Custom File Types / Endpoints

Endpoints are (Mixed Extensions) Parsley accessible file for creating endpoints or custom experiences. These files need to be named with a full path with an extension like /my/file/path.json. The file can be viewed at hash-dev.preview.zesty.io/my/file/path.json or my-custom-domain.com/my/file/path.json as long as the file and its content has been published. File types that can be used: css, html, json, js, xml, css, csv, tsv, xml, yaml, md, svg, txt, rss, ics, vcf, xhtml.

Always use relative URLs or production links in your views for example: /my/file/path.json or //my-custom-domain.com/my/file/path.json . We recommend using relative links as the endpoint will render relative to the domain that you're on.

This is important because preview URLs are not cached, they do not collect analytics, Google does not recognize it as their own domain, and it can expose unpublished content.

However, production URLs are cached and thus perform faster, is recognized by Google and collects analytics, and will not expose unpublished content.

Creating a custom file type from the Web IDE

Create a file name with a full path, starting with a forward slash, like /this/is/my/custom/file.json

Some examples of file types that can be made

• Custom JSON files (How to Guide)
• SVG created off datasets (e.g. dynamically rendering images of build locations)
• Dataset exports (custom CSV exports)
• Contact information through VCARDS
• Exports to static site generator (markdown and YAML)
• Editable configuration files in YAML for cloud deployments
• Dynamic javascript around data
• Dynamic CSS styling around data
• Voice XML dialect for IVR (interactive voice response) e.g. Zesty.io Phone Number Response
• Dynamic calendar invite downloads (ics)
• Custom Realtime Really Simple Syndication Syndication Feeds (rss)
• Markdown template designs
• Dynamically build Javascript templates like Handlebars or Mustache
• Raw Text
• TVML For Apple TV

Working with Wild Card Views to Resolve Dynamic URL paths

Zesty.io allows for you to capture custom URLs that are not registered to content items or a specific file path. For example, the URL path /store/12345/my-product/ is capture by a file named /store/*/*/index.parsley

These files are created as custom file type, as seen here, and are identified by having an asterisk * as a path part between two forward slashes, and the name index.parsley at the end of the file path. Please reference the file (resource) resolution loading order.

Wild Card Views files can be used to dynamically generate pages from data not located on Zesty.io by using identifiers passed into the url. We will describe two examples, product pages and referral pages.

Product Pages: With product pages like /store/12345/my-product/(represented as a custom file type named /store/*/*/index.parsley ) the identifier is the product id 12345 which is accessed with {{request.pathPart(2)}}and can be used to query another system like Oracle for product data. This is useful when thousands of products are store externally and do not need to be synchronized into a content instance.

Referral Pages: A URL like /referral/3e5h1/(represented as a custom file type named /referral/*/index.parsley where 3e5h1is a unique identifier which can be accessed with {{request.pathPart(2)}} and can be used to present a printable coupon on page, or to make a request to an external system via javascript.

Pages that use wildcard routing will not include Zesty automated head tags. These pages will need to be fully built top to bottom.

Snippets

Snippets are (html) Parsley accessible file meant to abstract common use of code, or for organizing file build. Examples: slider, footer, header. These can be used inside of each loops as well.

Troubleshooting

Before you view the live endpoint always be sure to view the endpoint on preview. Viewing the endpoint on preview will ensure that you catch any Parsley errors.