New Taxonomies

Posted by Community Admin on 24-Nov-2010 00:00

I'm trying to think in Taxonomies, Categories and such and so went and created a new classification type, filled it with come categories and then decided I wanted to classify some generic content items with this new taxonomy but can't see where I would apply it. The GC has a place to set Categories and Tags but no where to choose the new Classification. Am I missing something?

Also a small bug (at least in the SDK sample site). From the main menu if you click Content-->Generic Content it takes you to the Generic Content's comment management page instead of directly to the list of Generic Contents.

Posted by Community Admin on 24-Nov-2010 00:00

Hello KMac,

Here is a sample code that shows how to create a new taxonomy type.

public static void TryCreateNewTaxonomy(string taxonomyTitle, string taxonomyName, TaxonomyType type, params Type[] contentTypes)

if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(taxonomyTitle))

throw new ArgumentNullException("taxonomyTitle");

if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(taxonomyName))

throw new ArgumentNullException("taxonomyName");

var taxonomyManager = TaxonomyManager.GetManager();

// first check if the taxonomy of specified type and name already exists.

ITaxonomy taxonomy = null;

var iconCss = string.Empty;

switch (type)

case TaxonomyType.Flat:

taxonomy = taxonomyManager.GetTaxonomies<FlatTaxonomy>().Where(t => t.Name == taxonomyName).SingleOrDefault();

iconCss = "sfFlatTaxonIcn";

break;

case TaxonomyType.Hierarchical:

taxonomy = taxonomyManager.GetTaxonomies<HierarchicalTaxonomy>().Where(t => t.Name == taxonomyName).SingleOrDefault();

iconCss = "sfHierarchicalTaxonIcn";

break;

case TaxonomyType.Facet:

taxonomy = taxonomyManager.GetTaxonomies<FacetTaxonomy>().Where(t => t.Name == taxonomyName).SingleOrDefault();

break;

case TaxonomyType.Network:

taxonomy = taxonomyManager.GetTaxonomies<NetworkTaxonomy>().Where(t => t.Name == taxonomyName).SingleOrDefault();

break;

// if the taxonomy of given name and specified type does not exist, we will create it here

if (taxonomy == null)

switch (type)

case TaxonomyType.Flat:

taxonomy = taxonomyManager.CreateTaxonomy<FlatTaxonomy>();

break;

case TaxonomyType.Hierarchical:

taxonomy = taxonomyManager.CreateTaxonomy<HierarchicalTaxonomy>();

break;

case TaxonomyType.Facet:

taxonomy = taxonomyManager.CreateTaxonomy<FacetTaxonomy>();

break;

case TaxonomyType.Network:

taxonomy = taxonomyManager.CreateTaxonomy<NetworkTaxonomy>();

break;

taxonomy.Name = taxonomyName;

taxonomy.Title = taxonomyTitle;

taxonomyManager.SaveChanges();

// add dynamic fields to be used to store taxa from this new taxonomy

Manager.AddTaxonomyFieldToModel(taxonomy, taxonomyManager.Provider.Name, contentTypes);

// add the taxonomy control to the page editor toolbox

TaxonomyControlManager.AddTaxonomyControlToToolbox((Taxonomy)taxonomy, iconCss, taxonomy.Name);

// add user interface elements to the backend content forms

Manager.AddUserInterfaceElementToBackendForm(type, taxonomy, contentTypes);

private static void AddTaxonomyFieldToModel(ITaxonomy taxonomy, string taxonomyProvider, params Type[] contentTypes)

MetaField field;

var metaMan = MetadataManager.GetManager();

foreach (var contentType in contentTypes)

var type = metaMan.GetMetaType(contentType);

if (type == null)

type = metaMan.CreateMetaType(contentType);

var taxonomyName = taxonomy.Name;

var result = metaMan.GetMetafields().SingleOrDefault(f => f.FieldName == taxonomyName);

if (result == null)

field = metaMan.CreateMetafield(taxonomy.Name);

field.TaxonomyProvider = taxonomyProvider;

field.TaxonomyId = taxonomy.Id;

field.IsSingleTaxon = false;

type.Fields.Add(field);

metaMan.SaveChanges(true);

adding taxonomy to the toolbox

var controlToolbox = toolboxConfig.Toolboxes["PageControls"];

var classificationSection = controlToolbox.Sections.Where<ToolboxSection>(s => s.Name == "Classifications").SingleOrDefault();

var existingControls = classificationSection.Tools.Where<ToolboxItem>(t => t.ControlType == typeof(TaxonomyControl).FullName);

foreach (var existingControl in existingControls)

if (existingControl.Parameters["TaxonomyId"] == taxonomy.Id.ToString())

return;

var toolboxItem = new ToolboxItem(classificationSection.Tools)

ControlType = typeof(TaxonomyControl).FullName,

Name = taxonomy.Name,

Title = taxonomy.Title,

Description = taxonomy.Description,

Enabled = true,

CssClass = toolboxCssClass,

Parameters = new NameValueCollection() "TaxonomyId", taxonomy.Id.ToString() , "FieldName", metaFieldName

;

classificationSection.Tools.Add(toolboxItem);

to add your custom taxonomy type to a given module you need a custom definition class

var taxonSection = new ContentViewSectionElement(detailView.Sections)

Name = "TaxonSection",

Title = Res.Get<ModuleResources>().CustomType,

ResourceClassId = typeof(ModuleResources).Name,

CssClass = "sfExpandableForm",

ExpandableDefinitionConfig =

Expanded = false

;

// reusing CategoriesFieldWriteMode for demonsration - it is used for categories in content modules.

var HierarchicalTaxonElement = DefinitionTemplates.CategoriesFieldWriteMode(taxonSection.Fields);

HierarchicalTaxonElement.DisplayMode = displayMode;

taxonSection.Fields.Add(HierarchicalTaxonElement );

detailView.Sections.Add(taxonSection);

As for the SDK, are you using the latest build of Sitefinity 4.0.910?

Kind regards,
Ivan Dimitrov
the Telerik team

Do you want to have your say when we set our development plans? Do you want to know when a feature you care about is added or when a bug fixed? Explore the Telerik Public Issue Tracking system and vote to affect the priority of the items

Posted by Community Admin on 24-Nov-2010 00:00

Hey Ivan,

Just to clarify when I said taxonomy, I meant a custom classification. Is this something that is going to work out of the box with the final release or do we have to do this every time we want to create a site with custom taxonomies. I just assumed that because you can make custom taxonomies through the UI it would automatically pick up these taxonomies, especially since editors can theoretically go in and create these taxonomies themselves.

And as far as the SDK, I'm using the version uploaded on the 22nd. (I'm not in front of my development machine so don't know the exact version).

Posted by Community Admin on 25-Nov-2010 00:00

Hi Ivan,

After reading through more of the developer manual, I think I was using the wrong term. I'm not looking to use a new taxomony class, just a new classification based on hierarchical lists. I created that new classification through the UI (Content --> All Classifications --> Create Classification) and populated it with items that make sense for my classification. Now all I want to do is tag some generic content or news items with this new classification set. Are they not just readily available after creating throught the UI? If not, will they be?

And I was wrong, I hadn't updated the SDK to 910 so it seems to be fixed.

Posted by Community Admin on 29-Nov-2010 00:00

Hello KMac,

We are working on an implementation that will allow you to add your custom classification to Edit and New views. Currently the only way to assign a content item to a given taxon is using SetTaxon Method

Kind regards,
Ivan Dimitrov
the Telerik team

Do you want to have your say when we set our development plans? Do you want to know when a feature you care about is added or when a bug fixed? Explore the Telerik Public Issue Tracking system and vote to affect the priority of the items

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