Over the past few weeks as anticipation builds towards the release of my book, Professional DotNetNuke Module Programming, there have been questions about the cover art displayed on Amazon and other locations. The currently published cover art does NOT include my picture, it includes the picture of the former book author. Below is the new cover art with my picture that will hopefully start appearing soon!
Posted by Mitchel on Tuesday, November 25, 2008
I thought I would take a quick moment to post one final update regarding the progress on my Professional DotNetNuke Module Programming book. Tonight I have finished writing the two most complicated sections of the book, the Dedication and Acknowledgments. I can't believe how hard it was to write those two small pieces of the book.
The good news is that this milestone essentially marks the 100% complete mark in the process on my side. Author Review has been completed on all but one chapter, and I will have that finished tomorrow. Once I am done with that, the folks with Wrox Press will take it from there and get the book ready for production. Last week I talked with the managing editor and the updated cover art to include my picture should be going out soon, and as soon as I have a firm publication date I will let everyone know!
As I have mentioned before, thank you all for the support and feedback during this process, it has been a true learning experience for me!
Posted by Mitchel on Monday, November 17, 2008
A while I provided an update and even asked for a bit of community input regarding the content to be included in my soon to be released book "Professional DotNetNuke 5 Module Programming". I have to first of all thank all members of the community that provided feedback and suggestions as to what you wanted to see covered in the book. I took all comments very seriously and did my best to ensure that the book can tailor to the needs of the greatest common denominator.
With that in mind today I reached what I consider to be a major milestone in the book writing process, the 100% submission mark. As of this morning, the first draft of all chapters, appendix items, and code samples have been submitted. It has been a very long process, in the works since early July if I recall correctly, but finally I can start to see a book that is going to be very helpful to the entire development community. Now that the book's content has been defined, I thought I would share the final, at least for now, table of contents. The following is a listing of chapters and appendix items included in the book.
Chapters
- Introduction to DotNetNuke and Resources
- Creating the Development Environment
- Underneath the Hood of DotNetNuke
- Guestbook Module Requirements
- Starting the Module Creation Process
- Investigating DotNetNuke Components
- Creating the Module Backend
- Creating the Localized Module Interface
- Packaging, Installing, and Debugging the Module
- Implementing Optional DotNetNuke Interfaces
- DotNetNuke Scheduled Tasks
- DotNetNuke User Controls
- Module Navigation and Communication
- Third-Party Components and Controls
- DotNetNuke, Modules, Ajax, and jQuery
- Creating DotNetNuke SKin Objects
- Creating DotNetNuke Authentication Providers
- DotNetNuke Development Best Practices
Appendix Items
- Community Resources
- Additional Web.config Options
- Distributing Your Module
- DotNetNuke Manifest (.dnn) File Explained
- Working with User, Tab, Portal, and Module Classes
I'll be sure to post more updates both here and on my blog when the book gets closer to release!
Posted by Mitchel on Thursday, November 06, 2008
As I mentioned yesterday I am starting to put the finishing touches on my "Professional DotNetNuke 5 Module Programming" book. In talking with the publisher last night I found out that I need to get a bit more content into the book, so I have added a few development topics that I feel are very valuable, however, I wanted to reach out to the development community and ask, what else is needed? Below is a listing of the current Table of Contents.
Chapters
- Introduction to DotNetNuke and Resources
- Creating the Development Environment
- Underneath the DotNetNuke Hood
- Guestbook Module Requirements
- Starting the Module Creation Process
- Investigating DotNetNuke Components
- Creating the Module backend
- Creating the Localized Module Interface
- Packaging, Installing, and Debugging the Module
- Implementing Optional DotNetNuke Interfaces
- DotNetNuke Scheduled Tasks
- DotNetNuke User Controls
- Module Navigation and Communication
- Third-Party Components and Tools
- DotNetNuke, Modules and Ajax
- Creating DotNetNuke Skin Objects
- Creating DotNetNuke Authentication Providers
Appendix Items
- Community Resources
- Additional Web.Config Options
- Distributing your Module
- Additional .dnn Manifest Options
Please feel free to provide any input on this table of contents, and list any suggested additions below, all options will be considered. Please note that I am looking to finalize this soon, so please post your comments early!
Update
I will be posting an updated final TOC soon, but for now, if you want to pre-order here is a link to Amazon. Professional DotNetNuke Module Programming
Posted by Mitchel on Tuesday, October 21, 2008
As we start winding down to the end of the year and the upcoming OpenForce 2008 event, I thought I would take a few moments to give everyone an update on some of the things I have in the works, and a few fun new announcements.
Announcements & Updates
The past few months have been very busy times, and for a while I disappeared from the community while trying to arrage a few things, and to get over a really bad cold that took me out of commission for over a week. So with this hiatus, I thought I would share some updates on progress that has been made since my last update on this blog.
Product Support Website
Late last week IowaComputerGurus launched a new Product Support website. This site was launched to create a formal roadmap and issue tracking system for the various products we provide. Historically new feature requests were submitted via the forums and I simply kept track of the items in the works. Well, the projects have all outgrown that process and this should help keep a solid process behind the madness. So take this opportunity to submit your feature requests today!
Open Force 2008 Giveaways and Discounts
I am also proud to announce that not only is IowaComputerGurus an exhibitor in booth 606 but we have also provided two items to be given away at the community event that will take place during the conference. One of these items is 10 hours of custom module development services, a $950 value!
In addition to the product giveaway items, we will be extending 10% discount coupons to attendees for use with our Technical Support plans. We have a proven track record of providing quality, responsive, technical support for DotNetNuke site administrators and development teams and want to pass a conference discount on to attendees. (If you are not going and are still interested in the discount, send me an e-mail)
Book Update
I am also proud to announce that as of last night there are only two remaining chapters to be written for the Professional DotNetNuke 5 Module Programming book. Those chapters should be completed by next Monday and the book will continue to move through the production process. I hope to see a release of the book close to the current target release date.
Microsoft MVP Nomination
The last announcement comes from an e-mail that I received from Microsoft a few weeks ago. I have received a Microsoft MVP nomination, I will find out for sure if I receive the award on January 1st. I have to say that even receving this nomination is something that I am proud of.
Upcoming Items
Will all the above in mind, it is time to put the eyes on the future. What is coming up, and what can you expect to see here on this site?
Articles
Well, right now I have a listing of over 20 topics that I will be writing about in the near future, but the following is a quick hit listing of items to expect in the very near future.
- Final review of Active Forums 4.0
- Installing DotNetNuke on Mosso's Cloud Computing Service
- Advantages of using VS 2008 for DotNetNuke WAP Module Development
- Fun new items in DNN 5.0
- Why using ObjectQualifier can cause you pain?
- How to add helpful information to the Visual Studio Debugger
- Multi-view DNN Controls? How to do it without Isolation
Modules
Recently a few community members have been donating time to help crate documentation for the free modules. This has created some free time for me to focus on new releases and some much needed enhancements to existing modules. However, the most promising upcoming item of all is the DNN Quiz module. it has been my long promised module, and finally it will become a reality! The module has been tested in one format, and only needs slight modifications before I can release it to the general public!
Videos
Lastly after almost a year hiatus I have secured video capture software and will start to record and publish video tutorials to go alongside the text based articles.
Comments/Feedback
As always feedback from the readers of this blog and the greater community is always appreciated. If you have any comments, suggestions, or requests please be sure to let me know via one of the many available communication systems.
Posted by Mitchel on Monday, October 20, 2008
Well it has been a few weeks since I last provided an update on the progress of my "Professional DotNetNuke 5 Module Programming" book. Thus far I am about 60-65% completed with the book, with only 4.5 chapters to complete until the book is finished with its first revision. I also just noticed this morning that Amazon.com has finally updated the book information to show my name, granted I still need to get Wrox my picture so that the cover can be changed out to have my picture rather than Chris Paterra's.
If you are interested in pre-ordering the book it is available from Amazon.com and the release date should be February 24, 2009! Feel free to share any comments/questions in the comments of this post!
Posted by Mitchel on Monday, August 18, 2008