Sitecore Verint Community Integration FAQ

Common questions about Verint Community integration with Sitecore

Does Verint Community add social media capabilities into Sitecore?

If the term ‘social media’ is used to describe capabilities such as forums, blogs, wikis, user profiles and other social application capabilities then yes. Verint does not provide Sitecore integration into Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter – these are typically made available through other social media management applications.

Does Verint Community install into Sitecore?

No, Verint Community is a stand-alone application that runs next to Sitecore. Sitecore is designed primarily for serving content whereas Verint Community is designed around interaction. The requirements of the two applications are distinct and optimized for each of the different applications types. However, the integration we’ve built for Sitecore allows you to run forums, blogs and more directly hosted within Sitecore.

How does the Sitecore integration work?

There are two ways that Sitecore integration works with Verint Community:

• Side-by-side with Sitecore single sign-on – available through our Sitecore SDK
• Embedded natively in Sitecore – also available through our Sitecore SDK

How does side-by-side Sitecore integration work?

Side-by-side integration is the easiest way to get a community started. Rather than embedding community functionality directly within Sitecore a separate website is created for the community, e.g. community.verint.com. Integration is done through single sign-on from Sitecore through the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore.

Once the side-by-side integration validates how the community is going to be run then aspects of the community can be exposed directly in Sitecore through the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore.

You can see the Sitecore integration with Verint in action at Sitecore’s community.

How does ’embedded natively’ in Sitecore work?

Embedding community natively within Sitecore allows all aspects (with the exception of administration) of Sitecore integration to be 100% delivered through your Sitecore experience. This integration is done through the open source Verint Community SDK for Sitecore.

The Verint Community SDK for Sitecore is installed into your Sitecore web application and ASP.NET developers can write code to deliver the desired community functionality within Sitecore.

What is the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore?

The Verint Community SDK for Sitecore is a framework to allow you to easily interact with Verint Community content natively within Sitecore. The entire Verint Community platform is available through these APIs and allows you to natively add blogs, forums, wikis, comments, ratings and more natively running within Sitecore. The SDK handles authentication and we are adding more integrations for Sitecore over the coming months, including support for the Sitecore Experience User Database.

Samples are available that demonstrate how this can be done Verint Community SDK for Sitecore samples.

Is Sitecore Open Source?

No, Sitecore is not open source. However, Verint’s Sitecore integration through our Sitecore SDK is published as open source on GitHub.com/Telligent.

What are the dependencies for using the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore?

The Verint Community SDK for Sitecore requires that you have installed and are running Verint Community (minimum version 8.5) and Sitecore (minimum version 7.5) or have access to cloud/SaaS versions of these products. The Verint Community SDK for Sitecore has dependencies on libraries that, for licensing reasons, are not included. More technical details on the requirements are listed in the read me for the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore.

Where can I find the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore?

You can find the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore, along with other integrations and sample code, in our GitHub repository: http://GitHub.com/Telligent

Important: We recommend that you do not modify the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore and instead work with us to accommodate whatever problems you run into. This is a library which is supported for our commercial products.

Where can I find the Verint Community samples for Sitecore?

You can find the Verint Community Samples for Sitecore, along with other integrations and sample code, in our GitHub repository: https://GitHub.com/Telligent

We do recommend that you copy/clone the Verint Community samples for Sitecore.

Our vision for these samples is that they provide a starting point for your Sitecore integration. Several of our partners have created their own branches of these samples for more quickly integrating Verint Community into their Sitecore sites.

Is this the same as Zimbra Connector for Sitecore?

No, the Zimbra Connector for Sitecore integration (final supported release is version 3.0 March 2015) is the predecessor to the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore.

While the technology behind the Zimbra Connector for Sitecore and the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore are similar, the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore social integration was built specifically from the feedback of partners and customers that had previously used the Zimbra Connector for Sitecore integration.

The Zimbra Connector for Sitecore had two substantial challenges:

1. Verint Community widget remoting limited the control that designers / developers had as widgets brought their own markup, scripts and more.
2. Performance could suffer due to too many API calls as widgets weren’t optimized for heavy REST API usage.

The Verint Community SDK for Sitecore does not use the remote widget rendering, but instead is designed to give developers more direct access to the REST Platform APIs offered by Verint Community. This is done though a .NET developer friendly API and integration directly with Sitecore specific functionality.

Is there a migration path from the Sitecore Connector?

No, the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore represents a complete architecture and design change meant to address both full control for developers and designers as well as optimize how communication is done between Sitecore and Verint Community.

Can I still use the Verint Community REST / Platform APIs directly?

Yes, the REST APIs are a great way to integrate with any technology because it is platform independent, i.e Java, PHP, .NET, and because of its use of standard XML and JSON for data transfer. Developers working with Sitecore and Verint Community can absolutely still write REST API calls themselves.

However, the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore is designed to make this much easier as it abstracts much of the REST and authentication infrastructure. The Verint Community SDK for Sitecore still relies on REST HTTPS API calls to interact with Verint Community, however it is managing these API calls and returning .NET dynamic objects that allow the developer to interact with the data much like you would the strong type classes inside Verint Community. For that reason it does require the same version of the .NET framework as your Verint Community site. In addition the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore handles authentication via OAuth natively and you do not have to implement the OAuth flow yourself.

Additionally, unique Sitecore specific integration will be added to the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore over time, such as integration with the Sitecore Experience User Database.

Is there Sitecore OAuth between Sitecore and Verint?

Yes, our Sitecore integration through our Sitecore SDK provides the foundation for connecting single-sign on between Sitecore and Verint through OAuth.

Is there integration with the Sitecore Experience Database?

Currently there is no integration in the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore. However, with version 9.0 of Verint Community we have added in new features and capabilities that will enhance this aspect of our Sitecore integration. Specifically with the addition of Webhooks we now have a mechanism that will enable developers to more easily connect to the Sitecore Experience Database when meaningful activities happen within the community. Verint’s intent is to add support of the Sitecore Experience Database to our Verint Community SDK for Sitecore.

What about performance?

You still have to consider that the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore is dependent on making HTTPS requests to Verint Community. Any hinderance in that communication can cause performance issues similar to any out of process call (such as direct REST API calls or interactions with a database).

Underlying the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore, the Verint Community .NET SDK provides features to aid developers in getting optimal performance: API data trimming, asynchronous calls and API batching (API batching allows multiple API calls to be made over a single REST request) and further optimization of wire-level protocol has all been implemented to help optimize the performance.

Can I uses SaaS Sitecore with SaaS Verint Community?

Yes, although consideration should be made if an embedded/integrated approach will be used. Some optimization should be done to ensure that the data centers (if they are not both in the same physical location) have the lowest number of network hops to reach each server. The recommendation is to keep both sets of software as close to one another as possible to reduce network latency issues.

Is the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore a supported product?

Yes, but you must have an active support agreement with us in order to open a case. For example, if you are using the free version of Verint Community you could not open a support case unless you also have purchased the support for the free edition.

Where can I find the source code for Sitecore integration?

You can find the source code for Verint’s Sitecore integration in our Sitecore github repositories here https://GitHub.com/Telligent.

Where can I ask questions?

You can ask questions about Verint Community / Sitecore integration in our community.

Where is the documentation?

The documentation for the Telligent Community SDK for Sitecore can be found in the wiki section of the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore GitHub repository.

How do I report a bug?

Please search our forums first and then review existing bugs. If this is a new bug, please use the issues section of the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore GitHub repository to report any issues.

How do I suggest an improvement or make a feature request?

Please search our forums / ideas first and contribute to an existing discussion or idea if one exists. Otherwise, please start a new discussion / idea for your feature suggestion.

Can I contribute?

Yes, we will have more details soon on how you can contribute additions to the Verint Community SDK for Sitecore.