The IsHelper methods are a set of extension methods for IPublishedContent to help perform quick conditional queries against IPublishedContent nodes in a collection.

IsHelper methods are ternary operators, however they work a little nicer since they can be embedded in properties. They are also quicker to write because fewer brackets are needed for Razor to understand them.

How to use

An IsHelper can be invoked as a method of an IPublishedContent.

@{
if(item.IsVisible())
{
<a href="@item.Url()">@item.Name</a>
}
}

IsHelper Methods

IsComposedOf(string alias)

Test whether the content is of a content type composed of the given alias.

IsAllowedTemplate(int templateId)

Test whether the specified templateId is an allowed template for the current node.

IsAllowedTemplate(string templateAlias)

Test whether the specified templateAlias is an allowed template for the current node.

"WebRouting": {
    "ValidateAlternativeTemplates": true,
    "DisableAlternativeTemplates": false
 }

.IsEqual(IPublishedContent otherNode[,string valueIfTrue][,string valueIfFalse])

Test if the current node is equal (by Id) to another node.

.IsNotEqual(IPublishedContent otherNode[,string valueIfTrue][,string valueIfFalse])

Test if the current node is not equal (by Id) to another node.

.IsDescendant(IPublishedContent otherNode[,string valueIfTrue][,string valueIfFalse])

Test if the current node is a descendant of another node.

.IsDescendantOrSelf(IPublishedContent otherNode[,string valueIfTrue][,string valueIfFalse])

Test if the current node is the same as or a descendant of another node.

.IsAncestor(IPublishedContent otherNode[,string valueIfTrue][,string valueIfFalse])

Test if the current node is an ancestor of another node.

.IsAncestorOrSelf(IPublishedContent otherNode[,string valueIfTrue][,string valueIfFalse])

Test if the current node is the same as or an ancestor of another node.

All collections of IPublishedContent are IEnumerable<IPublishedContent>. This means that all C# LINQ statements can be used to filter and query the collections.

Collections

.Children

Returns a collection of child items available in the current culture, below the current content item.

<ul>
    @foreach(var item in Model.Children)
    {
        <li><a href="@item.Url()">@item.Name</a></li>
    }
</ul>

.ChildrenForAllCultures

Returns a collection of child items for all cultures, below the current content item, regardless of whether they are available for the current culture.

<ul>
    @foreach(var item in Model.ChildrenForAllCultures)
    {
        <li><a href="@item.Url()">@item.Name</a></li>
    }
</ul>

.Children(string culture = null)

Returns a collection of child items available in the specified culture with a default of the current one, below the current content item.

<ul>
    @foreach(var item in Model.Children("dk-dk"))
    {
        <li><a href="@item.Url()">@item.Name</a></li>
    }
</ul>

.Ancestors()

Returns all ancestors of the current page (parent page, grandparent and so on)

<ul>
    @*Order items by their Level*@
    @foreach(var item in Model.Ancestors().OrderBy(x => x.Level))
    {
        <li><a href="@item.Url()">@item.Name</a></li>
    }
</ul>

.Ancestor()

Returns the first ancestor of the current page

@* return the first ancestor item from the current page *@
var nodes = Model.Ancestor();

@* return the first item, of a specific type, from the current page *@
var nodes = Model.Ancestor<DocumentTypeAlias>();

.AncestorsOrSelf()

Returns a collection of all ancestors of the current page (parent page, grandparent and so on), and the current page itself

@* Get the top item in the content tree, this will always be the Last ancestor found *@
var websiteRoot = Model.AncestorsOrSelf().Last();

.Descendants()

Returns all descendants of the current page (children, grandchildren etc)

<ul>
    @* Filter collection by content that has a template assigned *@
    @foreach(var item in Model.Descendants().Where(x => x.TemplateId > 0))
    {
        <li><a href="@item.Url()">@item.Name</a></li>
    }
</ul>

.DescendantsOrSelf()

Returns all descendants of the current page (children, grandchildren etc), and the current page itself

<ul>
    @* Filter collection by content that has a template assigned *@
    @foreach(var item in Model.DescendantsOrSelf().Where(x => x.TemplateId > 0))
    {
        <li><a href="@item.Url()">@item.Name</a></li>
    }
</ul>

.OfTypes

Filters a collection of content by content type alias

<ul>
    @* Filter collection by content type alias (you can pass in any number of aliases) *@
    @foreach(var item in Model.DescendantsOrSelf().OfTypes("widget1", "widget2"))
    {
        <li><a href="@item.Url()">@item.Name</a></li>
    }
</ul>

Filtering, Ordering & Extensions

Filtering and Ordering are done with LINQ.

Some examples:

.Where

@* Returns all items in the collection that have a template assigned and have a name starting with 'S' *@
var nodes = Model.Descendants().Where(x => x.TemplateId > 0 && x.Name.StartsWith("S"))

.OrderBy

@* Orders a collection by the property name "title" *@
var nodes = Model.Children.OrderBy(x => x.GetProperty("title"))

.GroupBy

Groups collection by content type alias

@{
    var groupedItems = Model.Descendants().GroupBy(x => x.ContentType);
    foreach (var group in groupedItems)
    {
        <h2>@group.Key.Alias</h2>
        foreach(var item in group)
        {
            <h3>@item.Name</h3>
        }
    }
}

.Take(int)

Return only the number of items for a collection specified by the integer value.

@* return the first 3 items from the child collection *@
var nodes = Model.Children.Take(3);

.Skip(int)

Return items from the collection after skipping the specified number of items.

@* Skip the first 3 items in the collection and return the rest *@
var nodes = Model.Children.Skip(3);

@* using skip and take together you can perform paging operations *@
var nodes = Model.Children.Skip(10).Take(10);

.Count()

Returns the number of items in the collection

int numberOfChildren =  Model.Children.Count();

.Any()

Returns a boolean True/False value determined by whether there are any items in the collection

bool hasChildren =  Model.Children.Any();

Filtering Conventions

Some filtering and routing behaviour is dependent upon a set of special naming conventions for certain properties. See also: Routing Property Conventions

.IsVisible()

If you create a checkbox property on a document type with an alias umbracoNaviHide then the value of this property is used by the IsVisible() extension method when filtering.

IEnumerable<IPublishedContent> sectionPages =  Model.Children.Where(x => x.IsVisible());

Use case: When displaying a navigation menu for a section of the site, following this convention gives editors the option to 'hide' certain pages from appearing in the section navigation. (hence the unusual umbracoNaviHide property alias!)

Umbraco Properties

Built-in properties, which exists on all content objects by default

Common Examples

.Id

Returns the unique Id for the current content item

.Name

Returns the Name of the current content item in the current culture

.Name(IVariationContextAccessor, string culture = null)

Returns the Name of the current content item in the specified culture, null falls back to the current culture

.ContentType

Returns a strongly typed 'PublishedContentType' object representing the content type the IPublishedContent item is based on, that gives access to the alias

.GetCultureFromDomains(IUmbracoContextAccessor, ISiteDomainHelper, Uri current = null)

Returns a culture from a configured domain in the content tree.

.Parent

Returns the parent content item

.Path

Returns a comma delimited string of Node Ids that represent the path of content items back to root.

.Level

Returns the Level (depth) this content item is in its tree path

.TemplateId

Returns the id of the default Template object used with this content item.

There are extension methods to retrieve template alias (Model.GetTemplateAlias())

.SortOrder

Returns the index the page is on, compared to its siblings

.Url(PublishedUrlProvider, culture = null, UrlMode mode = UrlMode.Default) - (Extension method)

Returns the Url to the page.

Example: Getting a Danish Url for a site where a Danish language has been set up.

Example: Getting an Absolute Danish Url for a site where a Danish language has been set up.

.UrlSegment

Returns the Url encoded name of the page (slug) of the current culture

.UrlSegment(IVariationContextAccessor, string culture = null)

Returns the Url encoded name of the page (slug) of the specified culture

.WriterId

Returns the id of the Umbraco backoffice user that performed the last update operation on the content item.

.WriterName(IUserService)

Returns the name of the Umbraco backoffice user that initially created the content item.

.CreatorId

Returns the id of the Umbraco backoffice user that initially created the content item

.CreatorName(IUserService)

Returns the name of the Umbraco backoffice user that initially created the content item.

.CreateDate

Returns the DateTime the page was created

.UpdateDate

Returns the DateTime the page was modified

Custom properties

All content and media items contain a reference to all the data defined by their Document Type. Custom property access is achieved using variations of the method: Value

Model.Value(IPublishedValueFallback, string)

Returns the property value for the specified property alias

The type returned of this property value is object. This is fine in most cases since when using the above syntax, Razor will automatically execute a ToString() on the result value.

See Model.Value<T>(string) for how to return a strongly typed object for the property

Model.Value<T>(string)

Returns the property value for the specified property alias converted to 'T' - the requested output type of the property value.

For example, to return the string result of "siteName":

Fallbacks

If the current content item doesn't have the requested value, use an alternative 'fallback' value in its place.

Each of the examples below make use of an injected PublishedValueFallback. This is achieved by adding the following at the top of your Razor file:

This parameter is optional, but can make unit testing easier.

Fallback to Default Value

If a content page has a 'title' property, to fallback to use the 'Name' of the content item if the 'title' is not populated. Set the Fallback type to be Fallback.ToDefaultValue, and set the DefaultValue accordingly:

or to a specific value

Fallback to Ancestors

Look for a property value on the current page. If it doesn't exist look for the property value on the parent page. Then the parent's parent page and so on. This approach allows specifying 'global property values' all the way up the content tree. These values can be overridden in different sections or individual pages.

Fallback to Language

If working with variants - fallback to a different language value - if perhaps the value hasn't been populated yet for the current language:

Combining the Fallback options

Use Fallback.To() to 'combine' Fallback options.

The following would first look for a 'title' property on all ancestors, before defaulting to the current page's name:

Property Methods

There are a few helpful methods to help check if a property exists, has a value or is null.

.HasProperty(string propertyAlias)

Returns a boolean value representing if the IPublishedContent has a property with the specified alias.

.HasValue(string propertyAlias)

Returns a boolean value representing if the IPublishedContent property has had a value set.

It's possible to use 'Fallbacks' with HasValue:

IPublishedContent is a strongly typed model for content, media and members and is used to render content in your views for your website.

Get started

To access the current page in your templates, copy-paste the below Razor code.

Listing and explanation of IPublishedContent properties and standard helpers for Content and Media.

Methods for IPublishedContent collections and filtering.

A library of extension methods to simplify working with IPublishedContent in collections to modify your HTML output. Examples of using IsHelpers could be injecting CSS classes for alternating rows or to modify margins.