Extend the Tasks pane with custom queries

Describes how to extend the task pane that is part of the Optimizely Content Management System (CMS) user interface.

The Tasks pane contains predefined lists with queries like Drafts, Rejected or Recently Changed. You can also build your own query and plug it into the tasks list.

To add your own query, you need to implement IContentQueryInterface or inherit from one of the base classes that already have this interface (ContentQueryBase, ContentActivitiesQueryBase).

public class CustomQuery : ContentQueryBase 
      {
        // …  
      }

The query has to be registered in IOC container under IContentQuery type (using ServiceConfiguration attribute).

[ServiceConfiguration(typeof(IContentQuery))]
    public class CustomQuery : ContentQueryBase 
      {
        // …  
      }

Then a few properties have to be implemented:

Name – unique name for the query
DisplayName – label displayed in drop-down list, used for grouping queries in the list
SortOrder – defines the position on the list
VersionSpecific - determines if query results should be treated as version specific when comparing links
PluginAreas – to make the query visible in the tasks list, we have to set PluginAreas to EPiServer.Shell.ContentQuery.KnownContentQueryPlugInArea.EditorTasks string constant.

public override IEnumerable<string> PlugInAreas = new string[] { KnownContentQueryPlugInArea.EditorTasks };

Implement a custom query

In this example, we will create a query used to display all pages that were manually marked as being edited.

There is a repository registered under the IInUseNotificationRepository interface that returns all of its content. We use it in GetContentMethod.

[ServiceConfiguration(typeof(IContentQuery))]
    public class MarkAsEditedQuery : ContentQueryBase
      {
        private readonly IContentRepository contentRepository;
        private readonly IInUseNotificationRepository inUseNotificationRepository;
    
        public MarkAsEditedQuery(IContentQueryHelper queryHelper, IContentRepository contentRepository,
          IInUseNotificationRepository inUseNotificationRepository) : base(contentRepository, queryHelper)
            {
              this.contentRepository = contentRepository;
              this.inUseNotificationRepository = inUseNotificationRepository;
            }
        public override string Name => "markedAsEdit";
        public override string DisplayName => "Marked as edit";
        public override IEnumerable<string> PlugInAreas => new string[] { KnownContentQueryPlugInArea.EditorTasks };
        public override int SortOrder => 105;
        public override bool VersionSpecific =rt false;
        protected override IEnumerable<IContent> GetContent(ContentQueryParameters parameters)
          {
            return inUseNotificationRepository.GetAllInUseNotifications()
              .Where(n => n.AddedManually)
              .Select(c => contentRepository.Get<IContent>(c.ContentGuid));
          }
      }

After running the application, the query will be placed under "OTHERS" category.

To place it under one of existing categories, for example "STATUS", you need to add a generic type to ContentQueryBase or add a generic IContentQuery interface.

public class MarkAsEditedQuery : ContentQueryBase<TasksStatusQueryCategory>
    
    // or
    
    public class MarkAsEditedQuery : ContentQueryBase, IContentQuery<TasksStatusQueryCategory>

Create custom query categories

It is also possible to create your own query category. Category is a class that implements the IContentQueryCategory interface and it is registered in IOC container under the IContentQueryCategory type (using ServiceConfiguration attribute).

[ServiceConfiguration(typeof(IContentQueryCategory), Lifecycle = ServiceInstanceScope.Singleton)]
    public class AlloyQueryCategory : IContentQueryCategory
      {
        public string DisplayName => "Alloy tasks";
        public int SortOrder => 100;
      }

The class has to implement two properties, DisplayName, which could be the name or key to a localization service, and SortOrder which is used when sorting categories in the list. Instead of using TasksStatusQueryCategory, use the AlloyQueryCategory.

Updated about 1 year ago