DNN Development

Author: mamlin Created: 5/13/2008 4:03 PM
DNN: DotNetNuke content management and module development with special emphasis on FREE enhancements made using only NotePad or free DNN modules.

Google AJAX Search: Open links in a new tab or window
By mamlin on 9/8/2010 1:55 AM
The blog series that never actually gets around to "Part 3" continues again! This time we'll add a few nifty lines of code to force Google AJAX search results to open in a new tab (or window) and see how we can add our own post-processing code...
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Prevent account sharing using the REPORTS module
By mamlin on 6/3/2009 3:59 AM
DotNetNuke currently has no provision for preventing a user from sharing an account with other users. This is a real problem for paid-subscription sites. There is, however, a simple trick you can do using the REPORTS module that will help to prevent simultaneous logins on the same account by different users...
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Tag Cloud Part 2: Clickable Tags
By mamlin on 5/27/2009 2:08 AM
In the first Tag Cloud posting we saw how to use the free REPORTS module to implement a Tag Cloud in just a few minutes. Here in Part 2 we'll update our original solution to make the tags into clickable links...
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Quickly create a "latest blogs" list with the REPORTS module
By mamlin on 5/20/2009 3:39 AM
A common request is for a "latest blog entries" list for the core BLOG module. We'll see how to quickly make such a list for free using the core REPORTS module...
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Quickly create a Tag Cloud with the REPORTS module
By mamlin on 5/13/2009 3:42 AM
Tag Clouds are a common item in the "Web 2.0" era but the feature is still conspicuously absent from the DNN core offerings. Fortunately, all you need to create your own custom Tag Cloud is the free REPORTS module and about 5 minutes of setup...
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Create a "Login Redirection Based on User Role" module using DNN Advanced Datagrid
By mamlin on 3/18/2009 10:36 PM
This is Part 4 of the continuing series "Create a custom module with the free Advanced Datagrid module". As in previous examples, you simply drop the ready-to-use Advanced Datagrid module on a page, populate a couple of settings and you're done: instant "Login Redirection Based on User Role" for your DNN site. Very cool...
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Where Do I Put My Script? JavaScript and the DotNetNuke FOOTER field
By mamlin on 2/12/2009 10:45 PM
Adding JavaScript to a DNN page is easy: use the Text/HTML module. However, if you want to enhance an existing DNN module with your own client-side script you may prefer to add it in the module's FOOTER field. To illustrate, we'll use the SURVEY module to create a "pick three items" survey that REQUIRES the user to pick three and only three items...
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Give ADMIN tabs access to Non-Admin DotNetNuke Users (Pages, File Manager, etc)
By mamlin on 11/21/2008 1:42 PM
The DotNetNuke framework is great in many ways but its website administration rights are not very granular. In many cases you either need to have full admin rights or you simply won't be allowed to perform a critical function (like create new web pages). Well, there is a trick you can do to extend certain ADMIN rights to selected users without actually making them administrators. Best of all, you can do it from within the DNN UI...
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Free DNN Module: DNNStuff SQLView - Sort EVENTS module events by City / County / State
By mamlin on 11/10/2008 3:50 PM
If you need an upgrade from Efficion Consulting's free (but aging) "Advanced DataGrid" (ADG) module, DNNStuff's free SQL module may be the answer. "SQLView" does what ADG does and does a few things better. The drawback? SQLView is not open-sourced like ADG. If you think "FREE is FREE" and you don't care about having access to the source code, read on...
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Add Google AJAX Search to your DNN skin: Prevent ENTER key from clearing search results
By mamlin on 10/29/2008 9:12 PM
The "Add Google AJAX Search" series continues! If you've implemented the AJAX search you probably have noticed that pressing the ENTER key will actually clear the results. Huh? Sure, Google AJAX doesn't need a button or ENTER keypress to perform a search, but clearing the results upon ENTER is downright confusing since people tend to hit ENTER automatically after typing in a search term. We're going to extend our basic Google AJAX example and stop that ENTER key from clearing the search results...
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Free DNN Module: Advanced DataGrid (Part 3) - Create a "Most Commented Blogs" module
By mamlin on 10/13/2008 1:57 AM
Another example of using the free AdvancedDataGrid module to instantly create new functionality on your site. This time we'll create a clickable "Most Commented Blogs" list (just like the one used on this site) to use with the standard DNN Blog module...
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Add Google AJAX Search to your DNN skin (Part 2 of 3)
By mamlin on 7/27/2008 6:33 PM
Follow-up to Part 1 of "Adding Google Custom Search to Your DotNetNuke Skin" series. Here in Part 2 we'll examine a few of the many options for customizing Google searches as well as ways to influence the ranking of results. And just as in Part 1, all of this functionality is delivered for -free- from the Google Search AJAX library...
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Improve page priority feature of DNN's Google SiteMap
By mamlin on 7/2/2008 10:07 PM
DotNetNuke provides a Google-ready XML sitemap to help you get your pages indexed and ranked in Google search results. Unfortunately, the current implementation sets every page's "priority" ranking to the same fixed value. Because of this, no page ever gets priority over any other. Fortunately there's a simple improvement you can make (using Notepad) to give priority to certain pages without changing any core DNN functions...
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Add Google AJAX Search to your DNN skin (Part 1 of 3)
By mamlin on 6/7/2008 10:02 PM
The internal DNN search engine, while convienient, still leaves much to be desired in the realm of content search. It is restricted to its own portal, returns only what is specifically made "searchable" by module developers and has no inherent feature for generating reports of what users have been searching for. With a (free) Google site search, however, you not only get the power of Google's vastly superior search algorithms but you also get to define WHAT gets serached on WHICH portals/domains and also influence HOW the results get ranked and displayed. Plus you can get free reports on what your users searched for and when they searched for it. All it takes is a small bit of text editing...
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Free DNN Module: Advanced DataGrid (Part 2)
By mamlin on 4/25/2008 4:04 PM
Another example of using the free Advanced DataGrid module to fill a gap between core DotNetNuke functionality and having to write your own module. This example creates an add-on for the core Events module...
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Force javascript to run AFTER a DotNetNuke page is fully loaded
By mamlin on 4/2/2008 4:06 PM
So you want to insert a bit of javascript on your DNN page to perform some function that you probably should code into a module but you know you can implement more quickly by dropping script into a Text/HTML module (or in the Header/Footer of any module's Advanced Settings). The problem is, your script fires at the wrong time -- before the page is fully loaded. Here's a way to insure your script always waits until the DNN page is loaded...
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Free DNN Module: Advanced DataGrid (Part 1)
By mamlin on 2/27/2008 5:05 PM
The "Advanced DataGrid" module by Efficion Consulting has been around for years. It allows you to make direct SQL queries into the DNN database and return the results in a basic HTML table. This is by no means the only module to offer such functionality but the Advanced Datagrid module (and source code) is FREE...
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This is an example of a Google AJAX Search with asynchronous search execution for two searches.  See our blog series, 'Add Google AJAX Search to your DNN skin' for info and sample code.
 
     
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There are many great DNN modules.
A few we highly recommend are:
 
Dynamic Registration
Total control over the user signup process.  Create custom forms, execute your own SQL, use the integrated payment processing features to assign user roles, validate USERNAMEs via AJAX and much more.  Very cool.
 
URL Master
Change to friendly URLs that really ARE friendly.  Add keywords into your page URLs for better SEO.  Create 301 redirects for individual pages.  Force visitors (and search bots) to a single domain (i.e., make everyone use the "www" version of your site's URL or vice versa).  One of the single best upgrades for any DNN site.
 
Document Exchange 5 (DMX5)
Drag-and-drop from Windows Explorer directly into the DMX file manager!  File versioning, file and folder moderation, extend user permissions down to the file level (for user groups and even for individual users).  Infinite file and file info presentation options via custom display templates.  Store files locally or remotely via UNC (i.e., can securely store files somewhere besides your web server).  Much more.
 
XMOD by DNNDev
Rock-solid form module for data collection.  From simple feedback / email forms to complex, multi-part tabbed forms.  XMOD is different from other form modules because XMOD does not create a new database table for every new form definition -- an important feature if you plan to create dozens or hundreds of forms over the life of your DNN instance!  Excellent support from the developer and an active community around this module.
 
If you desire your form module to create a new DB table for each new form definition, a great alternative to XMOD is the Dynamic Forms module from DataSprings.  Dynamic Forms offers direct DB access beyond that found in XMOD as well as an easy drag-and-drop form builder option to help you get up and running very quickly.

 
     

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