Sitecore Create/Read/Update/Delete/Copy/Move/Rename item

New Sitecorians often ask the most trivial questions, and I am happy to answer them. This question popped up lately: How do you perform basic CRUD operations on your Sitecore items? Well, it’s easy:

READ ITEM (GET ITEM):

// Get item from content database:
Item item = Sitecore.Context.ContentDatabase.GetItem("/sitecore/content/home");
// Get item from ID:
Item item = Sitecore.Context.ContentDatabase.GetItem(new Sitecore.Data.ID("{9464f2c9-8490-40e9-a95b-17f8a5128da6}");
// Get item from named database
Item item = Sitecore.Configuration.Factory.GetDatabase("master").GetItem("/sitecore/content/home");

CREATE ITEM:

// You need to have a root item to create item under:
Item item = Sitecore.Context.ContentDatabase.GetItem("/sitecore/content/home");
// You also need a template to create the item from:
TemplateID template = new TemplateID(new ID("{434b38a2-b929-4a89-bbc8-a6b66281e014}"));
// Then you can create a new item:
Item newItem = item.Add("new item", template);
// If you wish to create an item based on a branch:
BranchId branch = new BranchId(new ID("{4f254169-7666-4c2e-8021-a05026d5a2e2}"));
Item newItem = item.Add("new item", branch);

UPDATE ITEM:

// You need to have an item to update:
// Remember to always update items in the MASTER database,
// NOT the WEB Database:
Item item = Factory.GetDatabase("master").GetItem("/sitecore/content/home");
// You then set the item in editing mode
item.Editing.BeginEdit();
try
{ 
  // Change the contents of the fields to update
  item.Fields["field"].Value = "new value";
  // End edit writes the updates to the database:
  item.Editing.EndEdit();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
  // in case of an exception, you do not really
  // need to cancel editing, but it is good 
  // manners and it indicates that you know
  // what the code is doing
  item.Editing.CancelEdit();
}

DELETE ITEM:

// You need to have an item to delete:
// Remember to always update items in the MASTER database,
// NOT the WEB Database:
Item item = Factory.GetDatabase("master").GetItem("/sitecore/content/home");
// Remember that deleting one item also delete the children.
// The item.Recycle() moves the item to the recycle bin, whilst the 
// item.Delete() permanently deletes the item:
item.Recycle();

COPY ITEM:

// You need to have a source destination:
Item destinationItem = Factory.GetDatabase("master").GetItem("/sitecore/content/home");
// You also need an item to copy:
Item sourceItem = Factory.GetDatabase("master").GetItem("/sitecore/content/sourceitem");
// Then you can copy:
sourceItem.CopyTo(destinationItem, "new name");

MOVE ITEM:

// You need to have a source destination:
Item destinationItem = Factory.GetDatabase("master").GetItem("/sitecore/content/home");
// You also need an item to move:
Item sourceItem = Factory.GetDatabase("master").GetItem("/sitecore/content/sourceitem");
// Then you can copy:
sourceItem.MoveTo(destinationItem);

RENAME ITEM:

// You need to have an item to rename:
Item item = Factory.GetDatabase("master").GetItem("/sitecore/content/home");
item.Editing.BeginEdit();
item.Name = "new name";
item.Editing.EndEdit();

MORE TO READ:

Deleting items to recycle bin in Sitecore by briancaos
Create a new version of item, in different language from stackexchange