EPiServer Certification

Today I managed to pass EPiServer 6 Certification. The most difficult part is preparing to the exam. The problem is lack of information about the test. Here are two useful posts about EPiServer 5 Certification: EPiServer CMS 5 Certified Developer and How to become a EPiServer Ceritified Developer which are still valid for version 6. So, to help the others who are going to take the exam I decided to write the third note.

First of all, be prepared that 30% of the questions are not related to development (install/upgrade sites, admin/editor UI, languages etc.). Next 30% are about development regardless of EPiServer (which was very good for me). The other questions were about standard EPiServer classes and controls and configuring your site (I think changes in config files is mostly developer responsibility).

The list of knowledge areas there is quite good. Here are some steps you should do to prepare yourself to the exam.

1. Everybody says you need to code for EPiServer for a while to pass the exam. I think that’s not enough. If you don’t use .NET Reflector you probably don’t know many interesting point. Don’t try to read all the EPiServer dlls using the tool. You just need to be curious how does EPiServer do things when you code another new feature.
2. Some people say you need to read Admin and Editor Guides. I would say it’s not required. But you should click every link in Admin mode to see all the screens, notice all the settings and ensure you understand them all. If you have some extra time, read Admin Guide.
3. In addition to point 2 you should double-check you understand how Mirroring works and how to configure it.
4. Read OnlineCenter Developer Documentation.
5. Install EPiServer 6 web-site. Upgrade EPiServer 5 to EpiServer 6. Read and understand about installing/upgrading the site and licensing. Personally I missed this point.
6. Read about globalization. Play with languages in Admin and Edit modes. See how does it work.
7. Read ‘Developer Guide’ branch in SDK.
8. Read all of this even if you don’t use native EPiServer controls.
9. Open Visual Studio and create MembershipProvider, RoleProvider, ProfileProvider, PageProvider, VitualPathProvider, PagePlugIn, Scheduled Task, Custom Property Type. All of them can do nothing. You just need to understand how to do it (attributes, base classes, interfaces, required methods).
10. Read about Dynamic Data Store and Page Objects. If you don’t use them, just memorize main classes and how-to code snippets.
11. Review web.config and episerver.config files. Be sure you understand everything in there (including commended out sections).
12. Open the list of questions, check if you can answer all of them, use google on missing topics. Repeat steps 1-12 until your beer is cold enough :)

Than, good luck.