Recently I was working on a project for a client of mine where I needed to implement a Captcha within a DotNetNuke module.  Now in the past I have implemented Captchas on standard ASP.NET sites but I had yet to work with them in DotNetNuke.  Now, DotNetNuke does have a built in Captcha control which can be used on login/registration, but there doesn't appear to be much information out there about how to implement it in your own projects.  I wanted to provide a quality solution for my client by matching the standard DNN look and feel so I decided to take a dive into the core code and find out just how you can use the Captcha control in your own module development projects.  This article will first quickly explain how I went about finding this information and then will discuss the very simple steps needed to add a Captcha to your project!

Ever since OpenForce '07 in Las Vegas last year I have found myself answering more questions regarding module development and being asked to provide training to more individuals.  I have decided that I should start creating more tutorials here that explain the module development process, therefore this article will be the first in a hopefully long series of DotNetNuke module development tutorials.  This article will walk you through the process of creating a new DotNetNuke module using the C# WAP Templates that are available from BiteTheBullet.co.uk.

In previous articles on this site I have provided tutorials for installing DotNetNuke to a local machine, however, I have never yet approached the topic of installing DotNetNuke to a remote web hosting provider.  I have been asked many times why and the answer is simple; installations to remote hosts are not really standardized as depending on the hosting providers environments the steps to install can differ greatly.  However, due to popular demand I have created this tutorial which will provide you the basic overview of how to perform a clean installation of DotNetNuke on a remote web hosting provider.  In the article I will try to point out the most common areas of difference between different hosting providers, I will also be providing specific examples regarding the use of the Plesk control panel which is what my hosting provider (3Essentials) uses.  This article is my second revision updated to add some more clarifying points, be sure to share any feedback in the comments section at the bottom of the article!

Installing DotNetNuke can be somewhat difficult at times, therefore I am writing this article to give you a full step by step guide to installing DotNetNuke on a Windows XP Pro system. The instructions are similar for Windows 2000 but might vary slightly, I have tried to note as many differences as possible. Windows Vista installation is similar but requires a few different steps relating to IIS. for Vista information please view my video tutorial.  This guide is my fifth revision and includes additional steps and information based on feedback from previous users. 

Prior to following this instruction guide please ensure that you have downloaded the "install" version of DotNetNuke 4.8.0 from http://www.dotnetnuke.com.  You can save the zip file to your desktop for the time being.  You will also need to have SQL Server Express 2005 installed and correctly configured to allow mixed-mode authentication.  You can use windows authentication only, however, that configuration is NOT discussed in this article. (Other SQL Server versions work, but these instructions might not match 100% if using something other than 2005). You must also be logged into your machine with administrative permissions.

Today resulted in the release of multiple new versions of my free software products. Below is a listing of each new release with a short summary of the updates to the respective application/module.

File Categorizer 1.4

This was a release used to fix a few issues that came up with Windows Vista security and a overall bug fix. For full details and to download this free application please visit the product page.

DNN Expandable Text/HTML 1.3.0

Due to popular demand I have added configuration settings to this module to require the setting of a CSS Class for both the title link as well as the content of the individual text sections.

DNN Course Gradebook 2.5.0

This release includes multiple enhancements and a few performance modifications to bring the overall module functionality within DNN localization standards. Additionally new options have been added to provide greater administration functionality. Including the ability to delete a users grade if given before it was needed.

Also, I am looking for information regarding the adoption rate of my software products on other sites, if you are currently using one of my modules, I would enjoy hearing how/where they are being used. This feedback will help me enhance the modules to better suit the community!

Recently I have been building more DotNetNuke modules than in previous months and I found myself spending a fair amount of time building installation packages to test my modules on my secondary DotNetNuke portal.  After spending more time than I care to admit manually copying these files over, I created a simple command line batch program and added it as a post build event in my project.  This way every time I re-compile my module Visual Studio will automatically create my installation package.  Below I will provide a bit of direction as well as providing a link to download my sample .bat file.

This is my sixth revision DNN Upgrade guide.  This version of the guide includes important updates for working with DNN 4.8.0 and customized SqlDataProvider configurations.  Many portions of this upgrade guide are the same as previous versions, however, there are some new items and many minor changes/clarifications.  This is simply due to the LIMITED changes that have truly occured in the area of DotNetNuke upgrades.  If a newer version of DNN has been released and I do not have a new version of this document, please use this version as there are most likely no breaking changes!

This guide is geared towards performing an upgrade in-place directly to the server.  If you are on a hosted web server you will need to make modifications to the instructions to fit your access to the production environment.  Additionally I STRONGLY suggest attempting to perform an upgrade locally BEFORE you update a production hosted site to check all processes, then use a method to deploy the upgrade in a prompt manner to minimize site downtime.  If there is enough demand I will post a "Upgrading DotNetNuke from 4.x to 4.8.0 (or later) on a Remote Host" guide.

DotNetNuke 4.6 and later provided us with a very helpful new development method known as Authentication Providers.  This process created a new development package that developers could use to replace the standard DotNetNuke authentication system.  When this was released three providers were provided by the core; DNN, LiveId, and OpenId.  These providers all came pre-installed, the true question then becomes how do we actually install a NEW authentication provider?  This was something that is very easy, but you must know where to look when doing so.  This tutorial will walk you through the installation process for a separate authentication provider.  I will walk through the installation of the Active Directory Authentication Provider on a DotNetNuke 4.7.0 site.

 The question on which is better WSP (Website Project) or WAP (Web Application Project) has been one asked many times on this site and DotNetNuke.  Over the past months I have provided explainations that fit for each of the specific applications, however, I never really took the time to provide a full compare/contrast article that shows you the overall ease of using one over the other or the hidden downfalls of one over the other.  This article will take you through a number of steps to compare the two development models, so you can make your own decision on which is better.

I have been fielding multiple requests a week for information regarding the skinning of my site, including the CSS Nav Menu as well as my skinning of the Ventrian News Articles module.

Is there interest for me to package up my skin and News Article template to make it available for purchase??