  The answer is there, just reread the question and again make the logical choice.

Conclusion

No matter what happens don’t give up trying. If you fail, learn from it and don’t be worried about taking the exam again. I always recommend taking the training and exam prep offered by Sitecore.

#Sitecore Hackathon 2026 : 24 Hours of Adventures

/ sitecorerunner (@reilleyweb) / Leave a comment

I think I lost track of how many hackathons I have participated in. Each one is different win or lose. This year’s was no exception. Although I was doing this solo I had AI helping me when needed for the first time. It was great to get the additional help. No AI is not replacing developers. However as developers though we need to embrace it as an another tool.

The following were this year’s categories.

1. Best Marketplace App for Sitecore AI – Build something publishable. Not just a demo.

2. Applied AI Within the Sitecore Execution Pipeline – Demonstrate how AI can be embedded within Sitecore execution flows to improve quality, governance, personalization, or performance.

3. Best Tool Supporting Sitecore Development (Not Built on Sitecore)

I chose 1. Because for quite a while I had an idea of a great marketplace app. It would be similar to something I did in the content hub, but with the flexibility of a marketplace app I could do more. To premise this I think it is important for SEO considerations for websites, but more importantly is accessibility. I recently did training for accessibility. It was very eye opening and I learned a lot of things I did not consider before. So my goal was to make something useful for strategists, marketers and content editors. Here is kind of how it went. Comic strip created by AI.

Hour by Hour

Here is a good breakdown of the hours spent. I think I am finally caught up with sleep although daylight savings time did not help.

1-4 Make sure access rights is working in the repository and get the marketplace starter kit. Merge the code needed into my repository.

5-8 Got things working, but not sure if it is good enough. I think the SEO suggestions should also include accessibility checking and suggestions.

9-10 Worked with AI to help me structure my code better. While doing this it knew what I was doing somehow and offered me suggestions to add the app to help with what I wanted to accomplish.

11-14 Looking good and got things working. I really like how it turned out.

15-24 Off and on getting documentation right and making sure I didn’t miss anything. Made a few last minute changes to the documentation and code.

What I Discovered

  • No matter the plan and the idea you have there is always something you will encounter that might derail them. I have used OpenAI before in React components, but not in a marketplace app. I had to learn how to incorporate it so it would work within the marketplace. It also had to be much cleaner. No POC, it needed to work.
  • Ok got things working, but let’s face it you need something that stands out. I wrote down all the stuff I wanted to add. Being solo has its drawbacks because you don’t have a human to bounce ideas off of. So I decided to use AI to bounce some questions off of. It was like having a virtual partner. I wasn’t so lonely anymore. 🙂
  • Structuring your code is important. I am coming from an MVC background so there is some differences in my opinion on how you should structure the code. Similar to going from one car to another. They are both cars, but two different cars.
  • AI can help you document and format your code. This is definitely something that helps make sure things are clean and documented. Always double check comments are correct though.
  • The single most important thing is know your audience. Not every app is for you. I had to think how someone who would be using this would want to use this. It needed to be helpful and really add some value.

The Big Reveal

So here is the big reveal. Screenshot and video below. I chose to do a panel app that appears in the page editor. Using AI SEO suggestions were generated along with accessibility issues.

So it was a great relief getting something handed in on time. I don’t know what the results will be, but I feel like lessons learned is the most important win you can have. I got know something I plan to use more in the future. AI is here. A great tool when you need help.

Feeling like a Kid in a Candy Store with #Sitecore Stream for 10.4 DXP

/ sitecorerunner (@reilleyweb) / Leave a comment

One of the things announce during Symposium that Sitecore Stream would be available for all platforms. I got to first use it in the Content Hub, but I was finally able to try it on DXP. I found it is available on the demo portal so I quickly deployed a new site. So here is the features I found and some fun tests I was able to do.

Single Line Text

All fields will work similar so I will start with a Single Line Text. In an AI enabled component you will see Sitecore Stream symbol. Clicking on it will bring up an AI enabled search.

The following will appear. I am going to ask “Can you make a title about something supernatural?”. Then click the Generate button. This is what we get.

If I select a Brand and generate again this is what I get.

Now I am going to use the Variants to generate option and choose number 3 to use.

Now we have a title to work with to make things really pop.

Rich Text Editor

The RTE field works exactly the same way as Single Line Text field, but will give a longer text version.

Let’s test this a little more though. I am going to have it create a bulleted list with and image of something supernatural. Now I am really impressed.

How about if we ask for something in a different language? Sitecore Stream can do that too.

Experience Editor

Works in Experience Editor too in case you were wondering.

Configuration

I didn’t have authorization because this is a demo site, but in the Desktop there is a Stream section added that you can configure Sitecore Stream.

Future enhancements?

This is a great start and hope things continue to be added. One thing I liked to see is an image generator for customers not in the Content Hub.

Sitecore Symposium Summary and Final Thoughts #SitecoreSYM

/ sitecorerunner (@reilleyweb) / Leave a comment

Still unwinding from one of the best weeks I have spent in Nashville. It was the only week I ever spent there. I am sure the Sitecore Symposium made it better than any other week.In this blog I will break down some of the highlights and give you my final thoughts. The them for the Symposium was The Power to Build. That is something that rings true.

Food Tour

One of the best things I did in Nashville was the food tour. It was well organized by Chet. Learned some good history and had some great food.

MVP Summit

I can’t share much yet, but as always a great time. Learned a lot and got a lot of questions answered. I got to meet my mentee in person so that was really exciting. He is doing great things and I have no doubt he will be a future MVP.

Sitecore Stream

AI is the current and the future hottest technology. With Sitecore Stream AI will be part of the DNA in all of Sitecore products. We have probably heard a lot already about Sitecore Stream. Here are some of the things I believe it will offer. To find out more go here.

  • AI Enhanced Workflows
  • Consistent content and branding.
  • Faster website page creation.
  • Content remains the property of the customer.

XP

It not be the new shiny ring, but it sure has not lost its luster.

  • Updates are released through various versions of Sitecore prior to XP, minimizing the potential for breaking changes.
  • XP will also gain from Sitecore Stream and Copilot (AI features).
  • XP will continue to get support.
  • Copilot AI will be integrated into the Content Editor. It will help in generating textual content, like titles and descriptions. It will also correct grammar and spelling errors.
  • There will be a choice to use Sitecore Search instead of SOLR.
  • MVC to Headless Migration Tooling will be provided.

Content Hub

  • More AI features added.
  • Sharing of assets between DAM and CMP.
  • Can use your own AI.
  • AI Integration: The focus is on injecting AI into business processes, particularly in content creation and marketing functions. Discussions revolved around challenges with using off-the-shelf AI tools and the need for business-specific logic.
  • Content Strategy: The aim is to enhance the quality of photography from various partners. It also aims to increase the quantity while addressing issues like licensing costs. Another focus is on ensuring brand alignment.
  • Feedback Mechanism: A system for feedback on generated images was proposed. Users evaluate assets. They give feedback to improve the AI model’s accuracy and effectiveness.

Sitecore Search

  • Modernize search experiences, ensuring consistency across diverse business units while focusing on user requirements and data governance.
  • Highlighted the need for flexible search solutions that can adapt to various content types and user needs.
  • They have merged Discover (Commerce based Search) and their non-commerce-based search into a single product now.
  • Has OOTB development kit which supports React.

XM Cloud

  • XM Cloud is now HIPPA compliant. That is huge news.
  • Many more frontend stacks supported and starter kits.
  • Retirement of Experience Editor and shift to Page Editor.
  • XM Sites – Dashboard which helps manage a multi-site tenant.

Unified Tracking

Capable of keeping track across SaaS product like Connect, Personalize and CDP. Tracking and privacy will be much smoother.

Marketplace

Marketplace is coming back.
Will have starter installations that will help get things up and running the way customers want.
Open to Sitecore and Trusted Partners.

Katie Ledecky

What an amazing athlete. Great hearing what she had to say. I never knew the medals have a piece of the Eiffel tower.

Brendan Hunt

You heard me many times quote Ted Lasso. It was an honor to see Coach Beard in the flesh. Remember to “Be Curious Not Judgmental”.

Teammates

Working from home it was great to see people that I haven’t seen a while in person. Most of all my teammates.

Swag

Got some really great stuff from the store. My chocolate lab Murray is modeling his new Sitecore collar.

Final Thoughts

I feel like Sitecore that I fell in love with over ten years ago is back. They are posed to really overtake the market. There is so much to learn. I plan to stay with the products that I know best. I will expand my knowledge for sure and hopefully start looking into products I haven’t used much before.