Change ASCX file content using SiteFinity web UI

Question

We are using Sitefinity 6.0.

We have an end user that would like to make changes to the header custom control in:

C:\inetpub\xxx\App_Data\Sitefinity\WebsiteTemplates\xxx\UserControls\Header.ascx

We would like the end user to be able to make changes to the file using the SiteFinity web, instead of opening the file in Windows and editing it directly.

Is it possible? What with Sitefinity 7.0?

Answer 1

There is an option to register the templates of custom controls so that they can be edited through the UI. This blog posts explains the process: http://www.sitefinity.com/blogs/slavo-ingilizovs-blog/2012/09/21/making-your-widget-templates-editable-through-the-ui.

However if you are using user controls you will not be able to use this method. This approach works with custom controls. You can find more about different types of widgets (user controls vs. custom control) here: http://www.sitefinity.com/documentation/documentationarticles/developers-guide/sitefinity-essentials/controls.

Answer 2

To change the html markup of the UserControl you can simply go to the File manager from the Sitefinity backend (Administration -> File Manager).

If it is codebehind code, you will need to recompile your solution, so you can't do this on the fly.

If you need to set properties, use the solution that Ben mentioned in his comment.