This is Part 3 of the DNN 5 Beta I've been looking at over the last week or so, and covers some of the skinning changes I've noticed.

Part 2 of the DNN 5 Beta I've been trying out.. A quick apology for something that was already there, and some more screen shots the interface covering the 'extensions'

DNN 5 Beta has been released to a few people with products for sale on the DNN marketplace - After spending several hours with it, I thought I'd share some of the new features.

Here is a an easy fix to a very common problem I'm seeing with newcomers to DNN. Most often created by incorrectly installing a container instead of a skin. Use this attached file to resolve it quickly.

Ugrading DotNetNuke from any version can be a challenge, but with these tips it should help you make the 4.5 > 4.8 transition easier.

Can you really run a business based on the Windows based Open Source solution - DotNetNuke... I've given a bit of an insight on my thoughts on the matter...

Updated http://www.catalooksupport.com to the latest version of DNN 4.8 - it was an original 4.1 version upgraded to 4.3 and then 4.5, but after reading issues with upgrading, was a bit hestitant, however, it was worth the effort.

Back on deck - new sites, new challenges, new information... New Free Skins

Learn how to manage your portals by creating a more user friendly naming convention that is available when creating your portals.

Like the discussion about should we use tables in skins, and what's the difference about compatibility and compliance... it's a bit subjective, but the step towards making your URLS friendlier is always a more positive move, regardless of SEO, let's think about the end user visiting the site - how much help would it be for them to be able to logically or intuitively navigate around a website. But even there area a few pros and cons.

Brought out in 4.6 was the ability to customise/modify some of the skin tokens that appear in the DNN skins, so I thought I'd have a look and evaluate how handy it would be.

Looking for ways to improve the speed of your slow DotNetNuke website? One of the biggest DotNetNuke websites - http://www.afl.com.au uses it, and you can too. But who's running PageBlaster? Here's how to find out.

Looking ahead at what we can expect in this release was interesting and one of a couple of things I thought was handy includes the new page import/export feature - handy for site administrators and a feature that will be well used in the future.

Finally released the new and updated DNNSkins.com website - http://www.dnnskins.com - for some great new free skins, packed, polished and ready for preview. Simply register, login, add to your cart and then check them out!

Nina Meiers is looking for DotNetNuke developers to partner with. If you're a skilled DotNetNuke developer who is able to provide ongoing support, then you might be interested in this.

Who cares about compatibility... not those who are making a living out of selling skins. Not even bothering to get a 4.01 transitional. Who really cares these days?These are the reports for the top selling skins on snowcovered... and they still keep selling - so who really cares? Failed validation, 51 Errors,Failed validation, 64 Errors,Failed validation, 110 Errors >> Mothership ...

An overview on moving and acquiring DNN sites and an overview of the new hosting environment XD Design P/L will be offering clients.

You could be regarded as misunderstood you've been caught out and admitted being 'embarrassed' about it, but when you release another build only a day or two later, without having rectified what you said was 'a mistake'... then perhaps someone needs ad awareness to the public in general.

An objective thought on the Joomla / DotNetNuke discussion that comes up from time to time and I've tried to put in my own thoughts based on experience, so also provided here, a link to my own DotNetNuke as a Business overview article I wrote a week ago for clients who ask me about why I use DotNetNuke.

I like to see that the DNN Community has the chance to have access to quality skins and this is no exception. After updating and fixing all the errors and menu wobbles, it's now good enough to use on any DotNetNuke website in DNN 4+ (would probably work with dnn 3 too)

I saw a post on the forums which said - Is DNN right for me, and I thought I'd share it. It was a question about firm with lots of documents in PDF format that required storage, attached with pictures, for their customers to access. Here's my take on the question.

Taking a DNN site offline requires more than the default.htm file to be added, but this is a handy tip with a sample file to take your site offline and display your company logo, while you upgrade your DotNetNuke website... Can also be used for uploading install files.

Are you a beginner to DotNetNuke and don't know have no idea on the amazing skinning elements? There is some help for you.

Sometimes it's handy to know what some of these errors mean - even if you're not a developer, it might help you understand the complexities these guys are faced with from time to time.

In keeping with providing the best range of free skins which not only look great but are well coded, I've also been working through the list of free skins I have on http://www.dnnskins.com where there are some that are a few years old, for DNN2 and not really working as they should in DNN 3 & 4.

DotNetNuke 4.5 Skin now uses the NAV MENU so learn a little more by downloading this FREE DotNetNuke Skin using the NAV Menu and polish your skills.

Only small, and perhaps to many, regarded as minor, here are some variants in the default skins that may affect your site if you continue to use the default skins on your website. A quick DotNetNuke 4.5 Skins overview.

Free DotNetNuke Vertical Menu Skin available for download - This skin is the DesignAway skin I created in 2004, but it's proven to be a very popular skin for those looking for a Vertical Menu Skin that uses the SolPart menu.

Fowles Auction Group has recently had a couple of name changes and website updates. XD were involved in one of the new websites launched over the last few days and a brief overview of the project is listed here.

This is realy just a quick fix for a site I'm working on where we would like to remove the lines in the module menu - You can further tweak the CSS code if you want - but it's a simple copy and replace.

Well it was great to have a chance to talk an audience of computer enthusiasts with an amazing age bracket!! From teenagers to seniors - the diversity was very interesting to see and the topics and questions covered - well - I learnt a couple of things as well. I also learnt that there is an appreciative audience who want to know a few things about technology in plain English.

I was very excited to get XFLEX working in a container - so it just resizes the text in that module. So I've taken a skinobject and made it into a container object.. and it's very cool if you ask me.

A couple of handy tips to make working with your DotNetNuke site a little more user friendly and quicker to install those well used modules and move those 'less used ones' further down the selection box. One is about naming the files in the dropdown box to make them shorter and more useful and the other is how to make the selection box bigger.

This week I will be presenting DotNetNuke to one of the biggest audiences I've spoke publicly to and the topic of interest is - DotNetNuke - how an over-40 left-handed woman built her own web site for free.

It's April Fools day here ... and I'm starting my new post called - DNN Bloopers - where I want to share with you some of the funnies an sillies that we see from time to time and of course you'll have to be a DNN person to appreciate this. Here's a good one... I called.. Babble Fish - it's the new langauge for how the 'little people' get spoken to on the DNN forums. It's this new language that is a cross between BS and WTF on a forum that is becoming so restrictive in protecting 'the community' I'm wondering if it's some secret code for 'protecting our personal business interests'.

DNN Way Back When... it was just a baby - Here's how it used to look and you can download the skin from dnnskins.com

So you're not a coder, not a developer, not an SQL guru and you just want an easier way to work with SQL 2005 & SQL Express - these screen shots and link to the download tool should help you out.

Yes, finally booked the ticket, have 4 days of accomodation covered, but staying for 11 days - maybe more if I need to visit other places. MVP 2007 Summit is going to be so exciting and I'm thrilled being part of it.

Does the word 'mission critical' always run chills down the spine when thinking of upgrading?? Why can't the mission critical upgrades behave as well as the ones I'm prepared to trash....

A skin will NEVER kill your dnn install, if you have ftp you can fix up any problems caused by standard skins!!

Looking for ways to customise DotNetNuke and put your own touches in? Here's a start on how to put your own logo on pages instead of the dotnetnuke one.

Not enough 'local' homework... DNN is moving into a 'developer only' environment, but even the smart ones are getting caught up when trying to get it working.

Have you checked your installation version? If you're running 4.3.6 / 3.3.6 and below you need to upgrade your website - Make sure you are NOT a DotNetNuke Sitting Duck - An learn how to 'mask' your version from the public

I love DotNetNuke and all of what it offers, but after 3 years, and being somewhat battle scarred and weary - I got sick of having to compromise in so many ways with having to put up with 'second' best. And it flows on to many aspects about DotNetNuke that I guess I've had to grin and bear, and I would get so jealous of these very cool and funky looking blogs others had.

Thought I'd be a bit more creative than I have been. And done a cool new free skin.

I was quite excited to get an email a two days ago announcing that I'd been awarded MVP status for contributions to the DotNetNuke community and an exciting way to start off 2007. I didn't realise how exciting the award was, until I read about others who had achieved them... And I came to the conclusion that passion and community spirit make a difference.

It's interesting as I look at the advancements of DNN over the last 4 years, and it's hard to believe that on Christmas Eve - DotNetNuke celebrates it's 4th Birthday..

It's interesting to have been part of the process from virtually the beginning of an era, and the mix of users with DNN 1, 2 & 3 sites are now looking to upgrade. And I've got my own thoughts on the process...

From a business perspective, it always interests me how people are using DotNetNuke and it's no wonder that we see increasing amount of questions about what DNN can do, when you consider the spectrum of users coming into DNN.

From a business perspective, it always interests me how people are using DotNetNuke and it's no wonder that we see increasing amount of questions about what DNN can do, when you consider the spectrum of users coming into DNN.

Oh man the month just flew by - and busy as ever - but I had to take some time out to review some processes, and get some work finished. And the outcome has been interesting to say the least..

Great to see DotNetNuke in use with this fantastic TechEvent on this weekend. With over 450 people registered to attend this free event, you should check out what's on offer.

It has been nearly three weeks since I've popped my head into my blogs, not even spending much time on forums, but it's definitely not from lack of interest, simply closing of jobs that have taken me what seems an eon to do.. But Xflex Is now available on snowcovered and http://www.skinsforsale.com

Or should that be.. Just because it's fast, it doesn't mean it's easy. That's the general thought of the day I'm having while we work on getting some projects out the door and they have taken longer.

I think the system/methods now of getting the DNN builds out to the benefactors is working with them getting access to the 3.3.5 & 4.3.5 builds for the last couple of weeks.

It did see several reposts and rebuilds along the way- maybe 5, as they reported things back, other issues were discovered and final testing was underway.

So, I believe in the next day or so, if not already there - a much needed and updated version of DNN is going to be available.

Charles Nurse compiled the following list of issues which have been resolved in 3.3.5/4.3.5:

Admin/Host Functions
DNN-3913 - Improved performance of URL Control with a large number of folders
DNN-3911 - Inform User if email to vendor or admin fail
DNN-3932 - Fixed behavior of User Settings in SuperUser Accounts
DNN-3928 - Add ability to disable the Update profile on login functionality (this is great for people who want to restrict the changes made by susbscribers)
DNN-3868 - Fixed display of Page specific Header info
DNN-3867 - Fixed the Portal Template Schema Definition for the file element
DNN-3866 - Fixed AddPortalInfo sproc so users upgrading from 4.0 can add new portals
DNN-3793 - Fixed bug with adding codeSubdirectory node to web.config
DNN-3730 - Forced validation of Profile Definitions in case client-side validation doesn't happen (plus added missing keys)
DNN-3791 - Private and verified registration no longer redirects but displays confirmation message (this will elminate confusion if you were actually sucessfull in filling out registration)
DNN-3804 - Fail gracefully on Password Update if problems with Email
DNN-3839 - Added ability for Admin to set the default profile Visibility
DNN-3835 - Added ability for Admin to disable/enable Services
DNN-3834 - Added ability for Admin to enable/disable Profile Visibility
DNN-3838 - Added option to suppress the Pager in the Users Grid when not needed (PageSize > TotalRecords)
DNN-3748 - Fixed Paging in User Accounts when using a Search option other than username
DNN-3822 - Suppress Group Header when Profile has no properties in the Category enabld for display
DNN-3760 - Breadcrumb Enhancement - Allow use of tab title instead of tab name (This could be a good SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) enhancement)
DNN-3694 - Added friendly message when duplicate portal alias is added  (great for non technical people)
DNN-3419 - Removed some unused resource keys (this will clean up the language resource pack)

Control Panel
DNN-3874 - Change to add custom permissions by default to all roles with EDIT permissions when adding a new module to the page

DAL
DNN-2913 - Fixed situation where a TextColumn is bound to a null value (now returns "")

File Manager
DNN-3865 - Added buffering to downloading of files (in 10K chunks)

General
DNN-3702 - Fixed case where a Port is specified in SMTP configuration
DNN-3743 - In LogController, fixed SupportsEmailNotification and SupportsInternalViewer so they return a value
DNN-2699 - Fixed SiteWizard.ascx to allow debugging if specified in web.config

Text Editor
DNN-3926 - Make sure Action menus are not visible if they are empty (or only have break items)

Install/Upgrade
DNN-3759 - Fixed localization errors when no portal (eg during Install)

Localization
DNN-3917 - Improved RTL support in Profile Editor
DNN-3812 - Added en-us to default language
DNN-1974 - support for longer locale strings
DNN-2612 - Fixed xml error in reource verifier
DNN-2268 - Updated Resource Verifier to support asp.net 2 style resx files
DNN-3594 - Languages sorted alphabetically in Languages editor

Resource Installer
DNN-3742 - Fixed installation of app_code based modules

Search
DNN-2344 - Fixed Indexing when Page has an enddate
DNN-3464 - Added validators to Search settings
DNN-2798 - Fixed UpdateSearchItem stored procedure to use nvarchar instead of varchar
DNN-1902 - Fixed PageCount check
DNN-1891 - Include Common Words setting is now used in GetSearchResults

Security
DNN-3718 - Added required image to password fields (in Register and Add User)
DNN-3964 - Fixed missing code to Log the SuperUser Login event
DNN-3747 - Fixed Registration when RequireQuestionandAnswer is selected
DNN-3849 - Add check for empty string in Decrypt method to avoid errors on x64 servers
DNN-3883 - Allow all Administrators to unlock each other
DNN-3853 - Improve scalability/performance of GetModulePermissionsByModuleID and GetFolderPermissionsByFolderPath
DNN-3833 - Added message for unauthorized users when attempting to log in.
DNN-3706 - Made ValidationExpression column nvarchar(2000) rather than nvarch(100)
DNN-3968 - Created separate temporary and persistent cookie timeouts

Skinning
DNN-3984 - The DNNMenuNavigationProvider correctly utilizes the CSSNodeSelectedRoot in all cases
DNN-3707 - Fixed skin parsing that extracts the skin components from a full html file.

Templates
DNN-3661 - Fixed C# Module Template error
DNN-3708 - Fixed portal template errors when using Modules with multiple Module Definitions (like Blog)
DNN-2234 - Fixed templates default user/password
DNN-3783 - Fixed Site Wizard bug

UI
DNN-3882 - Fixed View mode of the List Edit Control so it correctly returns the list item (when two different Lists contain the same Values)
DNN-3746 - Fixed display of login instaructions
DNN-3798 - Fixed the maximize behaviour of the Password Aging section in User Settings
 

Overall, this has been a build focussed on fixes and most requested enhancements.

Great job overall by the core team developers.

And, we haven't even touched on the projects that have been updated. So good news all around for those who have endured the rollercoaster ride.  DNN is definitely worth it.

Nina Meiers

 

And I'll tell you why - Last week my server was compromised by a module written by Richard Cox using the BDPDT layers. Quite a few of his modules use it, and it will NEVER be allowed on my server again, and when I show you just how far the server was compromised, you might want to check out your own server...

Well, it's interesting to see people's responses to the little surveys and I'll be posting the results online over the weekend. Working on projects at the moment and Kirsty is working on packaging the new skins for sale to be DNN2, DNN3 & Snapsis compatible... and deciding on some forum subjects.. so many options..

For registered users, I have installed 17 containers - ported from DNN1 - and in DNN2 format here, and we have tested on DNN3 - and have the extra icons to complement your site...

Short and sweet, but that's what I'm doing afterall..it's Good Friday here..

This was interesting as the focus is on building up direction, improvement, involvement and inspiration from those who are not core team members but would like to be involved.. .And there have been so many people who participate and assist... so it's going to be a natural progression as DotNetNuke grows...