Are media items linked in Rich Text Editor of datasource item considered as related items

Question

I have a page P with one rendering R on it and R has a data source item D. Item D has an RTE field where we have linked one media item M in it.

Now, suppose I modify the media item in the master database, by replacing the pdf in the attachment field and publishing Item P with publish checkbox related item checked. In that case, the media item is not publishing so I doubt if the media item in this case will be considered as a related item.

I checked the logs of the SPS, it shows no error with the following info.

2024-11-21 11:30:25.444 +00:00 [Information] Executing Publish : 
Source: "master", 
Targets: ["Internet"], 
Start Item: 123ae730-bd19-421d-8c13-c868acc1234b, 
Languages: ["en"], 
Process Descendants: True, 
Process Related Items: True

In this, the item 123ae730-bd19-421d-8c13-c868acc1234b is that our page P.

We are using Sitecore 10.3 with the latest Sitecore Publishing Service.

Answer 1

From what I remember, "Related items" only checks one step away. It won't include related-to-related items. "Site publish" is probably your best friend in this case.

Answer 2

We had raised the support ticket with Sitecore and this is their reply.

The default publishing mechanism provides the Publishing.DeepScanRelatedItems setting in configuration which defines how many link recursion levels will be checked during publishing. However, it is not available for Publishing Service. Only the first level of related items are published using Publishing Service. It needs to publish other items manually separately.

We have registered a feature request for the product. So that it can be considered for future implementation. To track the future status of this request, please use the reference number #354510. More information about public reference numbers can be found here: https://support.sitecore.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0077333

Answer 3

When you link a media item in an RTE field, Sitecore stores the reference as a link within the field's value. However, references in RTE fields are not automatically treated as related items during the publishing process. You can refer to this link for details on what sitecore considers as related items.