Christopher Paterra

Forum 4.4.4 Documentation

thecrispy1@gmail.com — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT

The forum module documentation is being updated for the module's 4.4.4 release. The previous version of the document is really out of date now but was definitely a large help to the community when it was current and even for a few versions beyond that. As with the previous versions, the document starts with the module installation process and then makes its way into the administrative configuration options. All other aspects of the module are covered as it progresses, including moderation as well as simply using the module as a poster. The document is written in a style that users can view the table of contents and find the area that they need information on and does not require them to read the document from start to finish. This is a good thing, it looks like this document is going to be close to 100 pages.

So far I have completed the update of the first 28 pages or so which guides users through the installation process and explains all major configuration options in detail. I estimate that the document will be completed in time for final release of the module.

Forum 4.4.4 in Beta 2

thecrispy1@gmail.com — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT

It's been awhile since I posted a blog here so I figured it was about time to catch peeps up. While I have been busy finishing up a book, I also have had a rather hectic work schedule which kept me pretty occupied. During this time, however, I did find some time to adjust the track along and fix bugs in the forum module as they were reported. The result over the past 3.5 months is Forum 4.4.4; which will be hitting the DotNetNuke release tracker this week and will require DotNetNuke core 4.6.2 or greater.

Forum 4.4.3 Released!

thecrispy1@gmail.com — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 01:08:35 GMT

If you haven't noticed, the Forum 4.4.3 has finally been released to the community. If you would like more details about the release, please read on to find valuable reasources.

4.4.3 - Online Resources Updated

thecrispy1@gmail.com — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 19:04:19 GMT

As a both a consumer and developer, I understand the importance of being able to find various resources online besides a support forum. In the past, the forum project has attempted to offer downloadable User Documentation, which we will continue to provide, but we never really offered anything else beyond that and online forum support. This is all about to change!

4.4.3 - Forum Types

thecrispy1@gmail.com — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 05:43:00 GMT

In my previous blog post here I covered Forum Behavior. If you recall, Forum Behavior is how a forum 'behaves' in terms of posting and viewing access which are all controlled via a forum permissions grid or the module's permissions. If you need further details on this. please visit my previous blog post located at: http://www.dotnetnuke.com/Community/Blogs/tabid/825/EntryID/1550/Default.aspx.

Another item that is indirectly related to Forum Behavior, but not covered in my previous blog post, is Forum Type. Forum Type could have actually been combined w/ Behavior but I felt it would have been rather confusing so instead I kept it seperated as it originally was (although previously there was no forum behavior). To help further clarify what I mean here, there are three available Forum Types:

Normal Forum - Typical forum usage, Forum Behavior determines view/posting permissions.
Notification Forum - Very similar to Normal Forum, adds ability for roles to be forced to receive notifications of new posts.
Link Forum - Link to a resource on the web. Only concerned w/ View Permissions (since posting not possible).

Before the DNN Forum was a core module, it was the TTTForum. The TTTForum included the forum type configuration. At the time, it supported Normal Forums, Notification Forums, as well as NNTP Forums. When the module was slated to become a core module, NNTP support had to be removed (due to bugs and dependency on third party dll's) and as time went on we found out the Notification Forums weren't working properly and was therefore disabled. When working on the 4.4.3 release I decided it was time to fix the Notification issues, as well as add the link forum type.

Notification Forums:

In the screenshot above, you can see how you can determine the roles, or users, who will receive notifications. If you have the Forum Type set to "Notification Forum" then the Notifications column will become available for you to select.

Link Forums:

In the second screenshot above, you can see the options available to you for setting a URL. This interface is re-use of the core URL Control. Eventually we can add URL tracking to this as well as the ability to link directly to files.

Room for Enhancements:

Add URL Click Tracking
Add File as link support
Filter Forum Behavior based on Forum Type
Room for other forum types (unsure of what those would be at this time)

Hopefully this blog post explains the capability of the module a bit more for the upcomming release but to avoid the expected questions:

I am not sure when the module will get through the release process.
We currently have no plans for integrating NNTP support again.
I am not sure when/if anything under "Room for Enhancements" will be tackled.

4.4.3 - Forum Behavior

thecrispy1@gmail.com — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 01:20:02 GMT

To help breakdown what each of the Forum Behavior items mean, I decided to post a brief explanation of how they work. The reason I have combined these items and now use a drop down list is to make setting up a forum a more intuitive process instead of having several checkboxes that each require a postback. While I will gladly listen to any conversation around potential changes, I don't see this ever being completely overhauled.

Public - Users who can view the module can view Public Forums (Must be logged in)
Private - Users must be able to view the module and have View permissions assigned on a forum (via the forum permissions grid) to view a forum marked private.
w/ Posting Restrictions - Users who can view the particular forum must also have "start thread" or "reply" permissions in order to post.
- "Start Thread" - Users can start new threads and reply to existing threads in the particular forum.
- "Reply" - Users can only reply to existing threads and cannot create new ones in the particular forum.
Moderated - Users must have their posts approved in a moderated forum w/ the exception of:
- Module/Site Administrators
- Forum Admin (Special module permission option)
- Moderators (Global module permissions option, or a moderator of any forum)
- "Trusted" users. (Note that all the types above are considered "trusted")
- "No Moderation" - This must be set in the forum permissions grid per role/user.

Because of the items above, we have the following possible combinations:

Public Moderated
- All users who are logged in and can view module can post here.
- If users are not trusted, posts require approval by a moderator unless they belong to a role that has "No Moderation" checked in permissions grid.
  - Commonly used configuration in many online communities, allows unauthenticated users to view and helps avoid inappropriate posts.
Public Moderated w/ Posting Restrictions
- All users who are logged in and can view module can post here if they are in a role that has "Start Thread" or "Reply" permissions checked in the grid.
- If users are not trusted, posts require approval by a moderator unless they belong to a role that has "No Moderation" checked in permissions grid.
  - Only use if you need to seperate "Start Thread" & "Reply" permissions or you only want certain roles to be able to post.
Public No Moderation
- All users who are logged in and can view module can post here.
- All posts are automatically approved.
  - Commonly used configuration in smaller online communities where subject matter doesn't need to be monitored.
Public No Moderation w/ Posting Restrictions
- All users who are logged in and can view module can post here if they are in a role that has "Start Thread" or "Reply" permissions checked in the grid.
- All posts are automatically approved.
  - Only use if you need to seperate "Start Thread" & "Reply" permissions or you only want certain roles to be able to post.
Private Moderated
- Only users assigned "View" permissions in the permissions grid can view and post here.
- If user can see forum, they can post to it.
- If users are not trusted, posts require approval by a moderator unless they belong to a role that has "No Moderation" checked in permissions grid.
  - Not commonly used, most private forums do not require moderation because the viewing audience is already limited.
Private Moderated w/ Posting Restrictions
- Only users assigned "View" permissions in the permissions grid can view and post here.
- To post, users must be in a role that has "Start Thread" or "Reply" permissions checked in the grid.
- If users are not trusted, posts require approval by a moderator unless they belong to a role that has "No Moderation" checked in permissions grid.
  - Only use if you need to seperate "Start Thread" & "Reply" permissions or you only want certain roles to be able to post. Remeber, limited viewing.
Private No Moderation
- Only users assigned "View" permissions in the permissions grid can view and post here.
- If user can see forum, they can post to it and all posts are automatically approved.
  - Commonly used configuration when needing to restrict view access but don't need to monitor subject matter.
Private No Moderation w/ Posting Restrictions
- Only users assigned "View" permissions in the permissions grid can view and post here.
- To post, users must be in a role that has "Start Thread" or "Reply" permissions checked in the grid.
- All posts are automatically approved.
  - Only use if you need to seperate "Start Thread" & "Reply" permissions or you only want certain roles to be able to post. Remeber, limited viewing.

Remember, not only can you assign permission in the forum grid by role, but you can also add individual users now to avoid having to add a single person to a role. The grid also enables/disables columns depending on the forum behavior type selected. This should also aid in usability. An example of the forum permissions grid with a user added to the grid can be seen in the screenshot below, Figure 1.0.

Figure 1.0

Viewing Figure 1.0, you can also see there are several columns which may require more of an explanation. The first is "Add Attachments", which allows users to add attachments to their posts. In order for users to be able to add attachments, the setting under Forum Administration -> General Settings must be enabled. Only then will this column be active for you to select. There are a couple other things to note here:

Users must be able to view & post in the particular forum to add an attachment.

If attachments were enabled at one time and then turned off nobody will be able to add attachments regardless of previously set permissions.

DNN Core folder permissions still apply. This means there must be at least one folder users can read to add existing attachments, and one to write to if they wish to upload attachments.

The next column is the "Pin Thread" column. Regardless of forum behavior, users can only pin threads if this is enabled for them, or their role. Also, only the original post in a thread can have the "Pinned" checkbox set. This means also that a user must be in a role that allows them to view & start a new thread (or simply post if no restrictions are set for forum behavior). The final column is the "Lock Thread" column, which has the same guidelines as the "Pin Thread".

While the permission grid at the forum level allows for ultimiate flexibility, you still need to be aware of the parent in the permission hierarchy, being DNN Core tab and module permissions. The module permissions for the forum module are also expanded upon, due to the flexible API provided by the DotNetNuke Core. An example can be seen in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1

As you can see in Figure 1.1, two additional columns are added to the module permissions grid. The "Forum Admin" column allows users in selected roles to administer the forum module without giving them complete edit permissions on the module. This avoids users doing things such as changing module permissions or module settings but allows them complete control over all other aspects of the module. This is considered one level below "Edit Permissions" on the module level because users with "Edit Permission". The "Global Moderator" column allows moderators to be assigned to every forum, be it moderated or not, so they can edit, move, split, approve posts in all forums they can view. This is similar to the permissions of the "Forum Admin" except these users cannot alter things found in the Admin control panel of the module.

Please note that regardless of the permissions at the module level, be it "Edit Module", "Forum Admin", "Global Moderator", users can only view private forums if they have been given the permissions at the Private forum level. What is right for you? That question can only be answered based on your requirements. The information in this post should serve as a good outline to help you decide.

Forum 4.4.3, What Do You Want Know?

thecrispy1@gmail.com — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 07:16:47 GMT

I am not even sure what to write about with regards to the upcoming release. I have covered several things over the past months, written updates on www.dnnforums.com in posts and updated the project page to post details about the release. Because I am stumped here, just leave a comment on what you would like to hear about and i will blog details about suggested items. Here is a list you can choose from:

Release Notes:

Version 04.04.03 of the core Forum module.
This release is only supported on DotNetNuke 4.4.0 or greater. This also requires the ASP.NET 2.0 framework and Visual Studio 2005 SP 1 for development.

CHANGES/ENHANCEMENTS/BUGS:

FOR-2334 - Moderator Auditing - Exposed in seperate forum extension (Forum.TopModerators)
FOR-2372 - Member Directory exposed to users for first time. (Similar to contact directory)
FOR-2331 - Added Report Post ability.
FOR-2332 - Created IEmailQueueable for task scheduling of email sends. (Bulk sending in seperate thread using generic interface)
FOR-2371 - Added Private Messaging System.
FOR-3302 - Fixed word filter so it checks for empty string (validators) and make sure word attempting to add doesn't already exist.
FOR-3690 - All search is now filtered for SQL Injection attacks. None seemed to be possible in previous versions, but this will ensure that continues in future versions.
FOR-4040 - Fixed bug exposed by SQL Server 2005 using "My Posts" or searches.
FOR-4041 - Reworked search a bit to provide better results.
FOR-4115 - Moderator By Role (in addition to by user) this required a permission grid set similar to how module level permissions are handled but using another table too. (re
FOR-4116 - Moved per user settings security (moderator per forum) to new security class for single point of access control. Also handled per ModuleID now (meaning no more IsModerator).
FOR-4117 - Removed Gallery Integration Project.
FOR-4118 - Removed Forum Popup Project and replaced w/ DNNTextSuggest, DNNTree, New Permission Grid.
FOR-4119 - Using Core Permissions Grid for module permission control instead of requiring Registered Users to be in Edit Module roles.
FOR-4120 - Updated User Management to mimic core User Management, Includes ability to manage Forum Users that never visited the forum module.
FOR-4140 - Moved Statistics to seperate module. (Forum.TopThreads & Forum.TopUsers)
FOR-4121 - Moved the Forum Email Template System to the database. (Now allows editable subject, HTML body, Text body per template type)
FOR-4122 - Added TemplateType table. (Primarily for emails, open for expansion later)
FOR-4123 - Added Keyword Rendering System. (Primarily for Emails, open for expansion later)
FOR-4124 - Added Email Template Management UI. (Set at portal level using install default templates for each portal to start with)
FOR-4125 - Added check to make sure forum exists when retrieving RSS feeds, to avoid error by manual entry of forumid in querystring or deleted forum.
FOR-4126 - Added HTML/Text Email format per user for email notifications
FOR-4127 - Applied enhancement to change page title to post subject which allows better indexing by web crawlers.
FOR-4130 - Added Thread Status. This allows user to set an unresolved, resolved, informative, not specified status per post. This can be edited by the original thread author and moderators. It is enabled at the module level and can then be turned on/off at the specific forum level. (You can also set which post was the answer to help others) Also added this in threads view UI.
FOR-4131 - Altered the next/previous thread buttons and placed at top and bottom of post view pages. (Auto enable/disalbe to provide consistent UI)
FOR-4132 - Refined use of caching. (To use proper core pattern)
FOR-4133 - Refactored Info objects, use of caching, reduce database calls to improve performance.
FOR-4134 - Removed Statistics area from footer options, this is now handled as a seperate module. (Removed Stats/Footer area)
FOR-4135 - Removed What's New from footer options, this is now handled as a seperate module. (Removed Stats/Footer area)
FOR-4136 - Added ability to split threads.(Selecting which posts to take with it)
FOR-4137 - Duplicated URLController from core to create an avatar control. (Re
FOR-4138 - Sub Avatar management for Emoticon management.
FOR-4139 - Made What's New its own module. This allows users to place anywhere they wish. (Forum Add
FOR-4143 - Changed how avatars work, no longer using gallery project. (Using modules new URLController)
FOR-4145 - Deleted User Critical Bug
FOR-4146 - ReplaceCaseInsensitive Method - Null checking
FOR-4147 - GetWords Caching Code Pattern
FOR-4149 - GetUser - Caching Code Pattern
FOR-4151 - Changed response.redirect(string) to response.redirect(string, Boolean) to avoid Thread was being aborted erors.
FOR-4153 - Add DateAPproved Column on Posts table - Search Indexing
FOR-4260 - Forum display fails for Active Directory Validated Users.
FOR-4801 - Corrected bug where users can manually edit forumid in querystring to post in restricted posting forums.
FOR-4802 - Added ability to make all users trusted by default.
FOR-4803 - Corrected many UI issues (Cross
FOR-4804 - Changed paging logic to handle users coming directly to a post. (Regardless of their view, should see right post) Changed links to handle this.
FOR-4805 - Added search from post view for that particular forum.
FOR-4806 - Changed "Mark Threads Read" checkbox to a linkbutton for usability reasons.
FOR-4807 - Removed all items around involving xml templates, forum template control, forum menu, Resources folder.
FOR-4808 - Changed thread ratings scale from 0
FOR-4809 - Changed user post level rankings from 1
FOR-4810 - Made source distro package installable as normal PA installable module. (means vb files and all project related files are included in package too)
FOR-4811 - Added new theme, Default, changed default theme to this theme in pre
FOR-4812 - Changed it so adding/updating a forum takes you back to the manage forums/groups screen.
FOR-4813 - Added new series of thread status icons for various thread options.
FOR-4814 - Added Private Moderated Forum Icons w/ new/old Status.
FOR-4815 - Added Aggregated Forum Icon.
FOR-4816 - Fixed bug shown when all forums were deleted from a module instance.
FOR-4817 - Fixed bug where selecting a rating did not post back the updated rating image.
FOR-4818 - Made forum user profile dependant on PortalID. This allows for use across multiple portals and each user having a profile based on that portal.
FOR-4819 - Converted development base to ASP.NET 2.0 WAP Project. (includes reorganization, combining w/ dataprovider project, minimizing warnings)
FOR-4821 - Cleaned up localization.
FOR-4822 - Started XHTML compliance changes.
FOR-4823 - Added ability to select a default forum at the tabmodule level, removed from forum config. (Previously done by simply ModuleID)
FOR-4824 - Added Ability to select Aggregated as a Default Group in TabModuleSettings.
FOR-4885 - Made forum name links in Search/MyPosts/Aggregated Forum View clickable links.
FOR-4886 - Added 100 character description of last post when over its link in thread view, search results view. (As Title of link)
FOR-5385 - Added ability to copy permissions from an existing forum and apply to a different forum.
FOR-5386 - Added "Link" type forums, which are just links to a url. Uses core URL Control.
FOR-5388 - Add search variable "Thread Status".
FOR-5389 - Add transparent png support using javascript (for IE 5.5 or 6 versions)
FOR-5390 - Added ability for administrators to change title (tooltip) displayed for rankings.
FOR-5391 - Added ability for administrators to set if they want to use icon or text for post ranking in user profile/post author info.
FOR-5392 - Added ability for administrators to change title (tooltip) displayed for post ratings.
FOR-5393 - Added ability for icon bar to be rendered as links or as images.
FOR-5394 - Added Trust Locking. (Prohibits moderators from altering trust level of a specific user)
FOR-5395 - Added option for administrators to lock the trust setting automatically for all new users.
FOR-5396 - Added search from thread view for that particular forum.
FOR-5397 - Added ability for moderators and administrators to edit user signatures from a user's forum profile. (Similar to trusting feature)
FOR-5398 - Added ability for administrators to set if moderators can alter user signatures.
FOR-5399 - Added ability to disable HTML signatures and render text only.
FOR-5400 - Added ability for administrators to enable/disable user signatures at the module lev
FOR-5401 - Fixed Posts to moderate count issues.
FOR-5402 - Fixed last post showing in group view when it was not approved yet. (waiting for moderation)
FOR-5403 - Add link to aggregated forum in iconbar and remove from breadcrumb.
FOR-5404 - Fixed breadcrumb navigating to wrong TabID.
FOR-5405 - Fixed Add Moderator Issues.
FOR-5406 - Allow users to edit their own posts if untrusted in non
FOR-5407 - Add cachetime node to .dnn file and set to 0
FOR-5408 - Add compatibleversion node to .dnn file and set to 4.4.0.
FOR-5409 - Updated build file for core module release process packaging.
FOR-5414 - Fixed bug in "Today" & "Yesterday" to now work properly.
FOR-5685 - Removeded use of session
FOR-5686 - Drastically reduced number of db hits by depending more on cache where applicable.
FOR-5687 - Use default_collation on temp table creation for nvarchar columns, ntext, etc.
FOR-5963 - Moved per user moderator/forum permissions to Forum Permissions Grid (mimics core implementation)
FOR-5964 - Added nofollow configuration option for user website links in posts and forum profile view.
FOR-5965 - Added ability to enable/disable the overwriting of the page title by the forum system when in threads or posts view.
FOR-5976 - Aggregated Forum Syndication
FOR-5977 - RSS/Latest Posts Caching
FOR-5978 - RSS Feeds to use FURL's
FOR-5979 - Implementation of ISearchable Sucks
FOR-5980 - Clear out no longer needed sprocs
FOR-5981 - ISearchable Results to Standard Posts View
FOR-6122 - Added "No Replies" capability for all forum views.
~~FOR-6123 - Added Polling feature. Can be turned on/off at the forum level.~~
FOR-6137 - Corrected problem where users could receive notifications after being removed from a role, or a private forum.

Forum Module - Creating a Poll

thecrispy1@gmail.com — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 03:29:55 GMT

As I was waiting for the forum module to go through the release process, I found a need to add polling. Since the module barely made it thorugh the release tracker, I decided I might as well re-submit the latest package as it also included several minor bug fixes that were reported by beta testers. It didn't stop there, I also found that I could add the "No replies" option in threads view so that users can easily identify those posts with no replies rather easily.

To explain how users will be able to do this, I have provided a short walk through. Please note, this is only available in the 04.04.03 release of the module which is currently in the DNN Release Tracker. Another note, polls are enabled at the forum level and are only availble to registered users. Assuming that you meet the requirements, here is how users add a poll.

Creating a Poll:

Create a new thread in a forum where polling is available. You will be asked to do the normal posting things, so name your thread subject accordingly and put the details of your poll in the post body. Your poll options should be brief, since there is not much space allocated in the database for lengthy questions or thank you messages, you can use the post body to handle this if necessary. Once you have handled that, simply add answers and move them around in to be in the order you wish them to appear to end users. If you wish for the poll to end on a specific date, just set the end date. If you would like users to be able to view results after voting, enable this here. Once you are satisifed, you can submit the post and the poll is active.

Poll Submissions:

Users who are logged in and have view access to a forum are able to vote in a poll. Regardless of the number of posts per thread, the poll option will always sit at the top of each page view within a single thread. This allows users to participate without having to find the specific page the poll is on. Because of this, there can only be a single poll per thread and it must be the original post in the thread.

Users can select their answer and click the "Vote" button to submit their vote.

View Poll Results:

Once a logged in user has voted in a poll, and results are available, they can be seen in the exact same spot where the voting took place.

As the module progresses through the release tracker over the course of the next week or so, I will attempt to keep writing walk throughs here so users and developers can become adjusted to the module prior to its release.

*NOTE - These images were taken in a testing environment and the final result looks much more professional then shown here.

Forum 04.04.00 Performance Enhancements

thecrispy1@gmail.com — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Last night, or early this morning depending on your view of today/yesterday, I had to do a production push for a client. Since the time I was able to do this was limited, for good reason being its a very active site, I had a couple hours of down time waiting for it. So, I decided to take Shaun's advice and do some SQL Profiling of the previous forum release vs. the current one (going through the process) using a copy of dnn.com data.

My initial results were pretty good. The time it took to view a previously viewed group page, then view the aggregated forum, then view a specific post was about 11 seconds in database execution time for 3.20.8-.9. In the forum 4.4 version this time was drastically reduced to 6 seconds. While I was quite happy with this, Shaun pointed out to me that reducing the db calls is what he typically focuses on. Since forums are very user specific when it comes to things such as forum and thread reads, I knew my options were somewhat limited.

Since the module has its own form of permissions (to handle permissions forum by forum) I knew there should be some focus here. The module permissions grid was originally copied then slightly modified to serve as the permissions grid at the forum level. Changing one of the method signatures to retrieve from cache, reduced the average number of db hits to a page by 1 db call per forum. (On dnn.com this can amount to 100 fewer db hits). The next item was to eliminate db hits for unauthenticated users for forum and thread reads. Since users are not logged in, all forum and thread read status should be disabled. Changing this saved an additional db hit per forum (in group view) and an additional db hit per thread (in thread view). The number of hits depends ultimately on the number of forums or threads in the view.

The time it took to run the tests and change the code? About 1 hour. So, for the 1 hour I spent doing this I reduced database calls from the previous version and reduced the 11 seconds it took originally down to 4. (Remember, this is 3 seperate views) Just an FYI, I had already used ANTS Profiler (a Red-Gate product) previously to analyze and reduce code calls where necessary.

Forum 04.04.00 Submitted To DotNetNuke Release Process

thecrispy1@gmail.com — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 04:00:00 GMT

The 04.04.00 version of the forum module has been submitted to the DotNetNuke release process. I am not sure how long it will take to complete the process, but I don't think the module will fail any part of it. The reason for my thinking is the high amount of testing done by myself and a group of team members on www.dnnforums.com. This beta site really allowed us to test changes as I made them and also allowed team testers access to the module to test the various usage scenarios. There were a few people that definitely went above and beyond what I expected from them and think they deserve some community 'cred'.

Brett Conlan and Matthias Schlomann offered so much help in testing and providing feedback. The newest team member Rob really spent tons of time and helped the module look 10x better at least and will be providing ways to educate others on how to theme the module in the near future. There were others who participated who deserve my thanks too (and you have it of course), but these folks really took it to a higher level so I felt I should at least mention them here.

The module has completely changed for those who were using it previously, but all were for the better. From a usability perspective, it is much easier to use and still works very similar to how it did previously for those not administrating the module. I am not certain of the number of enhancements and bug fixes, but I have documented over 80 for this release which means there are probably well over 100. I don't know all the other DNN forum modules out there in depth, but I really think this one has more configuration options than any of them. The one feature not possible in this version is Anonymous posting, which we have on our roadmap. Outside of this one, I feel pretty confident this module can meet the vast majority of use cases.