As 2015 starts to kick off I figured I would like follow my fellow MVPs and recap some of my favorite articles form 2014. Needless to say, it’s been a very busy year in the Kentico world, with the release of v8 (well, really close to this year in Nov 2013) and then with v8.1 in August. The most exciting part the year was Kentico’s shift to more frequent releases and their commit to shaping the product to fit the industry’s needs. All of this activity has really given devs a lot to write about and this collection are some of my favorites. So let’s get to the list!
1. My blog on integrating PayPal Express with Kentico
The topics for my blogs are almost always born out of my own experiences and challenges as a developer. This particular series (3 articles in total) breaks down the complexities of PayPal and I try to provide a good start for anyone looking to extend their online store.
Integrating PayPal Express with Kentico CMS
2. Brian McKeiver tells how to debug your VS website in short order
Perhaps one of the simplest topics, this particular one really helps a lot of people and that is what being an MVP is all about. Brian explains how to set a few configs that drastically speed up the debug process with websites, an essential skill when developing a site
Speed Up Your Kentico Debugging in Visual Studio
3. Ilesh Mistry’s guide on working with Kentico EMS, for a developer
One of the biggest challenges in developing a site is building and configuring it in a way that the client can actually use it. With the addition of ecommerce and online marketing into the mix, this can be a daunting task. Ilesh’s blog breaks down this process in a great way that shows developers how to educate their clients and set them up for success.
4. Jeroen Furst shows how to automate a little housekeeping on a site
Even the best coded site in the world can be brought to its knees with some bad logic or resource utilization. At the core, all sites run on a web server and memory is always at premium. Jeroen’s blog explains how to clean up some memory to make sure your site always has the most available.
Clean unused memory automatically (or not?)
5. My blog on how to use the Caching API in your code
One of my earlier blogs this year, this article discusses how to use the Caching API in your code to maximize performance and reduce overhead processing. As with other articles in the list, this blog focuses on making sure your site runs well and that starts with the code you actually write.
How to Leverage the Kentico Caching API in Your Code
(I just had to added another to the list!)
6. Martin Hejtmanek explains just what a DataQuery is
A ton of things changed in v8 from the front-end to the back-end. One of most exciting additions was the Data Query concept. Begin such a new and innovative process, Martin published a number of blogs on the topic to explain how to make the most of this new feature and really improve your site performance while reducing your code.
So there you go. Just of few of my favorite blogs from the year from myself as well as my fellow MVPs. Helping the community is why we do this gig so hopefully you enjoy them as much as we enjoy creating them. I’d love to hear about some your favorites, as well!