A property editor is an editor used to insert content into Umbraco. A Property Editor is composed of two extensions. To form a full Property Editor you will need a:

• Property Editor Schema

• Property Editor UI

A Property Editor UI is utilizing a Property Editor Schema, and you can have multiple Property Editor UIs for one Schema. This means you can find a Schema that solves your needs. You only need to build a Property Editor UI.

• Each Property Editor can have multiple Property Editor UIs.

• Both a Property Editor Schema and Property Editor UI can define the Settings used for their configuration.

Configuration

• Data Type Settings for a Property Editor or Property Editor UI is defined in the manifests.

• They both use the same format for their settings.

The Property Editor Schema is server code, written in C#. This handles the storage of a Property Editor and defines Server Side Validation and Property Value Converters.

Property Editor Schema

The Property Editor Schema settings are used for configuration that the server needs to know about.

Manifest

This section describes how to work with and create Property Editors. A property editor is the editor used to insert content into Umbraco. See here for definition

Property Editors Composition

A property editor is an editor used to insert content into Umbraco. A Property Editor is composed of two extensions: Property Editor Schema and Property Editor UI.

Package Manifest

Reference for the package.manifest JSON file format to register one or more property editors for Umbraco.

Property Value Converters

Convert the stored property data value to a useful object returned by the Published Content APIs.

Property Actions

Use Property Actions to add additional functionaility to your custom property editors.

Build a Block Editor

Learn how to build your own Block Editors.

Tracking References

Learn how to extend Property editors to track entity references inside the property editor.

More information

• Built in Property Editors

• Creating a property editor

The Property Editor UI is the UI that is used to edit the data in the backoffice.

The Property Editor UI is a pure front-end extension. This determines how the data of a Property Editor is presented and manipulated. The Extension points to a Web Component.

Property Editor UI

{
 "type": "propertyEditorUi",
 "alias": "Umb.PropertyEditorUi.TextBox",
 "name": "Text Box Property Editor UI",
 "element": "/App_Plugins/my-text-box/dist/my-text-box.js",
 "elementName": "my-text-box",
 "meta": {
  "label": "My Text Box",
  "propertyEditorSchemaAlias": "Umbraco.TextBox",
  "icon": "icon-autofill",
  "group": "common"
 }
}

The Property Editor UI cannot be used for Content Types if no Property Editor Schema is specified in the manifest. However, it can still be utilized to manipulate JSON. A case of that could be a Settings property for another Property Editor UI or Schema.

Settings

The Property Editor UI settings are used for configuration related to rendering the UI in the backoffice. This is the same for Property Editor Schemas:

Manifest

{
 "type": "propertyEditorUi",
 "alias": "My.PropertyEditorUI.TextArea",
 //... more
 "meta": {
  //... more
  "settings": {
   "properties": [
    {
     "alias": "rows",
     "label": "Number of rows",
     "description": "If empty - 10 rows would be set as the default value",
     "propertyEditorUi": "Umb.PropertyEditorUi.Number",
    },
   ],
   "defaultData": [
    {
     "alias": "rows",
     "value": 10,
    },
   ],
  },
 },
};

The Property Editor UI Element

Inherit the interface, to secure your Element live up to the requirements of this.

// TODO: get interface
interface UmbPropertyEditorUIElement {}

Example with LitElement

import { LitElement, html, css, customElement, property } from '@umbraco-cms/backoffice/external/lit';
import { UmbElementMixin } from '@umbraco-cms/backoffice/element-api';
import { UmbPropertyValueChangeEvent } from '@umbraco-cms/backoffice/property-editor';

@customElement('my-text-box')
export default class UmbPropertyEditorUITextBoxElement extends UmbElementMixin(LitElement) {
 
 @property()
 value: string | undefined;

 @property({ attribute: false })
 public config: UmbPropertyEditorConfigCollection | undefined;

 private onInput(e: InputEvent) {
  this.value = (e.target as HTMLInputElement).value;
  this.dispatchEvent(new UmbPropertyValueChangeEvent());
 }

 render() {
  return html`<uui-input .value=${this.value} type="text" @input=${this.onInput}></uui-input>`;
 }
 
 static styles = [
  css`
   uui-input {
    width: 100%;
   }
  `,
 ];
}

Before reading this document we highly recommend that you familiarise yourself with the basics of developing a custom Property Editor for Umbraco.

Setup your Property Editor as a Block Property Editor

In order for your editor to become a Block Editor, you must first declare it using C#:

using Umbraco.Cms.Core.IO;
using Umbraco.Cms.Core.Serialization;
using Umbraco.Cms.Core.PropertyEditors;

namespace UmbracoDocs.Samples;

[DataEditor("MyOwn.UnicornBlocksEditor", ValueType = ValueTypes.Json, ValueEditorIsReusable = false)]
public class UnicornBlocksPropertyEditor : BlockListPropertyEditorBase
{
    private readonly IIOHelper _ioHelper;

    public UnicornBlocksPropertyEditor(
        IDataValueEditorFactory dataValueEditorFactory,
        IBlockValuePropertyIndexValueFactory blockValuePropertyIndexValueFactory,
        IJsonSerializer jsonSerializer,
        IOHelper ioHelper)
        : base(dataValueEditorFactory, blockValuePropertyIndexValueFactory, jsonSerializer)
        => _ioHelper = ioHelper;

    protected override IConfigurationEditor CreateConfigurationEditor() =>
        new UnicornBlocksConfigurationEditor(_ioHelper);
}

using Umbraco.Cms.Core.IO;
using Umbraco.Cms.Core.PropertyEditors;

namespace UmbracoDocs.Samples;

public class UnicornBlocksConfigurationEditor : ConfigurationEditor<BlockListConfiguration>
{
    public UnicornBlocksConfigurationEditor(IIOHelper ioHelper)
        : base(ioHelper)
    {
    }
}

Data structure of Block Editors

The Block Editor data structure consists of three main parts:

Layout: The Layout defines Blocks that each will reference (by UDI) a content item in the list of data. The Layout object pairs keys with Property Editor aliases and their value type varies based on setup.

ContentData: A list of content items based on ElementTypes (IPublishedElement).

SettingsData: A list of content items based on ElementTypes (IPublishedElement).

In the following example the layout object "MyOwn.UnicornBlocksEditor" is of type Array.

{
  "layout": {
    "MyOwn.UnicornBlocksEditor": [
      {
        "contentUdi": "umb://element/fffba547615b4e9ab4ab2a7674845bc9"
      },
      {
        "contentUdi": "umb://element/e7dba547615b4e9ab4ab2a7674845bc9",
        "settingsUdi": "umb://element/a47667bcba54845b15b4e9ab4ab2a7c8"
      }
    ]
  },
  "contentData": [
    {
      "udi": "umb://element/fffba547615b4e9ab4ab2a7674845bc9",
      "contentTypeKey": "09876595489865786897",
      "__yourPropertyAlias__": "Hello world"
    },
    {
      "udi": "umb://element/e7dba547615b4e9ab4ab2a7674845bc9",
      "contentTypeKey": "123456789097654323456",
      "__yourPropertyAlias1__": "Hello world",
      "__yourPropertyAlias2__": "Hello world",
      "__yourPropertyAlias3__": "Hello world"
    }
  ],
  "settingsData": [
    {
      "udi": "umb://element/a47667bcba54845b15b4e9ab4ab2a7c8",
      "contentTypeKey": "09876595489865786897",
      "__yourPropertyAlias__": "Hello world"
    }
  ]
}

Client side code

Basic knowledge for understanding how to work with Block Editor data

We created the BlockEditorModelObject to aid in managing the presented Data Structure in the Block Editor.

To get a better understanding of what the Model Object does for you, we need to look at some usages of the Model Object.

Maintain and work with the Layout of a Block Editor

The layout of a Block Editor can be any structure. Therefore the Model Object (BlockEditorModelObject) cannot maintain this data. Our usage of the Model Object becomes complex. We give it a reference to a layout entry and perform an action that may need to reflect changes back to the layout.

Since the origin of blocks is in the layout the Model Object only can serve as a helper to maintain and create data. Therefore the Property Editor code will be using the layout as origin, using the Model Object to help manage specific parts.

This is explained in more detail below.

The basic setup for a Block Editor

Instantiate a Model Object and load dependencies. Provide the basic structure for the layout property when receiving the reference to it:

// We must get a scope that exists in all the lifetime of this data. Across variants and split-view.
var scopeOfExistence = $scope;
// Setup your component to require umbVariantContentEditors and vm.umbElementEditorContent. If one of them is avaiable use the method getScope to retrieve a shared scope for multiple editors of this content.
if(vm.umbVariantContentEditors && vm.umbVariantContentEditors.getScope) {
    scopeOfExistence = vm.umbVariantContentEditors.getScope();
} else if(vm.umbElementEditorContent && vm.umbElementEditorContent.getScope) {
    scopeOfExistence = vm.umbElementEditorContent.getScope();
}
// Define variables for layout and modelObject as you will be using these throughout your property editor.
vm.layout;
var modelObject;

// When we are ready we can instantiate the Model Object and load any dependencies.
vm.$onInit = function() {
  modelObject = blockEditorService.createModelObject(vm.model.value, vm.model.editor, vm.model.config.blocks, scopeOfExistence);
  modelObject.load().then(onLoaded);
}
function onLoaded() {
  // Define the default layout, this is used when there is no data stored for this property.
  var defaultLayout = [];
  // We store a reference to layout as we have to maintain this.
  // The getLayout method gives us a reference to the layout-object based on the property-editor alias. The defaultLayout will be initialized if it does not exist.
  vm.layout = modelObject.getLayout(defaultLayout);
}

Create a Block

Use the Model Object to create a Block and append the returned layout-entry to the layout.

In the following example we will create a new block and append it at the appropriate location in the 'layout' object:

// continuing from previous example.

// Creates a block and returns a layout entry. The layout entry is not part of layout yet as its not managed by the Model Object.
var layoutEntry = modelObject.create(contentTypeKey);
if (layoutEntry === null) {
  // The creation was not successful, therefore exit and without appending anything to our 'layout' object.
  return false;
}
// If we reach this line, we are good to add the layoutEntry to layout model.
// In this example our layout is an array and we would like to append the new block as the last entry.
vm.layout.push(layoutEntry);

Working with Blocks

The layout-entries alone do not provide much value when displaying or editing Blocks.

Our Model Object allows obtaining a Block Object by parsing a block's layout-entry for a specific Block.

The Block Object provides data of interest. The most important of these properties are: Block configuration, a label and the Block content in the Element Type Data Model format. This Content-model is useful for building the UI for editing the Content of a Block.

This example uses the Model Object to retrive a Block Object for outputting its label in the console.

// continuing from the basic setup example.

if (vm.layout.length > 0) {
  // Get first entry of from the layout, which is an array in this example.
  var firstLayoutEntry = vm.layout[0];

  // Create a Block Object for that entry.
  var block = modelObject.getBlockObject(firstLayoutEntry);

  // Check if the Block Object creation went well. (If a block is supported by the configuration of the Property Editor)
  if (block !== null) {
    console.log(block.label);
  }
}

This similar example uses the Block Object for setting a value on the first property in the Blocks Content.

// continuing from the basic setup example.

if (vm.layout.length > 0) {
  // Get first entry of from the layout, which is an array in this example.
  var firstLayoutEntry = vm.layout[0];

  // Create a Block Object for that entry.
  var block = modelObject.getBlockObject(firstLayoutEntry);

  // Check if the Block Object creation went well. (If a block is supported by the configuration of the Property Editor)
  if (block !== null) {

    // This line edits the value of 'myProp' directly, available by 'block.data':
    block.data.myProp = "Hello world";

    // Alternatively you can use this line, which edits the data throught the Element Type data model avaiable in 'block.content':
    block.content.variants[0].tabs[0].properties[0].value = "Hello world"; // This value will automatically be synced to the Property Editors Data Model, ´block.data.myProp´
  }
}

Remove a Block

Removing a Block and destroying its data is done by calling the removeDataAndDestroyModel method of the Model Object, which allows us to maintain the 'layout' object.

Your code will be based on working with Block Objects and therefore removal of a Block is be done by referring to a Block Object.

This example shows how to remove the first Block of our imaginary Block Editor and remove the block from our layout.

// continuing from the basic setup example.

if (vm.layout.length > 0) {
  // Get first entry of from the layout, which is an array in this sample.
  var firstLayoutEntry = vm.layout[0];

  // Create a Block Object for that entry.
  var block = modelObject.getBlockObject(firstLayoutEntry);

  // Check if the Block Object creation went well. (If a block isnt supported by the configuration of the Property Editor)
  if(block !== null) {

    modelObject.removeDataAndDestroyModel(block);// Removing the data of our block and destroying the Block Object for performance reasons.

    // We need to maintain the 'layout' object, so therefor its up to our code to remove the block from the 'layout' object.
    const index = array.indexOf(5);
    if (index > -1) {
      vm.layout.splice(index, 1);
    }
  }
}

Manage Block Objects for general use through out your Property Editor

Block Objects are used extensively and should be available throughout your Block Editor's runtime, rather than created for each action.

You probably want to use BlockObjects for your property-editor view. We append them to layout entries, so you can access them as properties from the layout object.

// continuing from the basic setup example.

var invalidLayoutItems = [];

// Append the blockObjects to our layout.
vm.layout.forEach(entry => {

// As we might have the same property-editor displayed multiple times on screen (splitview) we only need to initialize a BlockObject if its not already in place.

    // $block must have the 'data' property to be a valid BlockObject, if not it is considered a destroyed blockObject.
    if (entry.$block === undefined || entry.$block === null || entry.$block.data === undefined) {
        var block = modelObject.getBlockObject(entry);

        // If this entry was not supported by our property-editor it would return 'null'.
        if (block !== null) {
            entry.$block = block;
        } else {
          // We didnt succeed initializing this Block, therefore we need to filter this out of 'layout'. This only happens if the content data of the block couldn't be found.
            invalidLayoutItems.push(entry);
        }
    }
});

// remove the ones that are invalid
invalidLayoutItems.forEach(entry => {
    var index = vm.layout.findIndex(x => x === entry);
    if (index >= 0) {
        vm.layout.splice(index, 1);
    }
});

The following example loops through a layout array to display the contentUdi of each block:

<div ng-repeat="layoutEntry in vm.layout track by layoutEntry.$block.key">

    <h3 ng-bind="layout.$block.data.udi"></h3>

</div>

Property Actions are a built-in feature that provide a generic place for secondary functionality for property editors.

Property Actions appear as a small button next to the label of the property, which expands to show the available actions. They are defined and implemented in the Property Editor, making it open as to what a Property Action is.

Data Structure of Property Actions

Property Actions are an array of objects defining each action. An action is defined by the following properties:

{
    labelKey: 'clipboard_labelForRemoveAllEntries',
    labelTokens: [],
    icon: 'trash',
    method: removeAllEntries,
    isDisabled: true
}

We use labelKey and labelTokens to retrieve a localized string that is displayed as the Actions label. See localization for more info.

isDisabled is used to disable an Action, which change the visual appearance and prevents interaction. Use this option when an action wouldn't provide any change. In the example above, the action remove all entries would not have any impact if there is no entries.

Implementation

The implementation of Property Actions varies depending on whether your Property Editor is implemented with a Controller or as a Component.

Controller Implementation

When your Property Editor is implemented with a Controller, use the following approach for the Property Action:

angular.module("umbraco").controller("My.MarkdownEditorController", function ($scope) {

function myActionExecutionMethod() {
    alert('My Custom Property Action Clicked');
    // Disable the action so it can not be re-run
    // You may have custom logic to enable or disable the action
    // Based on number of items selected etc...
    myAction.isDisabled = true;
};

var myAction = {
    labelKey: 'general_labelForMyAction',
    labelTokens: [],
    icon: 'action',
    method: myActionExecutionMethod,
    isDisabled: false
}

var propertyActions = [
    myAction
];

this.$onInit = function () {
    if ($scope.umbProperty) {
        $scope.umbProperty.setPropertyActions(propertyActions);
    }
};


});

Component Implementation

Follow this guide if your Property Editor is implemented as a Component. The Component must be configured to retrieve an optional reference to umbProperty. The requirement must be optional because property-editors are implemented in scenarios where it's not presented.

See the following example:

angular.module('umbraco').component('myPropertyEditor', {
    controller: MyController,
    controllerAs: 'vm',
    require: {
        umbProperty: '?^umbProperty'
    }
    …
});

See the following example for implementation of Property Actions in a Component, notice the difference is that we are parsing actions to this.umbProperty.setPropertyActions(...).

var myAction = {
    labelKey: 'general_labelForMyAction',
    labelTokens: [],
    icon: 'action',
    method: myActionExecutionMethod,
    isDisabled: false
}

var propertyActions = [
    myAction
];

this.$onInit = function () {
    if (this.umbProperty) {
        this.umbProperty.setPropertyActions(propertyActions);
    }
};

Property Editors can be used and implemented anywhere in the Umbraco Backoffice.

Property & Property Dataset Components

The simplest way to integrate one or more Property Editors is done using two Components: the Property Dataset component and a Property component.

The umb-property component renders a property using a Property Editor UI.

The umb-property-dataset component provides the dataset for any properties within. It holds the data even if the actual property is not rendered. This makes it possible to hide properties in tabs or other ways.

In the following example a dataset is implemented with two properties:

<umb-property-dataset .value=${this.data} @change=${this.#onDataChange}>
    <umb-property
        label="Textual input"
        description="Example of text editor"
        alias="textProperty"
        property-editor-ui-alias="Umb.PropertyEditorUi.TextBox"></umb-property>
    <umb-property
        label="List of options"
        description="Example of dropdown editor"
        alias="listProperty"
        .config=${[
            {
                alias: 'multiple',
                value: false,
            },
            {
                alias: 'items',
                value: ['First Option', 'Second Option', 'Third Option'],
            },
        ]}
        property-editor-ui-alias="Umb.PropertyEditorUi.Dropdown"></umb-property>
</umb-property-dataset>

Notice how the values of the properties are handled by the dataset, leaving you with one component to integrate.

Read more about Property Dataset here

A Property Dataset is a Context API that holds the data for a set of properties.

It is required for the umb-property element to have a Property Dataset provided. It can be provided via JavaScript code or an Element as documented below.

Property dataset component

The umb-property-dataset component provides a Property Dataset Context for any properties within. This provides a way to implement such purely via Elements.

In the following example a dataset is implemented by using the umb-property-dataset component together with with two umb-property components:

<umb-property-dataset .value=${this.data} @change=${this.#onDataChange}>
    <umb-property
        label="Textual input"
        description="Example of text editor"
        alias="textProperty"
        property-editor-ui-alias="Umb.PropertyEditorUi.TextBox"></umb-property>
    <umb-property
        label="List of options"
        description="Example of dropdown editor"
        alias="listProperty"
        .config=${[
            {
                alias: 'multiple',
                value: false,
            },
            {
                alias: 'items',
                value: ['First Option', 'Second Option', 'Third Option'],
            },
        ]}
        property-editor-ui-alias="Umb.PropertyEditorUi.Dropdown"></umb-property>
</umb-property-dataset>

Consume values

Since a Property Dataset is a Context any descending code can consume it and utilize the values.

Such a case could be a Workspace View that wants to display the value of a specific property.

The following example shows how to consume the Property Dataset and observe the value of a property with the alias of my-property-alias.

this.consumeContext(UMB_PROPERTY_DATASET_CONTEXT, async (datasetContext) => {
    this.observe(await datasetContext?.propertyValueByAlias('my-property-alias'), (value) => {
        console.log('the value of `my-property-alias` is', value)
    });
});

The Validation System provides abilities to validate different Form Controls. Such can be native or custom, like a Property Editor.

It also allows for binding server validation to the Form Controls making the validation experience as synergetic as possible.

Validation Context

Validation Context, the hub of the Validation, is the core of this system. Everything that holds opinions about the Validation, is a Validator and is connected to the Validation Context.

You can ask the Validation Context to validate. This will evaluate all validators, and once all validator instances have been validated successfully, the Validation Context will be valid.

Validators

We provide a few built-in Validators that handle most cases.

Form Control Validator

This Validator binds a Form Control Element with the Validation Context. When the Form Control becomes Invalid, its Validation Message is appended to the Validation Context.

Notice this one also comes as a Lit Directive called umbBindToValidation. This enables you to integrate an element with one line of code within a Lit Render method. See the following example for a demonstration:

#validation = new UmbValidationContext(this);

#validate = () => {
    this.#validation.validate().then(() => {
        console.log('Valid');
    }, () => {
        console.log('Invalid');
    });
}

render() {
    return html`
        <uui-form-validation-message>
            <uui-input
                ...
                required
                ${umbBindToValidation(this)}
            ></uui-input>
        </uui-form-validation-message>
        <uui-button @click=${this.#validate}>Validate</uui-button>
    `;
}

Integrate Umb-Property Elements

The umb-property element automatically binds to its nearest validation context.

This is demonstrated in the example below:

#validation = new UmbValidationContext(this);

#validate = () => {
    this.#validation.validate().then(() => {
        console.log('Valid');
    }, () => {
        console.log('Invalid');
    });
}

render() {
    return html`
        <umb-property
			alias="myProperty"
			property-editor-ui-alias="Umb.PropertyEditorUi.TextBox"
			...
        >
		</umb-property>
        <uui-button @click=${this.#validate}>Validate</uui-button>
    `;
}

Server Validation and more

This documentation is not available at the moment. For the moment you can find more information in the Backoffice reposiroty.

A Property Value Converter converts a property editor's database-stored value to another type. The converted value can be accessed from MVC Razor or any other Published Content API.

Published property values have four "Values":

• Source - The raw data stored in the database, this is generally a String

• Intermediate - An object of a type that is appropriate to the property, for example a nodeId should be an Int or a collection of nodeIds would be an integer array, Int[]

• Object - The object to be used when accessing the property using a Published Content API, for example UmbracoHelper's GetPropertyValue<T> method

Registering PropertyValueConverters

PropertyValueConverters are automatically registered when implementing the interface. Any given PropertyEditor can only utilize a single PropertyValueConverter.

If you are implementing a PropertyValueConverter for a PropertyEditor that doesn't already have one, creating the PropertyValueConverter will automatically enable it. No further actions are needed.

If you aim to override an existing PropertyValueConverter, possibly from Umbraco or a package, additional steps are necessary. Deregister the existing one to prevent conflicts in this scenario.

using System.Linq;
using Umbraco.Cms.Core.Composing;
using Umbraco.Cms.Core.DependencyInjection;

public class MyComposer : IComposer
{
    public void Compose(IUmbracoBuilder builder)
    {
        //If the type is accessible (not internal) you can deregister it by the type:
        builder.PropertyValueConverters().Remove<MyCustom.StandardValueConnector>();

        //If the type is not accessible you will need to locate the instance and then remove it:
        var contentPickerValueConverter = builder.PropertyValueConverters().GetTypes().FirstOrDefault(x => x.Name == "ContentPickerValueConverter");
        if (contentPickerValueConverter != null)
        {
            builder.PropertyValueConverters().Remove(contentPickerValueConverter);
        }
    }
}

The built-in PropertyValueConverters included with Umbraco, are currently marked as internal. This means you will not be able to remove them by type since the type isn't accessible outside of the namespace. In order to remove such PropertyValueConverters, you will need to look up the instance by name and then deregister it by the instance. This could be the case for other PropertyValueConverters included by packages as well, depending on the implementation details.

Implementing the Interface

Implement IPropertyValueConverter from the Umbraco.Cms.Core.PropertyEditors namespace on your class

public class ContentPickerValueConverter : IPropertyValueConverter

Methods - Information

IsConverter(IPublishedPropertyType propertyType)

This method is called for each PublishedPropertyType (Document Type Property) at application startup. By returning True your value converter will be registered for that property type and your conversion methods will be executed whenever that value is requested.

Example: Checking if the IPublishedPropertyType EditorAlias property is equal to the alias of the core content editor. This check is a string comparison but we recommend creating a constant for it to avoid spelling errors:

public bool IsConverter(IPublishedPropertyType propertyType)
{
    return propertyType.EditorAlias.Equals(Constants.PropertyEditors.Aliases.ContentPicker);
}

IsValue(object value, PropertyValueLevel level)

This method is called to determine if the passed-in value is a value, and is of the level specified. There's a basic implementation of this in PropertyValueConverterBase.

GetPropertyValueType(IPublishedPropertyType propertyType)

This is where you can specify the type returned by this Converter. This type will be used by ModelsBuilder to return data from properties using this Converter in the proper type.

Example: Content Picker data is being converted to IPublishedContent.

public Type GetPropertyValueType(IPublishedPropertyType propertyType)
{
    return typeof(IPublishedContent);
}

PropertyCacheLevel GetPropertyCacheLevel(IPublishedPropertyType propertyType)

Here you specify which level the property value is cached at.

A property value can be cached at the following levels:

PropertyCacheLevel.Unknown

Do not use this cache level unless you know exactly what you're doing. We recommend using the PropertyCacheLevel.Element level.

PropertyCacheLevel.Element

The property value will be cached until its element is modified. The element is what holds (or owns) the property. For example:

• For properties used at the page level, the element is the entire page.

• For properties contained within Block List items, the element is the individual Block List item.

This is the most commonly used cache level and should be your default, unless you have specific reasons to do otherwise.

PropertyCacheLevel.Elements

The property value will be cached until any element (see above) is changed. This means that any change to any page will clear the property value cache.

This is particularly useful for property values that contain references to other content or elements. For example, this cache level is utilized by the Content Picker to clear its property values from the cache upon content updates.

PropertyCacheLevel.Snapshot

The property value will only be cached for the duration of the current snapshot.

A snapshot represents a point in time. For example, a snapshot is created for every content request from the frontend. When accessing a property in a snapshot using this cache level, it gets converted, cached throughout the snapshot, and later cleared.

For all intents and purposes, think of this cache level as "per request". If your property value should only be cached per request, this is the cache level you should use. Use it with caution, as the added property conversions incur a performance penalty.

PropertyCacheLevel.None

The property value will never be cached. Every time a property value is accessed (even within the same snapshot) property conversion is performed explicitly.

Use this cache level with extreme caution, as it incurs a massive performance penalty.

public PropertyCacheLevel GetPropertyCacheLevel(IPublishedPropertyType propertyType)
{
    return PropertyCacheLevel.Elements;
}

Methods - Conversion

There are a few different levels of conversion which can occur.

ConvertSourceToIntermediate(IPublishedElement owner, IPublishedPropertyType propertyType, object source, bool preview)

This method should convert the raw data value into an appropriate type. For example, a node identifier stored as a String should be converted to an Int or Udi.

Include a using Umbraco.Extensions; to be able to use the TryConvertTo extension method.

public object ConvertSourceToIntermediate(IPublishedElement owner, IPublishedPropertyType propertyType, object source, bool preview)
{
    if (source == null) return null;

    var attemptConvertInt = source.TryConvertTo<int>();
    if (attemptConvertInt.Success)
        return attemptConvertInt.Result;

    var attemptConvertUdi = source.TryConvertTo<Udi>();
    if (attemptConvertUdi.Success)
        return attemptConvertUdi.Result;

    return null;
}

ConvertIntermediateToObject(IPublishedElement owner, IPublishedPropertyType propertyType, PropertyCacheLevel referenceCacheLevel, object inter, bool preview)

This method converts the Intermediate to an Object. The returned value is used by the GetPropertyValue<T> method of IPublishedContent.

The below example converts the nodeId (converted to Int or Udi by ConvertSourceToIntermediate) into an 'IPublishedContent' object.

public object ConvertIntermediateToObject(IPublishedElement owner, IPublishedPropertyType propertyType, PropertyCacheLevel referenceCacheLevel, object inter, bool preview)
{
    if (inter == null)
        return null;

    if ((propertyType.Alias != null && PropertiesToExclude.Contains(propertyType.Alias.ToLower(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture))) == false)
    {
        IPublishedContent content;
        if (inter is int id)
        {
            content = _publishedSnapshotAccessor.PublishedSnapshot.Content.GetById(id);
            if (content != null)
                return content;
        }
        else
        {
            var udi = inter as GuidUdi;
            if (udi == null)
                return null;
            content = _publishedSnapshotAccessor.PublishedSnapshot.Content.GetById(udi.Guid);
            if (content != null && content.ContentType.ItemType == PublishedItemType.Content)
                return content;
        }
    }

    return inter;
}

Sample

Content Picker to IPublishedContent using IPropertyValueConverter interface

Property editors can be extended further to track entity references that may be selected or referenced inside the property editor. For example in the core of the CMS we have added this to numerous property editors.

A good example of this is the Media Picker. The CMS stores a reference to the selected media item, enabling the identification of content nodes that use that particular media item. This avoids it being accidentally deleted if it is being used.

When a content node is saved it will save the entity references as relations.

Viewing References

For Media Items

1. Go to the Media section.

2. Select a media item and click the Info tab.

For Content Nodes

1. Go to the Settings section.

2. Under the Relations from the Advanced section, select Related Document relations.

For Data Types

1. Go to the Settings section.

2. Expand the Data Types folder.

3. Select the Data Type you wish to view the references.

4. Navigate to the Info tab.

Example

The following example shows how to implement tracking for the inbuilt CMS property editor Content Picker. It will always add a specific media reference, regardless of what value is picked in the content picker. In your own implementations, you will need to parse the value stored from the property editor you are implementing. You will also need to find any references to picked items in order to track their references.

using Umbraco.Cms.Core;
using Umbraco.Cms.Core.Models;
using Umbraco.Cms.Core.Models.Editors;
using Umbraco.Cms.Core.PropertyEditors;

namespace UmbracoDocs.Samples;

public class TrackingExample : IDataValueReferenceFactory, IDataValueReference
{
    public IDataValueReference GetDataValueReference() => this;

    // Which Data Editor (Data Type) does this apply to - in this example it is the built in content picker of Umbraco
    public bool IsForEditor(IDataEditor? dataEditor)
        => dataEditor?.Alias.InvariantEquals(Constants.PropertyEditors.Aliases.ContentPicker) is true;

    public IEnumerable<UmbracoEntityReference> GetReferences(object? value)
    {
        // Value contains the raw data that is being saved for a property editor
        // You can then analyse this data be it a complex JSON structure or something more trivial
        // To add the chosen entities as references (as any UDI type including custom ones)

        // A very simple example
        // This will always ADD a specific media reference to the collection list
        // When it's a ContentPicker datatype
        var references = new List<UmbracoEntityReference>();
        var udiType = UmbracoObjectTypes.Media.GetUdiType();
        var udi = Udi.Create(udiType, Guid.Parse("fbbaa38d-bd93-48b9-b1d5-724c46b6693e"));
        var entityRef = new UmbracoEntityReference(udi);
        references.Add(entityRef);
        return references;
    }
}

You'll need a Composer to enable the tracking example:

using Umbraco.Cms.Core.Composing;

namespace UmbracoDocs.Samples;

public class TrackingExampleComposer : IComposer
{
    public void Compose(IUmbracoBuilder builder)
        => builder.DataValueReferenceFactories().Append<TrackingExample>();
}