Take the community feedback survey now.

Manoj Kumawat
Aug 26, 2019
  4250
(4 votes)

Accessing ContentReference in schedule job or Initialization module where you receive HttpContext as null

Often you want to work with content in an initialization module or a scheduled job and use a reference to the Start page. But in these scenarios, there is no HTTP context, so the system does not know what site you want to work with. 

One fix is to set a wildcard * as a hostname in the configuration of one of you sites. This site will then be returned by ContentReference.StartPage.

Here is an example of how you can customize this. Go to your website > Admin> config > Manage Websites and do the following - 

It should now give you a reference of StartPage of the site, see below- 

Better Alternative

A more flexible alternative is to use the ISiteDefinitionRepository to get a list of all sites and write logic to select the one you want to work with.

Here is how you can make usage of this repository - 

var siteDefinitionRepo = ServiceLocator.Current.GetInstance<ISiteDefinitionRepository>();
var siteDefinitions = siteDefinitionRepo.List().ToList();

Now you can work with the site item which we've just got via this Repository.

On a side note, However I've created an instance of above repository just for a demo purpose but you should always inject your dependencies and get them resolved with IOC container like StructureMap which Episerver recommends.

Have a great day!

Aug 26, 2019

Comments

valdis
valdis Aug 26, 2019 07:06 PM

I was about to write about ServiceLocator and then read your last sentence ;))

Please login to comment.
Latest blogs
Building Optimizely OCP Apps Faster with AI and Coding Assistants

Developing Optimizely Connect Platform (OCP) apps can be a rewarding but complex process—especially when integrating with external APIs. Over the...

Pawel Zieba | Sep 11, 2025

New Opal Certifications Are Live and Free!

We’ve got some exciting news to share: two brand-new Opal certifications are now available and they’re completely free. Whether you’re already...

Satata Satez | Sep 10, 2025

Going Headless: On-Page Editing with Optimizely Graph and Next.js

Introduction On-page editing is one of the standout features of Optimizely CMS, giving editors the power to update content directly on the site as...

Michał Mitas | Sep 10, 2025

Dynamic CSP Management for Headless and Hybrid Optimizely CMS with Next.js

In the evolving realm of web security, Content Security Policy (CSP) is essential for defending against XSS and injection attacks. Traditional...

Minesh Shah (Netcel) | Sep 8, 2025