Adding Regions to Pages in the Content Manager

Regions do not have a dedicated representation in Tridion SitesContent Manager other than a Region Schema. There are multiple ways to define Regions for Page Layouts, and which method you use depends on the version of the Tridion Sites you have implemented.

Release 9 of Tridion Sites introduced an enhancement that allows you to define Regions on the Page Schema (also called "native" Regions.) Prior releases of DXA have supported Regions differently though Component Template design (now "legacy" or "non-native" Regions). DXA 2.2 and later supports both types of Regions.

When using DXA 2.1 and later with Tridion Sites 9, you should define Regions in the Page Schema. If you choose to continue using the deprecated method of defining them in the Component Templates, be aware that it may be dropped in an upcoming release. If you are upgrading to Tridion Sites 9 from a previous version of SDL Web, then you may have a mixture of these types.

Note that on the published MVC View, the Regions are treated the same way regardless of where and how the content was implemented in the come from the Content Manager. To see all available Region Views, go to your web application's Areas\Core\Views\Region folder.

The remainder of this topic gives an overview of the different ways to implement Regions in the Tridion Sites Content Manager. This includes a way you can simulate Regions through use of Page Includes.

Page Schema-based Regions (for Tridion Sites 9 and later)

Page Schema-based Regions are defined on the Design tab of the Page Schema, as the following screen capture illustrates:

The numbered items in the illustration are as follows:
  1. The top portion of the tab defines one non-nested Region, which every Page has by default. This non-nested Region is for primarily for migration purposes as a place to hold all Regions that have not been moved to appropriate nested Regions.
  2. The Nested Regions section lists the "native" Regions that will be available on Pages using this Page Schema. Note that the order of the Regions listed in the Nested Regions area of the Page Schema is only relevant if the Region is not specifically placed somewhere on the webpage by the Page View.

DXA provides a number of Region Schemas for your use and as samples. For general information on creating Page Schemas with Nested Regions, refer to the Tridion Sites documentation.

Component Template-based Regions (deprecated, for use with SDL Web 8)

Prior to the addition of Page Schema-based Regions in Tridion Sites 9, Page Templates did not support Nested Regions. It was the responsibility of the Component Template developer to define the layout and type of content on the published Page.

The following screen capture illustrates one of the deprecated Component Templates:

The numbered items in the illustration are as follows:
  1. The Name field defines the Component Template as well as indicates the Region used inside of the square bracket (for identification purposes only).
  2. A metadata field, Region View Name, defines the MVC View for the Region.

Simulated Regions through Include Pages

It is also possible to simulate Regions on the published Page through Page Includes that you define on the Page Template. When defined this way, they are automatically included on all Pages that are based on the Page Template.

The following screen capture illustrates one of the sample Page Templates with header and footer Regions defined as simulated Page Includes:

The image illustrates two common simulated Regions, a header and a footer.