Take the community feedback survey now.

Bartosz Sekula
Sep 28, 2021
  4112
(2 votes)

How to resolve current content context

With the release of CMS UI 11.36.2 it is now possible to resolve the current loaded content context from anywhere you may need.

It might be useful if you need any custom logic in any of the Content Events:

[ModuleDependency(typeof(EPiServer.Shell.UI.InitializationModule))]
public class CustomModule : IConfigurableModule
{
    public void Initialize(InitializationEngine context)
    {
        context.Locate.ContentEvents().CreatedContent += CreatedContent;
        context.Locate.ContentEvents().CreatingContent += CreatingContent;
    }

    private void CreatingContent(object sender, ContentEventArgs e)
    {   
        var currentContentContext = ServiceLocator.Current.GetInstance<CurrentContentContext>();
        // we know which content context initiated the CREATE operation        
        var currentContentLink = currentContentContext.ContentLink;

        var newlyCreatedContentLink = e.ContentLink; // --> null as at this point the ContentReference was not assigned yet
    }

    private void CreatedContent(object sender, ContentEventArgs e)
    {
        var newlyCreatedContentLink = e.ContentLink; // this is the ContentReference of the newly created content item
        // but we might need the ContentReference of the content that was being viewed when the CREATE operation was run
        var currentContentContext = ServiceLocator.Current.GetInstance<CurrentContentContext>();
        // this gives us the content context the editor was in
        var currentContentLink = currentContentContext.ContentLink;
    }

    public void Uninitialize(InitializationEngine context)
    {
        context.Locate.ContentEvents().CreatedContent -= CreatedContent;
        context.Locate.ContentEvents().CreatingContent -= CreatingContent;
    }

    public void ConfigureContainer(ServiceConfigurationContext context)
    {

    }
}

You might also need to know the current context in metadata aware components, like for example in this Editor Descriptor:

public class FooPageType : PageData 
{
    [EditorDescriptor(EditorDescriptorType = typeof(CollectionEditorDescriptor<OfferDetailsItem>))]
    public virtual IList<OfferDetailsItem> OfferDetailsItems { get; set; }
}

public class OfferDetailsItem
{
    [Display(Order = 1)]
    [UIHint("test")]
    public string Label { get; set; }
}

[PropertyDefinitionTypePlugIn]
public class OfferDetailsItemPropertyList : PropertyList<OfferDetailsItem>
{
}

[EditorDescriptorRegistration(TargetType = typeof(string), UIHint = "test")]
public class CustomXhtmlDescriptor : StringEditorDescriptor
{
    private readonly CurrentContentContext _currentContent;

    public CustomXhtmlDescriptor(CurrentContentContext currentContent)
    {
        _currentContent = currentContent;
    }

    public override void ModifyMetadata(ExtendedMetadata metadata, IEnumerable<Attribute> attributes)
    {
        base.ModifyMetadata(metadata, attributes);

        var ownerContent = metadata.FindOwnerContent(); // --> will return null because the object we annotate is not ContentData but simple POCO
        // https://world.optimizely.com/forum/developer-forum/CMS/Thread-Container/2016/1/current-content-for-propertylist-item-selection-factory/
        // and
        // https://world.optimizely.com/forum/developer-forum/CMS/Thread-Container/2021/9/tinymce-customization-depending-on-page-context/
        var currentContent = _currentContent.ContentLink; // --> will return correct page id
    }
}

Related forum posts that describe the problem:

https://world.optimizely.com/forum/developer-forum/CMS/Thread-Container/2021/9/tinymce-customization-depending-on-page-context/

https://world.optimizely.com/forum/developer-forum/CMS/Thread-Container/2020/12/get-value-of-contextepi-cms-contentdata/#234848

https://world.optimizely.com/forum/developer-forum/CMS/Thread-Container/2016/1/current-content-for-propertylist-item-selection-factory/

Sep 28, 2021

Comments

Tomas Hensrud Gulla
Tomas Hensrud Gulla Sep 28, 2021 11:54 AM

Will there be release notes describing this?

Bartosz Sekula
Bartosz Sekula Sep 28, 2021 11:55 AM

Yes, documentation is scheduled to be published. It will be available soon.

Tomas Hensrud Gulla
Tomas Hensrud Gulla Sep 28, 2021 11:59 AM

Excellent work, by the way. Thanks! :-)

Ravindra S. Rathore
Ravindra S. Rathore Sep 30, 2021 07:11 AM

👍

Please login to comment.
Latest blogs
How to setup Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) for CMS 12 site

Recently, I created a doc about configuring AAD with CMS 12, but it has been posted internally only So today, I would like to introduce it again in...

Tuan Anh Hoang | Nov 25, 2025

Running Optimizely CMS 12 on .NET 10 in Azure

Upgrade your Optimizely CMS website to .NET 10!

Tomas Hensrud Gulla | Nov 21, 2025 |

Experimentation Evolution with AI (Masterclass Recap)

If you think you are not using AI in your experimentation program you are probably wrong. Ever asked an AI to rephrase a hypothesis or brainstorm a...

Polly Walton | Nov 21, 2025

Effortlessly Configurable Custom Fields for Scheduled Jobs in Optimizely with PlugInProperty

Optimizely CMS lets developers add job parameters—such as textboxes and checkboxes—directly to the scheduled job admin UI using PlugInProperty. Wit...

Ravindra S. Rathore | Nov 21, 2025 |