Troubleshooting Client-Side Rendering For List Views In Sharepoint 2013
Identifying Client-Side Rendering Issues
Common symptoms indicating client-side rendering problems with SharePoint 2013 list views include missing or incomplete data loads, slow performance when loading or interacting with lists, and error messages during view loads. Developers can use browser developer tools to diagnose many issues.
The F12 developer tools in major browsers provide access to the network panel, which can show status codes and timing information for client-side data requests. Analyzing failed requests and long load times can reveal threshold limits or query performance problems. The console can also display helpful JavaScript errors.
Microsoft provides the SharePoint Developer Dashboard for detailed client-side debugging, including list view queries, control metrics, and log searches. Third-party tools like ULS Viewer simplify parsing verbose SharePoint logs to find correlating entries during rendering issues.
Fixing Problems with List View Thresholds
SharePoint 2013 list view thresholds limit the number of items shown for unindexed queries to 5000, and 2000 for indexed queries by default. Exceeding these thresholds triggers the ItemCount filter, hiding data. Increasing the threshold can resolve missing items.
Use PowerShell to check the current List View Threshold, then raise it if necessary to match the actual number of items. Take care when increasing thresholds as larger data loads impact performance. Consider indexing large lists, adding filters to limit item counts, or paginating data instead.
For very large lists, manage items in archived subsets, route items over 5000 to secondary libraries, or disable client-side rendering with server-side paging. Balance view requirements with list performance.
Optimizing Query Performance
Slow page loads and timeouts can occur when complex list view queries retrieve too much data. The browser developer tools network panel can analyze current queries. Checks for missing indexes, expensive joins, multi-value lookups, or broad date ranges.
Consider indexed columns like Created and Modified for common filters. Narrow date ranges to less than 12 months when possible. Add filters to reduce item counts, like category selections. Use static values over lookups when feasible.
For views still hitting thresholds, enable server-side paging in SharePoint lists over 5000 items. This disables client-side fetching in favor of page-by-page server requests. Tune page size to balance number of requests with web server load.
Debugging JavaScript Errors
Client-side list rendering in SharePoint 2013 relies on JavaScript executed in the browser. Errors in critical scripts can lead to full page failures or partially loaded data. Check the browser console for details.
Fix syntax problems with bundled SharePoint scripts or remove customizations causing issues. For extension scripts, update to the latest version or configure error handling. Wrap in try/catch blocks with fallbacks to isolate failures.
Follow release notes and test guidance when upgrading SharePoint to avoid post-update issues. Script changes can introduce regressions. Plan for testing and troubleshooting after major updates.
Resetting and Rebuilding List Views
As a last resort when SharePoint list views fail with fixes in place, clearing stored state and cache may resolve persistent problems. PowerShell also provides commands for rebuilding views and index resetting.
The Get-SPView and Set-SPView cmdlets can reset view properties and query definitions. For more complete rebuilding, use the SPSite and SPWeb object model to recreate views. This fully clears all stored metadata and requries reconfiguring filters, columns, and settings.
In rare cases, use PowerShell to reset the index and trigger a re-index of the corrupted list. This is an expensive operation affecting performance until competing. Schedule during maintenance windows and test thoroughly.
