You know I have a passion for this wonderful application, and continue to believe that it is without doubt, the finest .net open source application around, with a skinning engine that gives more life to a CMS application than I've ever seen around.

But is this enough to draw in a graphic designer who's turned selling websites as a business model and wants to capture a growing market?

Well, I'm sorry to disappoint those, but my feeling in this area is NO.  It might comes a surprise to hear that comment based on the fact that I'm an avid fan of DNN and to date, continue to support it and am close to releasing our range of new free and commercial skins. (I confess I was waiting and hoping for the release of DNN 5 Cambrian, and after having a copy of the DNN 5 RC1 on http://www.dnnbeta.com - and spending the best part of a few hours to work out how the new skinning behaviour will work... Oh my ... why has everything become so complicated??)

My reasons for taking this bold comment about the use for graphics designers as a marketing tool, by comparison to using something like Joomla (which I don't believe is worth using for graphic designers either just for the records) is because it seems to me that there is a different mindset when working on the visual element as well as the practical side of things.  I don't think Joomla is the answer either ok - I've read many a problem regarding Joomla, so I don't think it's an issue of 'php or .net' - it is really a matter of the framework methodololgy and how it is handled from a management perspective for the graphics team.

The creative side of some designers, often from a print background is lacking in understanding at times of the functionality behind websites. This is not a criticism, but an observation and does not take from the fact we need this talent to push boundaries and ensure their whole 'branding' approach to design is carried through the whole spectrum of the business - whether it's cards, letterheads, websites, brochures, cd presentations, PowerPoint presentations.. whatever the graphic designer has played a part in. That area alone is an extraordinary wide range of tasks to expect to have a depth of understanding for and I think at times the demands on graphic designers is such that you expect them to pull creativity out of some hat with a ticking clock on it to make sure that projects are delivered on time, looking fantastic and being unique in their look and feel and marketing message.

Now, we have standards of print that are carried out throughout the industry in relation to how they are delivered. Graphic designers, in my opinion work their out of this world ideas, from very tight and conforming conditions.  For example - a business card is a business card.  Even if it's fractionally different in size, it's a business card. The designer works the talent they have to carry through an idea from a card, through to a poster.. I've seen some work by these guys that simply astounds me as you think you've seen it all, can't be inspired by much more and then ... WOW .. out of the blue - something you just want to look at.

Even if printing equipment changes, the structure is the same.  A brochure is a certain size, therfore working within the constraints brings out talent a different way.

Now, bring on the web... static pages initially gave an open ticket to graphic designers, they did for a time rule the web in my opinion. High end website after website for years were eye candy - it didn't matter they didn't do a lot as the expectation wasn't there. We were all new to the web, (relatively speaking) and our expectations, exposure and experience really wasn't like it is today.  So, the fancy pants websites with trickery galore and over the top designs exploring the boundaries of the technologies we had at the tip of our mouses meant that the graphic designer ruled.

But this has changed.  Even with web 2.0 bits and bobs, twitter, pageflakes, flock, facebook, myspace, youtube... it's hard to keep up these days.. all these sterotyped icon based websites with few words and lots of pictures, now looking the same in many instances, something else has been happening behind the scenes.  While the value of designers is still there, the demand online has changed.  Again, it's only my opinion, and based on working in this space for many years, it's not good or bad, but a sign of changing times.

I feel there is now becoming a divide between the website owner who simply wants to get their business online, and will settle for compromises in design to get functionality of their site. Not that the importance of design has dropped, but we also have an enormous amount of choices in reference to templates and designs. This is not just DNN but also Joomla, Mambo, Sharepoint... in fact most things that carry a structure of management behind them now have a team of smart designers who understand the commercial elements of theming and overlaying their graphical talents into rigid technologies.

So where does that leave DNN in this space... not for the faint hearted in my opinion.  The absolute flexibility of the framework could perhaps be it's undoing. The inability to meet the purists demands of W3C compliancy has left many annoyed and disappointed... Not me - I personally think they are on a bandwagon that is pointless and futile - Utopia doesn't exist.  I believe the focus should be on balance... that is - doing the best you can with the tools you have, being mindful at all times when working with web, but accepting that commercially it may be not viable to budget in 3.5 times the normal amount of development time, just to testing on a plethora of browsers.

The internet never has and never will be fully compliant.  And for those who complain about compliancy - go find other solutions instead of DNN.  I have been looking for some time to try and find out where you can actually view the statistics and percentages of compliant sites - are we getting any better?   Recent searches on it here - http://www.google.com.au/search?rlz=1C1CHMG_enAU291&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=what+percentage+of+sites+are+w3c+compliant
showed only older information from 2006 and it didn't sound too promising. I am not trying to be disrespectful or disregard the need for consistency, just pointing out in my experience, the difficult realities in actually achieving it.

DNN isn't really the best when it comes to being compliant but to be fair - neither are other many other content management products - joomla included - yes even joomla with it's squillions of users can't always deliver unique, compliant websites.  But Joomla, as much as I love some of the sites and how they look (yes I do  - my own site is a joomla themed sites - so I can tell you I love how they look) they are all pretty much the same.. and we get that old story - Are you wearing Avon? Not... what perfume are you wearing - they all have that tell tale look and feel about them, similar to the csszengarden sites - love them... I really do, but following the rules like they do really can restrict what is and isn't done.

Now, poor DNN - the guys came up with one of the best skinning engine technologies, which I am still impressed immensely with... but... and here's the but... it's a disaster for someone who is a graphic designer to come in and skin something outstanding... unless they know about how DNN works.. it's not a graphic designers tool, it's a graphic designers nightmare... and unless they bother to learn about DNN (like they really want to do that) their passion for design will have to be expanded to their passion for DNN.  They saw something in this framework that made them choose to learn about how it works and how you can utilise through skins, modules or graphics, and create their masterpiece online, that their customers can manage.

It doesn't happen that way OK - I get email like this - ... My graphic design can't skin... I got this design but we've tried for weeks to get it to work... We can't get this to work like the design.... Something is wrong with the design... My designer says DNN can't do this ....  lots of email over the years and sometimes I've been burnt in saying we can do something to find that ... yes we could but was it worth it...  Other times, it's been such a thrill from my perspective to be part of a designers visions and deliver outstanding sites, truly, visually outstanding and makes me thrilled that I'm part a project that even some joomla peolpe have moved to because it does offer the ability to create a unique look and feel that other open source CMS frameworks can't.

But it's no good to you unless you are prepared to learn a little, burn a little time understanding what makes DNN an oustanding solution, but for not the faint hearted.

I have heard on the grapevine about other prominent graphics people leaving the DNN circle in the future - of course after openforce 08 and most likely moving to other technologies because they have found better opportunities than DNN can offer them.... are they going to take their DNN clients with them - most likely - but for graphic designers wanting to find turnkey solutions for their clients, DNN may not be your solution unless you are prepared to invest in time to learn it.  It just doesn't come easily enough for most and the very style and methods in which graphic designers work may see them not choose DNN as there could be better alternatives out there for their own circumstances.

I have noticed a couple of new solutions around for a few months now and seen how they are quite appealing, not as complex as DNN but hey - DNN is moving into an environment of trying to be all for all, and along the way, losing those who want a lightweight framework that is in touch with the 'needs of now' audience. Now, that might seem to be a harsh statement for some, but it's simply a realisation that as time progressions, projects change, the direction changes and of course new products that come out and where we are at that point in time in reference to our business.

I run both Linux and Windows servers, and now we are working with a new client who had their own open source solution, pieced together by a developer, and that developer let them down, and they can't move forward with their current framework. They have looked at Joomla and, as a graphic design company, felt it was far to complicated and messy for them to work with, and they didn't want to invest the time in teaching their clients how to work with it, so we have implemented SilverStripe - a PHP CMS solution.  It's taken us a bit of time to learn, and it's very light - really it can't be compared to DNN, nor should it be, but it will help this client get out of his problem with his developer having a stranglehold of his business direction.

I'm going to give you my opinion on the changes to how skinning has changed with DNN 5, with the introduction to the new .DNN file to help you generate licensing and terms through the installation.  It took me a few hours to get it working, and I believe it's important for people who are doing skinning as business to stop and understand the implications and work involved now in creating a skin package... or you'll be using the 'legacy' method (the backward compatible method of uploading skins) forever.  If you ever had a skin that had lots and lots of sliced images, you'll be hoping there is some quick packager to help you or it is going to be very tedious... or do we need to istall Visual Studio and packaging applications to handle these things..

Having spent the last 18 months making some important business changes, I've nearly reached some important goals, and look forward to changes ahead with DNN and have some iminent announcements soon - all for the good!

I hope this gives you some inside view on my perception of DNN for graphic designers.  DNN is an amazing product, but will the changes that have been put in place match the expectation of the designers who help drive this product in the marketplace?

Nina Meiers