CMSprinkle

NuGet

Package	Description	Version
CMSprinkle	Core package, required
CMSprinkle.Couchbase	Data provider for Couchbase
CMSprinkle.SqlServer	Data provider for SqlServer

Introduction

CMSprinkle is a micro-CMS (Content Management System) designed for quick integration with ASP.NET Core applications. It allows developers to easily incorporate managed content into ASP.NET MVC Razor pages, perfect for applications requiring a sprinkle of dynamic content management.

This was born out of the C# Advent, a site with only a tiny bit of content that needed to be managed, but it's too much of a hassle to manage it in static files, especially from a mobile device. A full-blown CMS was also way too much for this use case.

Features

• Easy Integration: Integrates with ASP.NET Core Razor pages, with a bias towards simplicity.
• Authentication Support: Configurable authentication for managing content: use whatever auth you want.
• Flexible Routing: Default /cmsprinkle base URL but you can change to whatever you want.
• Database Support: Compatible with Couchbase and SQL Server for content storage, whichever you're already using.
• Customizable Error Messages: Define custom messages for content-missing errors.
• Minimal tracking: Content is date/time stamped and stamped with the username who last updated it.
• Markdown: write your content in standard Markdown (using stackedit-js), which is rendered (and sanitized) as HTML

What you won't get

• CMS platform: CMSprinkle is a sprinkle of content management, not a full-blown CMS, or even a headless CMS. If you need something like that, there are a bajillion better options.
• Database Performance focus: Not of the box, at least. Database access is really simple. You'll have to add indexes yourself, and/or create your own implementation of ICMSprinkleDataService if you really want to squeeze out performance.
• Binaries: No image/video uploading, no binary file storage. Host those wherever, and put the links into your markdown.

Getting Started

You can check out the CMSprinkle.Example project to see how CMSprinkle is used.

Follow these steps to integrate CMSprinkle into your ASP.NET Core application:

1. Installation

Add CMSprinkle to your project via NuGet or by cloning this repository.

2. Configuration in _ViewImports.cshtml

Ensure CMSprinkle is available in your Razor pages by adding it to _ViewImports.cshtml:

@addTagHelper *, CMSprinkle

3. Using CMSprinkle in a Razor Page

Incorporate CMSprinkle in a Razor page as shown below:

<div>
    <h2>Welcome to my page</h1>
    
    @* CMSprinkle managed content inclusion *@
    <CMSprinkle contentKey="HelloWorld" />
</div>

4. Configuration

Set up basic configuration in Program.cs:

// Add authentication for CMSprinkle
builder.Services.AddTransient<ICMSprinkleAuth, YourAuthClass>();

// Configure CMSprinkle options
builder.Services.AddCMSprinkle(options =>
{
    // Route prefix for CMS pages (default: "cmsprinkle")
    options.RoutePrefix = "<your route prefix>";

    // Custom message for missing content
    options.ContentNotFoundMessage = (contentKey) => $"ERROR: Can't find {contentKey}, did you add it yet?";
});

Database Connection

Configure Couchbase for content storage:

builder.Services.AddCMSprinkleCouchbase("<bucket name>", "<scope name>", "<collection name>", createCollectionIfNecessary: true);

Alternatively, use SQLServer as the provider:

builder.Services.AddCMSprinkleSqlServer("<sql server connection string>", "<table name>", "<schema name>",  createTableIfNecessary: true);

Configuration Details

• ICMSprinkleAuth: Interface for configuring authentication. Create an implementation based on your security requirements. If you don't, default behavior is local access only.
• RoutePrefix: Determines the URL segment where CMS managed content is accessible.
• ContentNotFoundMessage: Function to generate custom error messages when content is not found. Helps in debugging content issues.

What about database [whatever]?

More providers may be added in the future besides Couchbase and SQL Server.

However, implementing your own provider isn't too difficult:

0. Check out the Contributing section below and the code of conduct.
1. Implement ICMSprinkleDataService
2. (Probably) add a ServiceCollection extension (e.g. AddCMSprinkle[Whatever]).
3. If you plan to implement and then contribute a provider, please make sure you open an issue ahead of time
4. Please consider writing integration tests (using testcontainers, if possible).

Contributing

Contributions of all shapes and sizes welcome! Please see the Contributing Guide for guidelines on how to contribute.

License

CMSprinkle is released under the MIT License.

Powered By

• Couchbase (.NET SDK) - for NoSQL storage
• Dapper - for SQL Server storage
• MarkDig - for Markdown rendering
• HtmlSanitizer - for helping prevent XSS
• StackEdit - for Markdown editing, with jsdelivr for CDN
• NUnit - for automated tests
• Bogus - for generating data for tests
• FakeItEasy - for mocking/fakes in tests
• Nito.AsyncEx - for AsyncLazy, used in testing
• Testcontainers for .NET - for integration testing