With the release of DNN 4.5.2 and the associated fixes to the AJAX implementation I thought i would revisit my "Core Modules" and AJAX testing that I had completed after the release of 4.5.0. The good news is that more modules can support AJAX since the issues with the URL Control have been resolved. This article will discusss individual modules and the functionality that is now available with the release of 4.5.2.

DotNetNuke 4.5.2 has given us yet another great default function for our websites. Like many individuals I use Google AdSense to provide content based advertising to my users.  Traditionally to integrate Google Adsense you were forced to put a "Text/HTML" module on a page and then add the Javascript to either the source view of the editor, or to the header or footer of the module.  Well in DNN 4.5.2 the core team has added a "Google AdSense" module which makes the integration a breeze!  This article will walk you through the few short steps needed to configure the module and get you started!

This morning I have started my first tests for upgrading my DNN sites to the newest version of DNN 4.5.2 and the overall upgrade process is exactly the same as before and I did not encounter any "unexpected" difficulties.  If you are looking for a step by step guide on how to upgrade from 4.x to the newest version have a look at my 4.5.1 upgrade guide, the process is EXACTLY the same to go to 4.5.2 as it is to go to 4.5.1.  You can find the article here http://www.mitchelsellers.com/Blogs/tabid/54/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/76/Upgrading-to-DotNetNuke-451-from-4x.aspx 

Last week i received my offical speaker invitation for the OpenForce '07 Conference in Las Vegas, NV.  I will be co-presenting with Philip Beadle on the topic of buiding a DNN module with AJAX and Silverlight.  I am really looking forward to the conference and also the opportunity to meet members of the DNN community.

For more information on the OpenForce conference you can visit the http://www.dotnetnukecorp.com website, I believe they will have a full speaker list up sometime this week.

See you in November!

Today I have made some more modifications to the blog layout on this site.

1.  I added the posting date to the time display so you know when the article was posted
2.  I edited the Rating and Comments sections to be styled like the rest of the page
3.  I edited the "Detail" view of an article to be properly displayed
4.  I modified the overall layout to use CSS for the images which seems to help a bit with load times.
5.  I added links to Digg and Del.icio.us (If you would like links to others let me know)

For those regular readers of my blog there will be a short time period where there will be limited updates to this website.  I suffered an injury last Thursday (5/24) and have limited movement/abilities with my right arm.

I hope to be back in better condition within the next week.  Upon my recovery you can expect blogs on the following topics.

-Moving DNN Sites (Avodiding problems with the repository module)
-Improving DNN startup performance; the various methods, which is best?
-Identifying issues with shared hosting and incorrect .NET versions
-DNN Change Management (How to maintain development, test, and production environments)
-A review of Vault as a source control system (DNN and other)
-Updates on my new projects
-Offical call for help with my Quiz module

I will be also hopefully releasing information on the release of the following other software items, to be coming in the next 1-2 months.

-ASP.NET Captcha Control - A fully integrated captcha control that can be used in any .NET 2.0 app.  It is a C# port with modifications of a sample provided on code project
- ASP.NET Global Error handler - An IHTTP Module that will allow you to plug it in to capture unhandled exceptions.  This is a cleaned up version of an exception notifier that i use on all of my .NET websites.  (NOT nececessarily compatiable with DNN)
-Media manager - New version of DVD Manager converted to support multiple media types as well as a migration into DNN

I appreicate your patience during this time of minimal updates.  I will still be working to respond to emails during this period.

As most of you have noticed this site is now running on a different server.  I switched to 3essentials.com for my web hosting and I have to say that I cannot be more satisfied.  You should notice better site performance on the new server and if you encounter any errors please let me know.

Also, all site functionality has been restored to its normal levels!

Version 1.2 of File Categorizer has been made available as of Sunday May 20th. This version includes a few project enhancements as well as a few bug fixes for file categorization options. Below is a detailed listing of the updates. Individuals who purchased version 1.1 are eligible to download this new version for free.

• Added a file count for the batch assignment screen to identify the number of pending categorizations
• Added an option on the "Skip Assignment" option to allow deletion of a file as well as exclusion from cateorization
• Bug fix for the "Check for non-categorized file" option that was resulting in a file being listed multiple times
• Updated about page content

To view more information about File Categorizer or for purchase information please view the File Categorizer page under the "Software" tab.

I am proud to announce that I just released version 1.3.1 of my DNN Course Gradebook Module.  This module is designed as a method for an instructor to share course grading information with students that are registered on a DNN installation.  I will be using this module on my personal site as part of my Instructor Website to share grade information with my students this summer.

This inital release provides support for

• Multiple Assignments
• Role based user selection (Single role only, per course)
• Multiple courses
• Data retention until module uninstallation (To prevent accidental data loss)
• Student view restrictions to determine when students may view their grades
• Student letter grade display (A, B, C, D, F with customizable cutoffs)
• Support for content localization

I have many future expansions planned for this module however I am looking for individuals interested in testing/using this module and providing feedback for future features.

You may try this module out for yourself by downloading it from the "Software" section of this site!  If you have any questions or concerns regarding the functionality of this module I would please request that you utilize the forum for this module, also available on this site.

Due to popular request this article discusses the steps necessary to create a new standard DotNetNuke user account based on the password for an existing user.  This is a follow-up article from my creating a host account via SQL Server that was published about a month ago.

As some of you might have noticed I will be teaching my first college course this summer at Des Moines Area Community College here in Iowa.  As part of getting ready for the class I have been working on creating a "Gradebook" module to allow me to track and show students their grades during the semester.  Is there a demand for this type of module in the community?

Share your thoughts, as I might consider making this a publicly available module if there is an interest for it. 

As I continue my testing of AJAX support for various DotNetNuke modules I thought I would take this time to offically request from my readers modules that I should test.  Place comments on this post with the modules you would like to see reviewed!

Today I learned about a DotNetNuke feature that I have neveer noticed in all of my time working with the system.  Many of you are faimiliar with the Google Personalized homepage and how you can simply click-and-drag a gadget from one location to another.  Well DotNetNuke supports this as well.  I am not sure which version introducted this as I have not noticed it before, however you can simply click-and-hold on a module title (You must click on the text) and then you can drag it to another content pane on your page.

This functionality works just like the action menu's "Move to ..." options but provides a nice method to quickly move modules.  Below is a screen capture of a move in progress!

So you modified your user profile fields for your DotNetNuke website and marked a new "Required" field, however you can no longer get into your website.  This has become a very common issue among DNN users and luckly there is a fairly easy way to let yourself back in.  I will discuss in this post the steps needed to modify your profile property declarations to remove a required field so you may login to your site and correct the underlying issue with the property.  Typically this issue is due to either an invalid validation script, a required field that is not displayed, or a list field that doesn't provide valid options.  This article will provide you with the scripts necessary to log back into your site.

Please click "Read More.." to view the full article.

I just released version 1.1 of my Regular Expression Tester as a DotNetNuke Module.  I have provided the module as a demonstration/tool on this site at the following page www.mitchelsellers.com/Tools/RegExTester/tabid/244/Default.aspx . This module is a utility that can be used to test Regular Expressions against the .NET RegEx classes to ensure that you have a proper expression. With full support for DotNetNuke localization and AJAX this module can be a helpful item to add to your development DNN portal for testing purposes.

Registered members of this site may download the Install or Source Versions from the demonstration page.

To enable AJAX support you must modify the module definition for the "VewRegExTester.ascx" page to indicate "Supports Partial Rendering".  This is due to a bug in DotNetNuke 4.5 and later that does not allow this value to be set from within an installation package.

Please share your comments below!

I just thought I would let everyone know that I have now offically claimed my blog site on Technorati.com.  I have also added a link at the bottom of the forum for those that would like to add my blog to their favorites listing on Technorati.com.

Due to popular demand and numerous requests I have updated my DotNetNuke upgrade guide to ensure I cover all DNN 4.5.1 issues correctly.  Additionally as part of this update I have also included more detailed information regarding the codeSubDirectories and other configuration elements that must not be overlooked when performing the web.config merge.  Click "Read More.." to view the tutorial!

As I see more and more people using the Ventrian News Articles module for their blogs I have to imagine that others are curious as I am as to which blog posts are the most popular, the highest rated, or maybe even the lowest rated.  Yes I understand that I could look through my blog and find this out, but with as many posts as I have I decided to do some research and have made a few helpful queries that will provide this type of information.  This entry will walk you through each of the scripts.

Click "Read More..." to view the scripts and the remainder of the article