KNOWLEDGE BASE

Working with Umbraco for as long as we have, we've collated a number of time saving but basic XSLT functions that we find new users often call out for. Here is a selection of some we use on a regular basis that should help you out in your development efforts.

Finding a node by it's ID:

<xsl:variable name="node1" select="$currentPage/ancestor::root//*[@id = 1234]" />
<xsl:variable name="node2" select="umbraco.library:GetXmlNodeById(1234)" />

Using XPath you can trim down the amount of nodes searched by adding anything you know about the location of the node

you're looking for, e.g.:

<!-- Reference to root of site -->
<xsl:variable name="siteRoot" select="$currentPage/ancestor-or-self::*[@level = 1]" />
<!-- I want a NewsItem node that is a direct child node of the News node that is at the root of the site -->
<xsl:variable name="breakingNews" select="$siteRoot/News/NewsItem[@id = 1234]" />

Hopefully this will go some way to helping you with your daily development. Let us know if there is anything specific you need to know.