Earlier this week version 04.00.03 of the Announcements module was released (it is also part of DNN 4.9.4 that was released yesterday). This is a minor update for the Announcements module. An issue was found that would allow the edit pencils to be shown for unauthenticated users. The cause was found to be in a too broad check on edit permissions.

This is a module release that is an example how good things can go bad very quickly. Version 04.00.02 of the module was meant to be a quick release around the time of OpenForce Europe 2008 (October 2008), with just some minor changes.

Issues with testing, packaging and just wrong timing caused this module to take 6 months to be released. Let’s just say we will try harder next time to prevent this!

 

Anyhow, this release is just a small one. Notably most important is the fix for the issue...

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One of the hidden gems in DotNetNuke 5.0 is the new caching support in the CBO (Custom Business Objects) class. During the refactoring of DotNetNuke for the Cambrian release, caching was one of the things that was closely looked at, since caching was starting to cause major issues in the DNN 4.x branch.

Where it comes to using SQL Server features, I am a very late adopter. Not by choice, for all the DotNetNuke modules I create, I'd like to maintain backwards compatibility as much as possible, especially since DotNetNuke also fully supports MS SQL Server 2000.

This blog is long overdue. In DotNetNuke 04.06.00 the language skinobject was beefed up to be much more versatile. Apart from just a dropdown menu, it can also display links to languages. Even though Lorraine blogged about the new appearance, there is much more to the skinobject than meets the eyes!

The skinobject supports 2 display modes: dropdown menu and template based repeater (you can even use both at the same time). Apart from that, there is a common header and a common footer available (both templatable).

All templates of the skinobject use the DNN core TokenReplace functionality as template engine. This means that you can control visible appearance of the language skin object to a great extent.

Today, DotNetNuke Links module version 04.00.01 was released. There was only one issue that needed fixing: the compatible versions node in the dnn file prevented the module to be installed in DNN 4.7.0, and it would also not install in DNN 4.9.0.

The new version can be downloaded from http://downloads.dotnetnuke.com, and will be included in DNN 4.9.0

A while ago the new version of the links module was released. Due to time constraints, i was not able to do this blogpost sooner though... Anyhow... let me tell you about the new features in version 4.

First and foremost, this new version is about XHTML compliancy. There were a few remaining "nowrap" attributes in the rendered html, which have been replaced by style="white-space:nowrap". Furthermore the itemtemplate of the datalist was enhanced to include a reference to a css class named "LinksDesignTable",...

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It's very good to see more and more people creating new projects on DNN Forge. One thing that might not be very obvious, but very usefull nevertheless is tagging your project properly. I've been searching for DotNetNuke projects on CodePlex a few times now, and up untill now there are 45 projects on CodePlex that have something to do with dotnetnuke. I've added the tag DotNetNuke to all of them, which caused...

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The Dutch language pack for DotNetNuke has been updated for DNN 4.8.2. This and all other versions are available for download from the Dutch usergroup website: http://netherlands.dnn-usergroup.net (registration required). Special thanks goes to Marc Hujbregts, who has been working very hard to keep the language pack updated. The usergroup site also offers language packs for most core modules.

Today I had to upgrade an old DNN 3.2.2 multiportal installation to DNN 4.8.1. There are 3 major areas that changed in the past DotNetNuke versions:

New contstraints and unique indexes on Files table DNN Membership provider Consolidation of http handlers in one assembly In order to smoothly pass the third change, I always do a 2-step upgrade. First to DNN 4.5.5, then to the last available version, 4.8.1 in this case. The consolidation of http handlers happened in DNN 4.6.0.

When...

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... or how I learned an old lesson: always check whether the name of the module you release doesnt actually exist somewhere else.

Today i received a mail from a fellow DNN Developer, asking to rename the UserSwitcher module to something else, as they have been selling that module for a long time now. I usually actually check to see if a module name already exists, as it is very confusing to end users to have different modules with the same name.

Anyhow, I changed the name to IdentitySwitcher (quick...

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A while ago i created a small utility that allowed me to easily switch between users in a portal. This is extremely usefull if you are developing a module or a site and you want to test different permissions for different users.

The current version of the module allows you to select whether host users can be switched to as well. Doing this means that you will never have to log on to your site again...

...

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A new version of the Announcements module, version 04.00.01 was released yesteday. The new version can be downloaded from the project page (read full post to see what bugs where fixed and what enhancements where added)

Now that version 04.00.00 has been released, and 04.00.01 underway (in the release tracker now), I decided the time is right to expand the team.

After so much inspiration from the OpenForce conferences, where Charles Nurse and Vicenç Masanas created advanced versions of the Announcements module, it really felt good creating a new version of the module. Although the number of new features are small, under the hood, a lot has changed.

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I just found out that slides and files from my sessions at OpenForce are available for download from the devconnections site

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Status update for the announcements module project

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This blog post contains info about the 03.04.00 version of the annoucnements module. It is not a new release!

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While DotNetNuke 4.4.x already validates emails in the user profile with a regular expression, this regular expression could not be changed by portal admins. In DNN 4.5, the regular expression used to validate email address can be altered in the User Settings Page (Admin > User Accounts > User Settings)

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In his blog about (not using) the IFrame, Michael Washington used the analogy of DNN being an 18 wheeler... That image kinda stuck with me, and i just wanted to visualize that. I just did a brief search on google for good 18 wheeler pictures, picked one and edited it..

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A frequent question in the  forums is "How to upgrade my DotNetNuke install".. I thought i'd post a brief guide here for easy ref

download the upgrade package of the version you wish to upgrade to unzip or copy or ftp all files in the zip file to the root of your dnn application rename web.config to something like web.config.[date].resources (you can use any other name, but the date will make it easy to keep track of older webconfigs, the .resources extension makes sure the file cannot...

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A lot of posts in the Install It! forum are from people wonder how to move their DNN installation from their development environment to production. The process is fairly simple though: move the database, move the files.. but... remember the http alias!

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I would like to welcome Stefan Kamphuis (aka Superska) as the new Project Lead of the chat module. The chat module, which started it's live as an ASP.NET Pro Magazine Article, was donated by Steve Orr. Although an initial module was created, no work was done on it afterwards. That is a pitty, because a chat module might be just one of the hidden pearls of the DotNetNuke framework. It can offer tremendous value to all sorts of websites, from live support to community sites.

That's why we are very happy...

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This night, I had to move a complete set of databases (20 in total) from one SQL server to another. In the past that has always taken me quite some time, so this time I set out to try to do this in a more efficient manner.

First i made sure that both servers had the same databases running. I did that by hand: backup on source server, and restore on destination server. If i ever need to move siginificantly more than 20 databases, i will need a more efficient method for this as well I guess.

The...

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If you are using DotNetNuke 4.4.0, you have noticed undoubtedly that some modules are missing from the install and source distributions. I hope I can explain a bit more about what changed. In fact a couple of things happened. In this blog post i will try to explain a bit about what happened to all modules

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I am very excited to be part of the group of project team leaders that were promoted to he Core Team this week. With this promotion come new responsibilities. For me personally this means that I have also been appointed as Core Team Sponsor for the Events Module. I've already been working together with Alan Vance to resolve any procedural issues that stood in the way of further development of the module. Alan has already started with new energy fixing issues for the module... the module has a bright future indeed!

...

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Yesterday i finished work on the new version of the Announcements module. After some internal testing, I will submit the module to the module release tracker this Friday, and i hope it will be ready for release early January.

This module will be the last DNN 3.3.x / ASP.NET 1.1. version (the module will not run in DNN 3.0.x, 3.1.x, 3.2.x or 4.0.x). Besides a couple of new features, this module also finaly completes the reintroduction of the expire date field (i think that was the single most requested...

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Now that version 03.03.05 is released, and will be included in DNN 3.3.6 / 4.3.6, I've begun planning of the next version of the Announcement Module, which will be version 03.04.00.

Right now, i've decided to include the following fixes and features:

finish reintroduction of the expire date, and enhance display features for the expire date (ie. give module editors a way to see expired items, and possibly, include the expired items in an archived view display future (not published) items only for module editors ...

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A few hours ago the "new" version of the announcements module has been released to platinum benefactors for testing purposes. This is one of the final stages in the module release process, as the module passed all previous stages. I expect this version to be release to the public fairly soon as well.

The new process release tracker is a great tool to allow for all parties to clearly see and communicate what tests are being conducted, what tests passed and what tests failed. Cudo's should go to Scott Willhite...

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