Replace a component globally

2 min

Swap a built-in component for a custom implementation across the entire system. This example replaces the CMS 13 page tree with a custom page list component.

Declare a replacement component. Set DefinitionName to match the component being replaced.

// A simple component implementation represented with a dijit content pane on the client side
public class MyCustomPageList: ComponentBase {
  public MyCustomPageList(): base("dijit/layout/ContentPane") {
    // Add "Hello World!" as non-persisted content to the dijit content pane
    this.Settings.Add(new Setting("content", "Hello World!", false));
  }
  public override string DefinitionName => new PageTreeComponent().DefinitionName;
}

Register the component in the IOC container by implementing ConfigureContainer from EPiServer.ServiceLocation.IConfigurableModule:

[InitializableModule]
public class InitializationModule: IConfigurableModule {
  public void ConfigureContainer(ServiceConfigurationContext context) {
    context.Services.AddTransient<IComponent, MyCustomPageList>();
  }
  public void Initialize(InitializationEngine context) {}
  public void Uninitialize(InitializationEngine context) {}
  
}

The IOC container creates an instance of MyCustomPageList whenever the system requests PageTreeComponent.

📘 Note The replacement component appears after the editor reloads the edit view.