We need a view on the content. >>> request = self.app.REQUEST >>> from zope.publisher.browser import BrowserView >>> view = BrowserView(self.portal, request) >>> from plone.app.layout.viewlets.interfaces import IPortalFooter >>> from Products.Five.viewlet.manager import ViewletManager >>> Footer = ViewletManager('left', IPortalFooter) Now we can instantiate the manager. >>> manager = Footer(self.portal, request, view) Set analytics (webstats_js) code through the controlpanel >>> from plone.registry.interfaces import IRegistry >>> from zope.component import getUtility >>> from Products.CMFPlone.interfaces import ISiteSchema >>> registry = getUtility(IRegistry) >>> site_settings = registry.forInterface(ISiteSchema, prefix="plone") >>> site_settings.webstats_js = u"" >>> manager.update() >>> text = manager.render() >>> site_settings.webstats_js in text True Now enter some non-ascii text >>> site_settings.webstats_js = u"" >>> manager.update() >>> text = manager.render() >>> site_settings.webstats_js in text True