2.6.2. Renderings

Renderings, whether they are Controller or View Renderings typically belong to the Feature layer modules as they are connected to business features in the solution.

Only sub-layout style renderings, i.e. view renderings with no business logic but purely mark-up structure and placeholders, should occur in the Project layer. Any controller renderings in project modules are typically an example of business logic creeping into the project layer, which should always be avoided.

In rare occasions renderings can occur in the Foundation layer, although this should generally be avoided. Examples could be a rendering which purely output metadata on the page or is only executing business logic.

2.6.2.1. Design for simplicity

When designing your business-centric feature modules, keep in mind that you are designing and implementing for maintainability and simplicity, not for reusability. This means that you should keep focus on simplicity in the razor views and avoid advanced configuration options. In other words, if multiple variations of a view are required, prioritize the simplicity of creating another view with alternate markup as opposed to coming up with an elaborate mechanism for a generic view generating different sets of markups.

For discoverability and simplicity, the naming of view files and the rendering items in Sitecore should align as much as possible. This said, the name of the Rendering item in Sitecore should be as editor-friendly as possible – even if it differs from the actual filename. Generally, throughout Sitecore you avoid using CamelCasingInNames or AbbevInNames as it not considered editor friendly – in other words, in Sitecore always favour the editor experience over the technical aspects.

Partial views should be prefixed with underscore (_) to separate them from the views references through Sitecore items or controllers.

Place view rendering files in subfolders under /views named after the module to which they belong, for example /views/navigation/menu.cshtml for the Feature layer Navigation module. In the case of Controller Renderings, follow the standard ASP.NET MVC conventions for working with razor views and Areas if these apply to your project.