Sitecore: Efficient way to display the name of Item which is saved in field with type Link Types:Droptree

Question

Let's says if Sitecore Item itemhas a field Created by with type Link Types:Droptree

I want to print the name of item which is saved in the field Created by. The following line <sc:Text Field="Created by" runat="server"/> will print the ItemId. What is the efficient way to display the name of this item.

I know that I can get the item from the database and then print its name as:

<asp:Label runat="server" ID="lblItemName"></asp:Label>

In Codebehind:

 if (!Page.IsPostBack)
            {
                Item currentItem = Sitecore.Context.Item;

                Item relatedItem = Sitecore.Context.Database.GetItem(currentItem["Created by"]);

                lblItemName.Text = relatedItem.Name;
            }

Answer 1

I don't think it is possible to render the name of an item with <sc:Text /> as it is a field renderer.

So you will have to do like you did:

var currentItem = Sitecore.Context.Item;

// Alternative way to get the linked item
var createdByField = (ReferenceField) currentItem.Fields["Created by"];
var createdByItem = createdByField.TargetItem;
var createdByItemName = createdByItem.Name;

lblItemName.Text = createdByItemName;

If you want to render a field from the linked item (createdByItem) instead of the current context item, you can do it like this:

<sc:Text runat="server" Field="Headline" ID="scRelatedItem" />

and int the code behind you set the Item property to the item you want to read the Headline field from:

scRelatedItem.Item = createdByItem;

Doing it this way will also make the field editable by editors through the Page Editor (called Experience Editor in Sitecore 8).