ASP.NET Core MVC customizing site variables - entity-framework

Question

I have an ASP.NET Core MVC (with EF) site and I want administrators to modify some variables via admin panel. For example contact e-mail, counter section visibility, navigation menu visibility etc.
And most of the parameters are in _Layout.cshtml.
May I learn the best practice how to manage this issue.
For example: I have a one row table that named GeneralSettings and it has some columns (IsLoginEnable, IsPrivacyVisible etc.) and want to read these columns in _Layout.cshtml
<div class="navbar-collapse collapse d-sm-inline-flex flex-sm-row-reverse">
#if (true) //for example I want to write here "if (Model.ToList()[0].IsLoginEnable)" instead of this
{
<partial name="_LoginPartial" />
}
<ul class="navbar-nav flex-grow-1">
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-controller="Home" asp-action="Index">Home</a>
</li>
#if (true) //if (Model.ToList()[0].IsPrivacyVisible)
{
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-controller="Home" asp-action="Privacy">Privacy</a>
</li>
}
</ul>
I've added comments near the if conditions that I actually want to do.

Answer 1

Updated Answer
Seed your GeneralSettings on the application first start.
The admins can modify it from the UI using a regular form.
When needed, get it from the server's memory via the IMemoryCache service. If it's not present in the memory fetch it from the database and cache it.
When a modification in the GeneralSettings occures, purge it from memory using the IMemoryCache service.
The below code is just an example and may need to be modified to work in your application.
Turn your GeneralSettings into a service:
public Interface IGeneralSettingsService
{
Task<GeneralSettings> GetSettingsAsync();
}
public class GeneralSettingsRepo : IGeneralSettingsService
{
//Inject Context...
//Inject IMemoryCache...
public async Task<GeneralSettings> GetSettingsAsync()
{
if (!memoryCache.TryGetValue("GeneralSettings", out GeneralSettings GS))
{
GS = await context.GeneralSettings.AsNoTracking().FirstOrDefaultAsync();
_ = memoryCache.Set<GeneralSettings>("GeneralSettings", GS, new MemoryCacheEntryOptions
{
AbsoluteExpirationRelativeToNow = TimeSpan.FromHours(cachehours),
SlidingExpiration = TimeSpan.FromHours(cachehours)
});
}
return GS;
}
}
In your admin controller:
[HttpPost]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public async Task<IActionResult> UpdateGlobalSettings(SettingsVm vm)
{
//Update properties...
memoryCache.Remove("GeneralSettings"); //Purge old settings from cache
}
And finally in your Layout.cshtml inject the settings service:
#inject IGeneralSettingsService GeneralSettingsService
#{
var settings = await GeneralSettingsService.GetSettingsAsync();
}
<div class="navbar-collapse collapse d-sm-inline-flex flex-sm-row-reverse">
#if (settings.IsLoginEnabled)
{
<partial name="_LoginPartial" />
}
<ul class="navbar-nav flex-grow-1">
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-controller="Home" asp-action="Index">Home</a>
</li>
#if (settings.IsPrivacyVisible)
{
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-controller="Home" asp-action="Privacy">Privacy</a>
</li>
}
</ul>
Don't forget to register the service in ConfigureServices.