RazorClassBlog 0.0.2

RazorClassBlog

A lightweight, embeddable blog system for ASP.NET Core Razor Pages, delivered as a Razor Class Library (RCL).

About this project

RazorClassBlog exists to solve a very specific problem:

�I need a simple, SEO-friendly blog inside my existing ASP.NET Core site � not a full CMS, not a headless platform, and not a WordPress clone.�

This project provides:

• Public blog pages that search engines can crawl and index
• An optional admin UI for managing posts
• Clean architecture that lets the host application control authentication, identity, and data storage

It is designed to be:

• Embedded, not hosted
• Configurable, not opinionated
• Small, not over-engineered

If you want a full CMS, this probably isn�t it. If you want a blog that �just works� inside your app, it might be.

This was also a practical test to try an use AI (GPT5) to develop as much out of the box without tinkering as possible. So far its about 80% AI written, and 20% cleanup/re-structure.

Features

Public blog

• Blog index with pagination
• Individual post pages
• SEO-friendly URLs (/blog/yyyy/mm/slug)
• Breadcrumb navigation (HTML + JSON-LD)
• Canonical URLs and meta descriptions
• Structured data (BlogPosting / Article)
• Open Graph & Twitter Card metadata

Admin UI (optional)

• Create, edit, and delete posts
• Draft, published, and scheduled posts
• Publish scheduling (future dates)
• Autosave drafts
• Rich text editor (TinyMCE)
• Role-based access using ASP.NET Core Identity

Architecture

• Razor Class Library (RCL)
• Razor Pages UI
• Repository + service abstractions
• Entity Framework Core�based persistence
• Host-controlled database provider (SQL, Cosmos DB, etc.)

Technology

• Target framework: .NET 9
• UI: Razor Pages + Bootstrap
• Data: Entity Framework Core
• Auth: ASP.NET Core Identity
• Editor: TinyMCE (via CDN)

Installation

dotnet add package RazorClassBlog

Or reference the project directly during development.

Basic setup

Register services

builder.Services.AddBlogging(options =>
{
    options.BlogKey = "main";
    options.PublicPageSize = 5;
    options.AdminPageSize = 25;

    options.AdminRoles = new[] { "Admin", "BlogAdmin" };
    options.ReaderRoles = new[] { "User", "Customer" };

    // Disable admin UI on public-only sites
    // options.EnableAdminUi = false;
});

Ensure Razor Pages, Identity, and Authorization are enabled:

builder.Services.AddRazorPages();
builder.Services.AddAuthorization();

Middleware:

app.UseRouting();
app.UseAuthentication();
app.UseAuthorization();
app.MapRazorPages();

Database configuration

The library depends on an IBlogDbContext abstraction. The host application supplies the concrete EF Core implementation.

Example (Cosmos DB):

builder.Services.AddDbContext<CosmosBlogDbContext>(options =>
    options.UseCosmos(
        builder.Configuration["Cosmos:ConnectionString"],
        builder.Configuration["Cosmos:DatabaseName"]));

builder.Services.AddScoped<IBlogDbContext>(sp =>
    sp.GetRequiredService<CosmosBlogDbContext>());

Admin UI & security

Admin pages

Admin pages live under:

/BlogAdmin

Access is controlled via ASP.NET Core Identity roles configured in BlogOptions.

Disable admin UI entirely

If the admin UI is hosted in a separate site, routes can be removed entirely:

options.EnableAdminUi = false;

When disabled:

• Admin routes are not registered
• /BlogAdmin returns 404
• No admin surface exists to attack

Publishing model

• Draft � not visible publicly
• Published � visible immediately
• Scheduled � visible when PublishedUtc <= UtcNow

Public visibility rule:

Status == Published && PublishedUtc <= DateTimeOffset.UtcNow

Author handling

Posts support an editable display author:

• AuthorId � internal identifier (audit)
• AuthorName � displayed author (person or organization)

Examples:

• �Jane Doe�
• �Acme Marketing Team�

Non-goals

This project intentionally does not attempt to be:

• A full CMS
• A headless content platform
• A page builder
• A replacement for WordPress, Ghost, or similar systems

License

MIT License