Dot Net Nuke & Cleargraphix

Stop Working… Our Love Is Too Strong

Tom Haschenburger — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 08:56:06 +0000

Well it’s been quite some time since we’ve posted anything new so, we just wanted to give a shout out to everyone that we’re still grinding those gears as we’ve been extremely busy with work. It’s a great thing but, unfortunately in the mix of it all our own stuff gets little attention. So, on top of being super busy we’re in the process of giving Clear Graphix a brand new look so stay tuned. We have a lot of great stuff in the works.

Developing Service-Oriented AJAX Applications on the Microsoft Platform

Tom Haschenburger — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 23:21:23 +0000

Developing Service-Oriented AJAX Applications on the Microsoft Platform

Clear Graphix sends our to thanks to our good friend Daniel Larson for the autographed copy of his latest book release Developing Service-Oriented AJAX Applications on the Microsoft Platform. You can pick up a copy here or at your local book store.

The book is aimed towards intermediate to advanced Web Developers using Microsoft technologies. It’s written to guide your transition from ASP.NET to ASP.NET AJAX using WCF Web Services. This book is written with some C#, but primarily Javascript. Visual Basic.NET developers should be able to translate the C# code with ease, as the focus of this book is architectural. Compiled code samples in this book are written with C# and compiled against the 3.5 SP1 framework using Visual Studio 2008 but, you’ll also find a lot of Javascript. Some basic knowledge of C#, ASP.NET, Web Development, and the .NET Framework is not required but, will be helpful. He covers the basics of WCF for AJAX developers and points out some great references along the way.

Congratulations on the new book Daniel. Thanks again! Job well done. =8o)

Google Becomes Human Editable — Sort Of — Another SEO Or SEM Tool?

Tom Haschenburger — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:08:00 +0000

Well, after many years of Google querying the DMOZ search engine as a another basis for generating PageRank and consuming new search information for its index… They finally decide to pick up on this technique, to a degree anyway.

Google Promote/Delete Option

When logged in to your Google Account (any of them and/or have the Google Toolbar installed and logged in) you can now interact with your search results in the SERP’s or Search Engine Results Pages after your query to Google’s database or rather use their search engine. There are 2 options. One being to get rid of the result during future queries and one to promote it. Just when you think Google search can’t get any better right. Well check it out but, be aware that your data is shared amongst the public as you should get a notice warning essentially describing your consent to do so. I think it’s a great feature. However, as with any human touch, is this really just another informational highway for another congested series of new routes for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) junkies to “jam” up the everyday information that we searchers are after. Every day searching as an average user gets more and more frustrating and our “keywords” need to be even more precise to find what we’re looking for. Constantly, SEO and SEM professionals and enthusiasts are hurdling obstacles in which search engine technology is trying to put a stop to… faked or engineered search results. Google prides themselves on quality “Organic” or “Natural” search results.

Search Wiki Alert Message

In conclusion, for us, as businesses… keep this in mind when developing your search engine marketing and keyword phrase choices. Why? Now you aren’t just going against computers to keep those top rankings on the first page in Google but, you’re going against the very best, the elite, the people searching for you. If we the searchers think you’re doing a good job and have a lot to offer, then you’ll get a vote on that special “Promote” button Google has so kindly placed next to our search result. Otherwise, although the other option doesn’t say “Demote”… I find it hard to believe Google won’t consider that value when determining who’s on top of their search engine results. Just a thought. You be the judge. If you need anymore demystifying questions answered, don’t hesitate, contact us! :_D

How To Install DotNetNuke 4.* In Windows Vista In IIS 7 With SQL Server 2008 - Quick and Dirty

Tom Haschenburger — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 06:15:38 +0000

First Download the DotNetNuke software. If you’re not doing any development aside from skins and such, grab the Install Package. This doesn’t mean you won’t be able to install modules. The other ones are more for developing.

IIS 7 Settings For DotNetNuke

Install IIS 7 if you haven’t enabled it. You can do this through Vista’s Control Panel under programs and features. On the left hand side your see something that says Turn Windows Features On Or Off. In the next dialog box, make sure you have these items checked. They aren’t all necessary but, you should have IIS Management Console, and ASP.NET which will enable a couple of other checkboxes. Also, a couple of items under Commone Http Features.

Create Database in Microsoft SQL Server 2008

right-click databases and select NEW DATABASE

Under General, Type in a the name of the database as whatever you want (typically DotNetNuke) but, remember what it is because, you’ll need it later.

Click on the button to the right of the Owner to browse for an owner. The options available will depend on whether or not you used the Native Windows Authentication mode or SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode. Basically, with Windows Authentication mode you’ll be using the credentials of the Windows Server Box you are using as opposed to using a separate list of SQL Server users kept within the SQL Server database.

Under the main category of OPTIONS on the left, I chose the compatibility level to coincide with SQL Server 2005. I’m not sure effect it would have if any to choose compatibility with SQL Server 2008 but, DotNetNuke 5 should be coming out reasonably soon so, that should support it. Anyway, like I said, this is just the quick and dirty version.

I left the rest of the options as default. These instructions are more for a local development stand-point but, so I can’t guarantee security. Talk with your host to ensure that there aren’t any giant holes saying “HACK ME PLEASE :)”

Now the most important road block I think most people will run into including myself is all about permissions to files and directories including being inaccessible or non-writable and/or bad credentials to your SQL Database usually having to do with mispellings or targeting the wrong user with the wrong permissions.

SQL Server 2008

If you’re having problems connecting to the SQL Database DOUBLE and TRIPLE check these settings if you’re having problems and make sure you’re calling the right DATABASE NAME. If the SQL Server is on the same machine as the web server then the SQL Server name should be LOCALHOST. Also, you might see “Login failed for user ‘NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE’. Make sure to right click on your database and goto properties > permissions > View server permissions. Look for ‘NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE’ in the Logins or roles area. If you’re having problems and are troubleshooting permissions. Grant all of them to ‘NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE’ but, remember to go back and change them when you figure out the culprit.

Now a little detail for the issues with permissions to files and folder. I recieved a number of errors such as “Access to the path Compression.config’ is denied” or some other file wasn’t writable. I’ve seen some on the net on other forums saying to move these files from the config directory to the root. Sure, you might get some random concoction to work like I tried to do on math tests in school but, the reality is, it should work if you’ve setup permissions properly. You should be able to install IIS 7, create an SQL Database, throw the files in your web root, set permissions on the database and navigate to the fully qualified domain name such as http://localhost/ or http://www.whateveryourdomainnameis.com/ to start the installer. You may get an error dealing with the NETWORK SERVICE on the actual permissions of the root folder which is different than the credentials of the database.

Also, under default application pool, your .NET Framework should be at least in the 2.0 or above. And your Default Website should be using that default application pool by default or you’ll have to right click on it to add the pool.

Under Default Document in the IIS Manager. Make sure you move the Default.aspx to the top to speed up performance, otherwise it will check for all of those other files first.

Ok everyone, like I said quick and dirty. Well as quick as quick can be when dealing with computers but, I hope this helps. I couldn’t find any good articles for my problems so, I wrote this. I can’t stress enough, permissions are savior to this whole installation. Also, just to make sure these aren’t causing the problem, try re-starting your computer and/or restarting the IIS server and SQL Server. I know in MySQL you have to reload privileges and whether it’s documented or not with Microsoft’s SQL Servers, it’s always good to try. I’m sure we’ve all had to “power cycle” something over the phone on tech support. =8o] It does work sometimes.

Hopefully I saved you 30-50$ on a book. If you have any questions, feel free to comment or shoot us a message. You can always call us and talk to a real live person too. That’s a rare these days eh. LOL go figure. I’m sure we could save you more on design and development as well. When you need it, we’ll be there. If you build it, we will come. ;o)

FCK Editor Custom CSS Links - Dot Net Nuke DNN Dotnetnuke

Dustin Peterson — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 03:22:02 +0000

So you may already have figured out how to apply the custom styles to the FCK_editor in Dotnetnuke DNN so it reads your css files and displays the styles accordingly while editing Text/HTML in the editor. As you noticed though, the link file still stays the default blue color. In order to stylize these links do the following:

Go edit the file: wwwroot > Providers > HTMLEditorProviders > FCK > FCKeditor > editor > css > fck_editorarea.css

Open that file and edit the lines 47 - 51. These current CSS styles for DNN FCK editor style the links. Delete the syles or change according to your preference so it reads the link styles in your skin.css or default.css files for your Dot Net Nuke site.

Need more info into stylizing the FCK Editor on your site? Let us know.