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, 86 Errors

Failed validation, 88 Errors

Failed validation, 69 Errors

Failed validation, 94 Errors

Failed validation, 47 Errors

Failed validation, 110 Errors >> Mothership

Failed validation .. xd - too embarrassed to admit 

hey - it's a dnn 3.2.2 site (yeah that build we had to have.. talk about choosing a lemon.. oh and it's got some 'tweaks' by one of the DNN board members, rendering it totally un upgradeable so I'm doing a rebuild of it - and working on the holy grail of compability and look and feel.. and with valid content...  wish me luck!)

I know this might sound like I'm complaining, but honestly - there are distinct mixed messages in this world and the DNN divide is getting larger... In my field of work - I don't think I'm really a great designer, I've never professed to be, but I am trying very hard at being technically proficient, making the user experience for both viewers and users one that is manageable, and no you can't make people happy but s - those who are rubbing their hands together in making money on skins are selling DNN short.

I like to think I'm resourceful and proactive in all things DNN but this is just getting to be a joke - you get torn between the fact you really want to make something compliant - and then bang - once content goes in, you're shot, and worse than that - if you want to add third party modules - well, kiss that sucker goodbye... who is going to pay for getting these sites compliant? People expect DNN out of the box to be something like Joomla - nice and flattering for the DotNetNuke lovers, but the Joomla lovers must cringe in their shoes as they wave the 'compatibility flags' up high... *sigh* but those Joomla sites look so pretty and candy and... canned.. all the same - I had a look at some of their themes, using plenty of reusable elements, and rightly so - they have a good mix.

Having said that - I'm working with people mvoing away from Joomla and PHP - it's lacking enough for this PHP house to add DNN to the mix since it really does have some elements of development that must make these companies step back and say - PHP is good but DNN is better in this instance.. and that's what doing good business is about in reality - finding a solution to suit the project, not being so blindsided about one particular solution... and trying to make the square fit into the round hole.. sure you can beat it into submission, kill three months of your time not getting paid what the project is worth, and end up with second class solution, that's your choice, but it seems that that is the probable outcome.

No, I'm not moving to Joomla as my preferred soluiton - says me as I tell you not to fall for that same trap, but I do know DNN thoroughly, I host, manage, deploy, skin, add ecommerce to, consult and in general have had about as much time working the application. So, I can pretty quickly find out what will work when it comes to finding an 'off the shelf' solution, but I have to tell you that it's getting harder now - not to look at having a couple of 'skills' up my sleeve. DNN just isn't keeping up with the growth that's required in making it compete in the area of compatibility and accessibility.. hacks and fixes and changes just don't cut it.

Now, just because I've said that - this brings me back to my original inspiration or should I say frustration to post... who cares? who really honestly cares.. when the top selling skins on snowcovered are simply crappy NON COMPLIANT to even HTML 4.0.1 transitional... they sell, they look good, fat bloated tables, held together like a whalebone corset holds together some poor frail 19th century princess going to a ball. I find it very frustrating. Yeah Yeah - there are.. what... one or two compliant skins but what about when you put in content - what's the point... add in any more than the html module and you're shot unless you start making core changes.

I have come to the conclusion that the only people who give a rip about true compatibility are those small yappy group of vocally enhanced people who articulate on the forums about things they have no real commercial sense over.. Not that I don't want to be completely in the good books books with browser compatibility, as I am but commerically, people are not willing to pay for it.. that's the bottom line - when I give my clients choices about doing something that is xhtml compliant they run a mile. They don't feel they should have to pay for it. But that's my point - it takes time - hours, days, weeks to get something to look right, and then oh dang.. another browser comes out - like avant... ever heard of that one... or an update to firefox, or a fix to IE and then you're back to square one. Of course if you're coding in the right way in the first place, then it's not going to be problem is it... but that's where the interesting twist as to why people are using DNN over Joomla or other PHP apps.. They want more than the same styling.. it seems to me that these designers all think the same way - and yet, I love how some of these wonderful rockettheme sites look.

Throw in a template monster site, wordpress themes, owd themes, and man oh man - we're getting a mixing pot of design nightmare. I wonder if the features so overwhelmingly pushing people to using DNN in the first place, really are just bad things in disguise. Don't get me started on the fact that the last 6 months of DNN have been average to say the least - buggy, releases not tested, releases that were tested not the same as the releases that are released, forums posts of the same things over and over and over again, leaves me wondering on how much the project is really worth these days.

If I were a newcomer to DNN and looking to run this as a business, I'm somewhat concerned that it's no longer really as viable as it could be. I cringe at those who are making a killing out of the lack of proper documentation - it's like - hey here's a cash cow - DNN sucks for documentation and support, and I'm not going to help them, I'm going to help myself... leaving information that really should be public knowledge, nothing but a paid for option. Sure developers who provide modules for sale and have a subscription based option, are contributing a product to which there is a perceived use for, by an audience who are willing to pay for that, but when you have to pay just to find out how to get your dang website moved to another hoster, that simply reeks of the 'opportunivoire' mix I'm seeing around.   Even reading posts from hosters rubbing their hands on being able to make a 'very healthy living' out of the weaknesses of DNN - yet I don't see any contributions back to making it a better product.

Now back to those skins - I'm now taking the stance, that bloated, fat and pretty skins sell, regardless... and while that continues, DNN will always be the second best in the eyes of many.  I'm not apologising any more - when I see how much is selling, then why should I? How can I make a difference.  Deliver a compliant skin and see what happens when content is put into it.. wasted efforts unless the user has a fully compliant DNN build.

And for the records - pure CSS skins does not mean no tables - it means only using CSS to output the visual elements.  I am amazed at how people still think you can't have tables... just one sometimes makes huge difference to hold a dnn site together. 

You can have xhtml skins using tables, and accessibilty does not mean well coded CSS or code in general, it means - designing a site for particular audience of users, so they meet standards with companies who wish to or are forced to comply with regulations set in place by governments or local departments and are in some countries, able to get you fined, if you don't comply...

So where does that leave DNN - well, in my own personal opinion, you would wouldn't want to be a new person to DNN looking at an open source project for your site, without expecting to spend a considerable amount of money in getting it to comply, and the outcome, you would have a build that had core changes, that most likely couldn't be upgraded the same way as you would normally and I'm thinking, restrictions in design that would lead me to think that you might be better off looking at Joomla, and there is nothing wrong with using it. I love my DNN, but I'm no longer saying to people - yes it will happen, yes it will eventually be compliant, since at the rate we're seeing dnn move, the main focus is on the developer community, not the end user at this stage.

There's my rant.. I love my DNN - but it's no longer an out of the box solution for the novice.. sorry - it had to happen, but it is for those who know how to use the product, an excellent option.  I am looking forward to seeing how the next 18 months progresses with the user experience and compatibility issues, as I feel we're moving towards a critical point.

The good thing is that http://www.snapsis.com really has come to the fore with the page blaster option which really is more than just caching - John has some great experience with DNN and unlike many people I've notice who talk about how much they know .... they don't use DNN to the same extent or have knowledge of the code as he has... 

Nina Meiers