Migrate using a step-by-step approach

You can gradually migrate your Web Forms and MVC pages to ASP.NET Core or Next.js using a hybrid development approach - running all technologies in the same project. This is possible, because the renderers do not limit you to creating and editing only ASP.NET Core or Next.js pages.

To have a seamless experience when using the standalone Renderer application (running ASP.NET Core or Next.js) together with Sitefinity CMS rendering (running Web Forms or MVC), the Renderer is also working as a proxy. It forwards every request it cannot handle to Sitefinity CMS.

NOTE: Rendering ASP.NET Core or Next.js widgets in MVC or Web Forms pages or vice versa is not possible.

To migrate Web Forms or MVC to ASP.NET Core or Next.js, you need to go through the following process:

1. Setup a standalone renderer in your project.
   You can choose between the ASP.NET Core Renderer or Next.js Renderer.
   For more information, see Install Sitefinity in ASP.NET Core mode or Setup Next.js renderer.

   ASP.NET Core renderer proxies Web Forms or MVC pages automatically. If you are using the Next.js renderer, you must submit all Web Forms and MVC pages explicitly for rendering in the following way:

   In middleware.ts file, find variable whitelistedPaths which is an array of strings.
   Place the URLs of the pages as separate strings:
   const whitelistedPaths: string[] = ['/legacypageurlone', '/legacypageurltwo'];

2. Run Sitefinity Migration Analyzer on your website.
   It helps you evaluate the current state of your project.
   Using the results, you can make a plan for the migration.
   For more information, see Sitefinity Migration Analyzer.
3. Move one page at a time from Web Forms or MVC to the renderer (ASP.NET Core or Next.js).
   Make sure that all widgets on the page are also transitioned to the new technology.
   Do not forget to keep the same URL of the new page, so that website structure is retained.