DotNetNuke Blogs On DNN, For DNN

Peter Donker to present at OpenForce 2009 EU

Peter Donker — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:42:05 GMT

After the good news for OpenForce US for this year (see this post) I am very pleased to have been selected to present at OpenForce EU as well. The sessions are entitled "Advanced Module Development in DNN", and "Extension Software Protection in DNN".

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My Community, User Groups & Events Speaking Schedule

CTO 2.0 - Antonio Chagoury — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:29:38 GMT

While the first half of 2009 is almost behind us, there is a lot more community work left to get done. As I try to arrange my life-work-community schedule I see that I have quite a busy couple of months coming up yet.

I am still waiting for responses from other community leaders and events such as the SDN/Open Force Europe, so I won’t list those here just yet. Meanwhile, here is what I’ve got lined up.

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Organizing the Day of DotNetNuke 2009 – Thoughts on the Experience

The Mighty Blog — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:17:00 GMT

I would hope that all of the 3 readers of my blog know that there was an event being planned called the Day of DotNetNuke® by now. If you don’t know, we had a full day code camp type event this past weekend which focused 100% on DotNetNuke®. Now, I am going to tell you how it went.

The Beginning

Last year, we were lucky enough to have the OpenForce Connect – Orlando event in June. Since then, we have been eager to repeat the event. Unfortunately, we were not able to get us and the DotNetNuke Corporation together to make it happen. This is no surprise to anyone, as we all know what they have been doing during the past year.

For the first time since I have been attending code camps, I decided to go to the 2009 Orlando Code Camp after party and mingle with all of the great folks that put on such a great event. During the event, we finally decided to put the event on ourselves – and why not? We have plenty of resources to do so. Joe Healy, our local Microsoft Developer Evangelist, quickly offered up the Microsoft Sales Office in Tampa, Florida. At this party, the Board for the Day of DotNetNuke® was born – though it was first called the DNN Firestarter. We changed the name later.

The Day of DotNetNuke® Board consists of the following valuable and knowledgeable people:

Out of those of us that were there, they quickly nominated me to plan the event. At the time, it was only supposed to be a single track like the year prior, but I immediately saw an opportunity to make this event much larger. The rest is history… Well, now it is. :) Now you can see that I really had an outstanding support group backing all of the decisions that I would make going forward.

The Planning

The planning at first looks like a small job, but as you get closer and closer to the event, the planning begins to consume your time throughout the day and night. Here are some of the numerous details to think about when planning such an event:

Set-up and clean-up logistics
Routing people to the event (road signs, and deployment)
Recruiting volunteers, assigning individual volunteer duties, and volunteer schedule
Recruiting and Managing Sponsors, making sure that they get their paid exposure
Recruiting Speakers
Picking Speakers and Sessions
Assigning sessions to rooms
Setting and staying within the varying budget set by the sponsor recruitment
Printed materials (signs, prize cards, agenda, sponsor raffle cards, etc.)
Choosing the speaker shirts, volunteers shirts, and attendee shirts
Designing all of the event shirts and signs
Marketing the event (Twitter, newsletters, other user groups, Craigslist, Community Megaphone, Facebook, INETA, CodeZone, etc.)

Those are only some of the duties that we had to get through. Although some of those items look like they are really easy to take care of, they aren’t. One thing I have learned about community events is this… Even though it is a free event, attendees are highly critical of every detail that went into the event. And things go wrong, no matter how much you plan.

Something sounding as simple as assigning a track or session to a room can be incredibly difficult. You have all kinds of details to plan through to get it right. How many people will attend the sessions in the room? How many attendees will attend the other sessions in the other rooms? How many people does the room seat? What is the layout of the room? Will it properly accommodate the speakers that you know will be in it? Are there extra chairs available, just in case the room gets overfilled? You cannot always plan accordingly to answer all of those questions accurately, but we have to try.

The Speakers

Getting speakers interested to speak at an event like this is usually easy to do. Choosing the right speakers to fill the available slots is not easy. Scheduling the speakers to fit into an agenda with multiple tracks is even more difficult. Finally, things happen with speakers. Sometimes, the do not like the time of day they are speaking, some have to drop out, and others might have more than one session in a row when they don’t intend to do two sessions back-to-back. Luckily, out of all of the people that will show up at these kinds of events, Speakers are the most understanding. They have a really good idea of what it takes to make the event happen. They are more than willing to work with you to make the schedule and sessions fit the right way.

The Volunteers

I am not sure how we were so lucky to get the number and quality of volunteers that we had. It is my sincerest hope that we can repeat next year with volunteers that work at least half as hard as ours did this year. We had some of the hardest working volunteers that I have ever seen at any community event. It was incredible and refreshing to see them take the event over for me, and ensure that everything moved smoothly. I only know of a single problem that occurred, and it was quickly remedied thanks to the volunteers.

The Sponsors

Out of all of the groups of people that need to be managed and pleased, it was my experience that the Sponsors were the most difficult to please. That’s not saying that the Sponsors were difficult to deal with, but businesses are not always fast at getting things done, and are not the best at having effective communications for events like this one. The part that needs the most detail, is getting the best value package created for the sponsors to: (1) garner interest; (2) get excited about contributing. Without that piece of the puzzle worked out, the event will fall on its face. It’s a reality that events such as this require money to be successful, and the sponsors are how the money gets gathered.

I looked for and solicited for sponsors from everywhere that I could think of. I went through a private list I have compiled of DNN vendors and DNN service providers. I went through the other code camps and events in the state. I also went through the list of sponsors, advertisers, and other contributors on the DotNetNuke® website. I was very surprised at how receptive and accommodating the majority of the possible sponsors were. There was nothing hard about asking all of them for two reasons. First, the worst that could happen is that they might say no. Secondly, we needed the money – pure and simple.

The Venue

Unfortunately for me, I had never been to our venue before the morning of the event. I wanted to have a walk through before the day event, but schedule conflicts made it impossible. That being said, if you have the chance, you will really want to have a peek where your event will be held. It makes planning the logistics of the event so much easier. This allows you to properly determine where the meals will be staged and distributed, plan for the size of the rooms and sessions, determine the common areas and sponsor areas, and more.

Our venue was at the Microsoft Sales Office in Tampa, Florida. It is on the edge of one of the bays in Tampa. It has such an amazing view. So much so, that you wish you were on the beach. I don’t know how they can work there. Our rooms were all great for the event. At times, the sessions would have too many people in a room, but it was unavoidable. I didn’t hear any complaints about it though. I am surprised.

The Value

Events such as the Day of DotNetNuke® need more to their formula in order to properly rope in the right kind of sponsors, speakers, and volunteers. I had a heck of a time planning ways to offer value to all involved. It is a tricky tight rope to walk, as everyone expects something different. Sponsors are looking for things from the event much more differently than a speaker, and a volunteers might not expect to get anything out of it – but we still want to offer value to get the minimum number of volunteers recruited.

In order to offer the right value to the sponsors, I took a real close look at all of the other sponsor information I could find at all of the Florida events. I stuck with our regional events, as any local sponsors would already be used to sponsoring in a specific way. So I felt compelled to provide that to them to make sure that we had the highest possible chance of gaining their sponsorship. I also had to overcome the reality that I was mostly a “nobody” asking established companies for money when they knew nothing about me, or the event. A first time event is certainly not the ideal event for any vendor to contribute to, as there is no track record for what it had offered sponsors in the past. Companies want a return on their investment, so it is imperative to make sure everything is thoroughly discussed and planned from the beginning. One thing I learned that really surprised me, was that many sponsors are willing to pay a premium for some exclusive exposure. You will want to plan for that in your events.

Having been a volunteer myself at other events, and also having run one myself now, I find it amusing that I am not 100% clear on what a volunteer is looking for in value. It was my experience that they didn’t really expect much. They just wanted to help. We had the best group of volunteers that I have ever seen and could ever hope for. I wish I could give you some tips and suggestions on how to properly recruit good volunteers, but I am convinced that our success in gathering volunteers was pure luck.

Attendees are pretty simple for the most part. In general, the expect only a few things: good sessions, a free t-shirt, a free breakfast and lunch, the possibility to win something cool, and for the event to appear to be well-organized. Unlike before, the simplistic descriptions here are indeed simple in concept.

The Marketing

Aside from putting the plans and value in place to make the event a reality, the most important thing that events like the Day of DotNetNuke® must do is to market the event. This is much more true with the Day of DotNetNuke® than most other events, as DNN is more of a niche technology event right now.

I used Twitter, Facebook, area user groups, Live groups (thanks to Ken Tucker), craigslist, an add on the DotNetNuke® site, and pretty much every avenue I could find to promote the Day of DotNetNuke® that I could find. The only method that I saw return the kind of immediate results that we needed was through twitter, and my blog. Luckily, the 3 people that read my blog came through for us.

That being said, I used our marketing channels the best I could to maintain a steady stream of excitement and interest every week preceding the event. For instance, I did not plan everything, and announce it all at once. I released 1-2 announcements at a time. This proved to be an effective way to have others on twitter remarket our message for us. It was obviously a very successful marketing campaign. I guess I should have studied marketing in school. ;)

The End

One piece of advice that stuck with me throughout the planning process and helped me to not stress too much came from Dave Noderer. Dave is a community power house in Florida, and runs the largest code camp that Florida has to offer. He told me that while planning and running a code camp wasn’t an easy thing to do, once the planning process begins, it runs itself. I really did find this to be true. That’s not to say that I didn’t have to do anything. There was a ton of information to sort through, organize, and disseminate, and even more decisions to be made.

Well, this is the end of my random thoughts on planning and running the Day of DotNetNuke®. My next blog entry will talk about the day of the event. I am still exhausted two days later, but I am already looking forward to next year. Now, we have more than 2 1/2 months to plan for it. :) Anyone want to volunteer? Hehehe…

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke,DNN,DNN Blogs,Events,Community,Day of DotNetNuke

Roadmap for Active Forums 4.x

Active Modules, Inc. — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:56:44 GMT

We will announce three new major releases at DevConnections/OpenForce Las Vegas this coming November: Active Forums 5.0, Active Social 3.0 and Active Purchase 3.0. Unlike the previous years, you will not see blog posts with screen captures of what's coming soon. Instead, we are going to have several releases along the way. Below is a draft of the roadmap for Active Forums 4.x leading up to the release of Active Forums 5.0. Please keep in mind that this is just a draft and is subject to change. We will post an update after each release to help keep track of progress and any new features that we decide to add.

Version 4.2

Revised security model - greater flexibility, improved management options and better performance.
New Template Engine - Leveraging the code base from Active Social, Active Forums will have a completely new template and skinning engine that offers high performance and full layout control.
Custom Control Integration - Easily extend Active Forums with your own ASP.NET controls
New Notification Options - Additional options to be notified of new posts.

Version 4.3

New Content Options - Flexible template sets that allow you to use Active Forums for more than just a discussion forum.
Categorization - In addition to tags, you will be able to assign topics to admin defined categories.
New Display Options - Allow your users to view topics in the way that they want.

Version 4.4

Intelligent Moderation - Moderate content based upon criteria you define.
Custom Fields - Capture more than just a title and body with each new post.

Version 4.5

Analytics - Monitor traffic, track how users interact with others, watch users collaborate in real-time.

Version 5.0

Full integration with Active Social Collaboration tools.

Blast from the Past: ODUG First Meeting Pictures

Thu, 21 May 2009 19:06:00 GMT

The Orlando DotNetNuke® Users Group, or the ODUG, is not as old as some might think. Our first meeting was February 2, 2008. So, we are working on completing our second year as a user group. It began simply enough… Brian Scarbeau signed up to reserve the user group on the DotNetNuke® website, and then began to post and e-mail people to gauge interest and get an idea of what day and time we should hold the meetings. After about 3 months or so, we had our first meeting. We basically just chatted about DNN for the first 2-3 meetings without any real goals, but it was great. We all learned a lot from each other, and immediately stabilized a true DNN network locally.

Earlier today, Brian sent me a few pictures from one of the first meetings, though I am pretty sure that it was the very first meeting. Here are the shots.

You see? Your first meeting doesn’t have to be anything special. We had about 10-12 people at our first few meetings, and met in a classroom of a local private high school. Good times! Boy, have we come a long way, or what? We went from this to OpenForce Connect – Orlando in a short 4 months, and now we have the Day of DotNetNuke® nearly a year and a half later.

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke,DNN,DNN Blogs,Events,Meeting,ODUG,Orlando DotNetNuke Users Group

Official DotNetNuke Webinars Have Begun

Thu, 21 May 2009 18:20:00 GMT

The DotNetNuke Corporation has begun broadcasting webinars for anyone to register and watch. They are mostly hosted by Nik Kalyani, a Co-Founder of the corporation, Former CEO, and the current Director of Products and Strategy. His first webinar was today, and it was basically an introduction to DotNetNuke®. While his demo today was run on the new Professional Edition, the webinar strictly focused on introducing some of the most common and powerful features that would be of interest to anyone evaluating our favorite web application framework.

Overall, for all of the skeptics out there, the Professional Edition that I saw appeared to look exactly like Community Edition, with the exception of the default skin and logo. Even as we were shown some of the administration, admin and host menus, and modules, everything appeared to be identical to Community Edition.

I have had the pleasure of witnessing Nik present one other time, at OpenForce Connect – Orlando last year. He previewed the DNN 5.0 (Cambrian) skinning features. Like then, he showed superior skill in speaking and presenting information. He is an outstanding presenter. I loved how he continually and accurately clarified himself whenever he felt people might not be 100% clear on what he meant at the moment.

Nik closed the topic by showing some well-known and well-designed examples of DNN by other companies. The intent was to show the viewer just how much different you can make a DNN site look. You are only limited by your own creativity. He showed sites by the Australian Football League, Chicago Olympic Committee, Marriott World Center Resort, Indian Motorcycles, Midas, National Institute of Transplants, Pier 1 Imports, and the United Nations. He also showed the Jonas Brothers fan club website, which is not only done using DNN, but was also put together by a couple of teenagers. While the age is not significant when you think about the site’s content, it is when you think about them using DNN to do it.

The presentation was very good, as you might already have concluded. I strongly suggest pointing anyone that you might know who is thinking of using DNN, or have just begun using it. Nik is repeating this one several more times in the near future, and then there are Professional Edition, module, skinning, and SEO webinars coming up as well. Check out the webinar page on the DNN site to register. Your desktop platform will not matter. They are using GoToMeeting to broadcast. (Great tool!)

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke,DNN,DNN Blogs,Events,Webinar,Webcast,Review

DNNVoice Show #7 Discussion on SEO and URLs with Bruce Chapman

DNNVoice.com — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:31:22 GMT

Here’s Show #7 of the DNNVoice. This show is in a different format due to our busy schedules, but hopefully you will find it useful, I know I did when I gave it a listen! Chris talks about OpenForce and OpenForce Europe’s call for speakers (http://www.sdc.nl/cfs), Tom interviews Bruce Chapman.

DNNVoice Show #7 Bruce Chapman Interview

DNNVoice.com — Thu, 21 May 2009 05:05:41 GMT

Here is Show #7 of the DNNVoice. This show is in a different format due to our busy schedules, but hopefully you will find it useful, I know I did when I gave it a listen! Chris talks about OpenForce and OpenForce Europes call for speakers (http://www.sdc.nl/cfs), Tom interviews Bruce Chapman.

Upcoming trips, Colorado, Virginia, Florida and Las Vegas too!

Thu, 21 May 2009 02:19:12 GMT

So it looks like my travelling is starting back up here pretty quickly. This weekend Natalie and I are headed to Colorado to do another round of house hunting. We’ll be back in town either Sunday or Monday, thankfully Kim is staying at our place again to watch the dogs while we are gone, thanks Kim! For more info on that trip check out http://www.going2colorado.com/

Next weekend I’ll be cruising around Missouri and Illinois on a Harley with Kevin, we did this two years ago and wanted to do it again before the move to CO. The week after that I’m headed to Virginia for a couple of days of DotNetNuke Training. I’ll be back in town the weekend of our niece’s birthday party, and then the following week I head to Tampa Florida for the Day of DotNetNuke. The DayOfDNN is actually on Saturday but I’ll be doing a DotNetNuke Essentials Workshop on Friday, and also a DotNetNuke Best Practices Workshop on Sunday following the event.

In other news I also got word this week that I’ve been accepted as a speaker for the third year in a row for the DotNetNuke OpenForce conference held in Las Vegas in November. I’m honored to have been selected to speak again, there were a lot of submissions this year and a lot of big names in the community included in those submissions. Also a quick congrats to my fellow Engage employee Cuong Dang for having two sessions at OpenForce this year, his second time attending and presenting.

It’s turning out to be a busy summer, hopefully we find a house this weekend so we can get our move on and get settled so we can enjoy all the upcoming things!

Selected to present at OpenForce 2009 US

Wed, 20 May 2009 22:34:50 GMT

After a fierce race to get one of the available presenter slots at OpenForce 2009, I am immensely proud to have been selected to present at this event. This conference, which is part of the larger DevConnections event, will take place on November 10 to 12 at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas.

The presentation that I will be giving is entitled Content Localization in DNN. Those that know me, know that this is one of my ‘hobby horses’ and I’ll be riding it again this November. We recently held a European DNN Pro workshop here in Switzerland and this was one of the main subjects. I’ll be happy to bring some of those discussions to the floor in the US where Content Localization is still very much ‘this European thing’ (we keep nagging them about it).

The presentation will most likely go from problem to potential solutions. At this point in time I feel the emphasis will be on the ‘problem’ part as I still feel the issue is not well understood on the other side of the big pond. But maybe events between now and then will shift the focus to solutions. Certainly it is very encouraging that it is on the agenda.

Now, for a shameless piece of advertizing. If you do have the opportunity to go to this event, please consider it. It is the biggest concentration of DNN know-how you’ll find in a yearly event. Not only will you be able to meet a lot of DNN core team members, you’ll also be able to sit down with many of the professionals in the DNN zone like skinners and module vendors (i.e. like myself).

DotNetNuke OpenForce 09 Speakers Announced

Tue, 19 May 2009 10:56:12 GMT

Yesterday, announcements went out to speakers who submitted sessions for DotNetNuke OpenForce North America. During the call for speakers we received almost 200 entries and 70 speakers. Obviously, everyone cannot speak and making the selections was extremely difficult. We appreciate all of the input we received which made our task both easier and more difficult. Easier in that there were lots of great topics to choose from so getting good coverage across all the tracks was relatively simple, and more difficult in that we knew that we would have to eliminate many great topics and speakers.

The selection committee members each assigned a ranking of 1 to 5 to each of the submitted sessions and the highest ranking sessions were then reviewed and discussed to come up with the final list of sessions. During this process we had to do a little balancing to make sure we had a good mix of sessions across all the tracks, but given the great list of sessions, that was a relatively painless exercise.

One aspect of OpenForce that I am proud of is that we are able to rotate in new speakers every year. This year is no exception. This year’s speaker selection includes 6 new speakers who will be speaking at their first OpenForce Event. I always enjoy the fresh perspective that each new speaker brings to the conference.

While it is important to have new speakers, it is also important to have some proven speakers as well. We have 7 returning speakers who have spoken at one of the past conferences. These speakers provide a sense of continuity year to year and always have great sessions. We are proud to have them back again this year.

In the end, we have a mix of topics and speakers that should be of interest to both beginning and advanced DotNetNuke users. I am looking forward to another great OpenForce Conference and can’t wait to share the experience with you.

Brandon Haynes
Secure Module Development: Theory, Technique, and Practice	Module Development
Track: Development, Advanced Virtually all DotNetNuke module developers know that it is important to write secure code, and that the security of a portal is highly correlated with the strength of the modules installed therein. However, fewer developers are aware of the techniques, theory, and tools that provide guidance about how to structure a DotNetNuke module so that it is maximally secure. In this session, we cover at a high level the multifaceted concept of security as it relates to DotNetNuke module development. As a theoretical backdrop, we discuss the related concepts of STRIDE and DREAD, attack trees, and encryption technologies. These techniques are then applied to module development, including discussion of some common anti-patterns and the importance of utilizing core functionality. Finally, we explore some of the tools available to developers, including static analysis, to best mitigate vulnerabilities that can be prevented at design-time.
Cathal Connolly
DotNetNuke performance tips & tricks	Administration
There’s a multitude of tips & tricks to gain additional performance out of DotNetNuke. Come along to this session to see what techniques you can see, settings you can change, and tricks you can use to squeeze as much performance out of your site as possible.
Charles Nurse
DotNetNuke in the Cloud	Module Development
At the Professional Developer's Conference in the fall of 2008 Microsoft announced its vision for the Cloud - Windows Azure. This talk will look at the components of the Windows Azure platform and how we can take advantage of Windows Azure Services in DotNetNuke.
Christopher Hammond
Creating a DotNetNuke Module for Facebook’s Open Stream API	Module Development
This session will provide you with an introduction to creating a DNN Module using Facebook’s new Open Stream API for accessing a user’s stream of Facebook information, retrieving and adding to the stream. We will develop a C# module using a Visual Studio template project accessing key information from Facebook’s API to show you a way to extend social networking onto your own website.
Cuong Dang
Advanced DotNetNuke Skinning Concepts through CSS and XHTML	Design (Skin Development)
The DotNetNuke skinning engine provides great flexibility in adapting to all sorts of design challenges. Think you can’t achieve that design within DotNetNuke? Think again! This session will cover advanced CSS and XHTML techniques used in DotNetNuke skinning which will allow you to achieve any design. We will leverage the enhanced features bundled in DotNetNuke 5.0 such as widgets to build a user-friendly web site, with minimal coding effort.
UX in DotNetNuke! Designing Your Applications the Right Way	Design (Skin Development)
Co-presenter: Ian Robinson Good user experience (UX) is not limited to an appealing user interface. It is about making an application that is easy for your users to learn and interact with. This session will explore the process of creating a good user experience from prototyping your design and user workflow through implementation. Learn the secrets to creating intuitive forms, consistent user interaction, and polished and responsive user interfaces. (if necessary, Cuong Dang can present this session alone)
Dr. Ravi Kalakota
Building Process Automation Portals with DNN	Development
As a leading global provider of human resource consulting, outsourcing and investment services, Mercer serves more than 25,000 clients globally. Increasingly Mercer is automating HR processes and delivering services via portals to clients globally. The portal solutions are architected from the outset to be on-demand, multi-tenant, highly scalable, highly secure, highly configurable and high performance, in order to rapidly deliver value to our customers. DNN is playing a key part in the overall Mercer portal strategy. In this talk, Dr. Kalakota will provide specifics into different solutions being architected using DNN.
Eric Shafer
E-commerce Options for DotNetNuke	Administration
How many ways can you skin the e-commerce cat? Well, there are a lot to say the least. From single product stores, to fully custom-developed solutions, the spectrum is daunting. This session explores the large number of solutions and provides quick guidelines to estimate scope, cost and schedule for a DotNetNuke E-commerce site. We will cover PayPal and Google Checkout, the DNN Store module, Catalook, ASPDotNetStorefront, and custom-developed solutions.
Jason Kergosien
Deploying DNN in the Enterprise	Administration
In this session, we will discuss implementing DotNetNuke in an enterprise environment, impacting all departments of a large organization with many divisions. Jason will discuss real world scenarios and best practices learned by implementing DotNetNuke as a content management system for one of the largest school districts in Dallas, TX, involving 50 web sites managed by hundreds of content managers, while maintaining standards of quality across the enterprise. We'll discuss environmental, political, and training considerations in the process.
Kevin M Schreiner
DotNetNuke on Speed and Performance	Administration
Using real world examples and proven configurations to identify the best specifications for DotNetNuke installs. Configure your site for scalability, speed and efficiency. This session discusses the performance characteristics of the core platform and ways in which you can configure web farms, servers, sites, pages and modules for peak performance. Topics include both browser and server side speed enhancements, taking into consideration each particular area and the benefits and draw backs to the caching and performance settings as well as a full breakdown of performance statistics and stress testing results.
JQuery, JavaScript and DotNetNuke	Module Development
Developers and designers now can work more effectively creating rich interactive environments through the adoption of JQuery, JSON and JavaScript class objects. Many developers who have used JavaScript in the past and have developed simplistic interactions within their sites probably have not yet learned the best practices for development of JavaScript libraries. This session will discuss the benefits and capabilities extended to you through JQuery, followed by a set of development samples of using JQuery to add interaction into your DotNetNuke sites. Additionally it identifies the correct approach for developing class libraries for JavaScript and proven best practices for developing rich JavaScript libraries for your skins and modules.
Marian Dumitrascu
Bring SharePoint Intranet to Your DotNetNuke Extranet Portal	Module Development
Many medium to large corporations choose SharePoint for their Intranet needs. However, many of them struggle to make it available for their extranet presence. This presentation will demonstrate how to expose SharePoint lists and document libraries into a DotNetNuke module.
Panel Discussion
DotNetNuke in the Enterprise	Administration
DotNetNuke has gained extensive adoption in small businesses and is increasingly being used by large enterprises to address some of their unique concerns. We'll talk with several panelists from large corporations and see some of the unique challenges they face and how they were able to leverage DotNetNuke to address these challenges.
Mitchel Sellers
Getting the Best Performance Out of DotNetNuke	Administration
This session covers the role of the DotNetNuke site administrator in proper site performance. A comparative analysis is completed showing baseline and optimized site performance in many traditional settings. Included in this session is recommended configurations for Shared, Cloud, Virtual and Dedicated installation environments. All using proven configurations that have been perfected by the presenter. The session finishes with a checklist of routine maintenance items that should be completed on a regular basis to ensure that site performance remains top-notch.
Peter Donker
Content Localization in DNN	Module Development
DNN does very well with 'static localization'. This means all fixed texts in the application. As a result you can use DNN to roll out a site in any language you like. But what if you want to have a site in multiple languages? Do you create multiple portals? Or are there better ways to do this? This presentation looks at the latest developments in content localization for DNN. We will examine existing solutions and the direction DNN will take to help you deliver multilingual content.
Steve Fabian
WCF and DotNetNuke	Module Development
This session will show you how to write a WCF Service to access/expose your DotNetNuke data. WCF can be intimidating, but this session will take you past the complexity and show you how easy it is to setup a WCF service and expose both a SOAP and a REST endpoint. Then we'll build a Windows Application that allows you to retrieve some site metrics using your new WCF service. And finally, we'll build an offline editor that will allow you to modify the content of your web site from a Desktop Application using the WCF Service.
Windows Workflow and DotNetNuke	Module Development
This session will show you how to use Microsoft's Windows Workflow Foundation in your custom DotNetNuke modules. We will talk about WF, how to define a workflow, your options for hosting the Workflow Runtime, and how to use your workflow to implement business rules in your custom DotNetNuke module. We'll also show you how to build a library of custom DotNetNuke Workflow Activities that you can use in your workflows. NOTE: This is a developer presentation .. Yes .. There will be Code.

Day of DotNetNuke 2009 Speakers Updated. No Need to Wait Anymore!

Sat, 16 May 2009 18:31:00 GMT

A lot of things have been happening in preparing for the first annual Day of DotNetNuke®. We have been speaking with sponsors, potential partners, service providers, hotels, speakers, and more – making sure that everyone that attends will have the best possible time that they can. Our goal is to provide the best DNN content anywhere, and provide the best social, learning, and networking environment possible. All of this, and it is absolutely FREE to attend! Can you believe it? Here is what has been going on in terms of news…

Keynote Speaker

I already mentioned in a previous post that we have the honor of welcoming Joe Brinkman as our keynote speaker. He will also be presenting a session on jQuery titled, Using jQuery in DotNetNuke. I am very excited about this session. I am one of many people who enjoy integrating jQuery into my DotNetNuke® development. You may know that Joe is a co-author of the first two official DNN books, and that he is a co-founder of the DotNetNuke® Corporation, but you may not know that he is also the author of an upcoming Wrox Blox on jQuery. I would highly recommend that you sit in on his session.

Speakers Chosen

We were late on our goal of releasing the list of speakers yesterday by nearly 4 hours. That’s right. The list of speakers was released at approximately 4:00 AM EST this morning. Needless to say, I slept in this morning. We have a very impressive list of speakers! I am so excited! We have 3 Microsoft MVP’s, 10 authors (all Wrox), and 1 Technical Editor (yeah, that’s me) in our list of speakers. We also have 2 DNN user group Founders, 1 DNN user group President, 1 DNN Corp member, 1 DNN Core Team Member, and several leaders of prominent commercial DNN modules and services speaking. [Day of DotNetNuke® Speakers]

Sessions Posted

Earlier this afternoon, I was able to get the sessions posted. I know you probably will feel that I am biased, but the topics are amazing! As one of the organizers of the event, I am so disappointed that I will not be able to attend most of the sessions. I expect to be pretty busy that day. And I can feel your pain as an attendee, as you will have to limit yourself to only 6 of the 30 sessions. I am so sorry. :)

DNN After Dark Venue Chosen

The voting closed for the DNN After Dark venue yesterday. Our chosen venue for our social event is the Green Iguana Bar & Grill. I have never been there, but I am told that it is a great place to hang out. We are waiting for them to get back to us on some final details right now. Regardless, we are holding a social event there right after the Day of DotNetNuke® door prizes are given out, and the venue is cleaned up. We will be having food, drinks, and good times!

Hotel Discount and Room Grouping is Pending

At the recommendation of one of our attendees, I am working out a deal with the hotel that already appears to be the most popular one for those that are traveling long distances to attend, Embassy Suites. I am trying to get a block of rooms set aside for the Day of DotNetNuke® attendees to all be grouped together, and also a discount. I will only be announcing the discount through our newsletter, and you can only get the newsletter by registering to attend the Day of DotNetNuke®. FYI – Embassy Suites is the same place that the Engage Workshop will be held. [Register to Attend the Day of DotNetNuke®]

Engage Training Workshop

Engage Software has planned a training workshop. This is similar to the workshop they held at OpenForce 08. Normally, their workshops are more expensive, but right now you can register to attend the two-day DNN workshop for $329.00. Don’t waste any time though! That price is only for early birds. That price goes up to $399.00 after May 23rd. The folks at Engage really know their stuff, so don’t miss out. If you have been looking for a way to talk your boss into sending to this trip, and paying for it, this is your excuse!

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke,DNN,DNN Blogs,Events,Community,Day of DotNetNuke

Day of DotNetNuke Speakers: One Day Left!

Tue, 12 May 2009 11:48:00 GMT

We have had many great submissions to the Day of DotNetNuke® speaker pool. Many of those submissions are from some fantastic speakers! However, we are also looking for the lesser known and local speakers. Many of the topics submitted so far are very great, but we are also looking for some more general topics, such as using the DNN Core Modules.

We would love to see new faces and community members taking the plunge and speaking for the first time. Believe me, no one will make fun of you. Community events are perfect for first time speakers, because your session attendees are normally more than willing to help you out when things go wrong. It happens all of the time…

Who can be a speaker?

Local community members
First-time speakers
Local user group members
Professional & veteran speakers
ANYONE!

Basically, we want anyone that has something interesting to talk about. Our only restriction is that your demos must use the DotNetNuke® version 5 series.

Why be a Speaker?

Promote yourself
Promote your company
Show off your cool new ideas and code
Release a cool new module or skin
Get public or technical speaking practice
Conquer your fear of public speaking
Rub elbows with Joe Brinkman, our Keynote Speaker
Give back to the community that gives to you

Anyone can be a speaker for any number of reasons. Maybe you just want to try out speaking for the first time, to see if it is something that you are interested in. That’s what these types of events are for.

What do Speakers get?

As with anything else, you get out of this what you put into it. But we try to help speakers by offering the following incentives:

A super cool new polo shirt that no one else will have
A fun and FREE Pre-Party for Sponsors, Speakers, and Volunteers only
A chance for you to try out a new session
Opportunities to reach out to your fellow community members
Unlimited plugs for you and your blog
Unlimited pats on the back, and “atta boys”
A fun-filled day or day(s) in beautiful Tampa, Florida
Great excuse to take a vacation with the Misses or Mister
Get a tan the day after (only if you’re not going to the Engage Workshop)
Practice your OpenForce 09 session, and get the kinks out of it

That’s about it. We look forward to your sessions. Whether we are meeting you for the first time, or you’re dropping by again for another visit, we cannot want to see you!

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke,DNN,DNN Blogs,Day of DotNetNuke,Speakers,Events,Community

It’s Vegas Baby!

Fri, 08 May 2009 11:57:54 GMT

Once again the DotNetNuke community will be heading off to Las Vegas in November for the annual DotNetNuke OpenForce North America conference. We are looking for a handful of people who want free hotel accommodations and conference admission. All you have to do is get selected to be a speaker. You know you have a lot of great insight and knowledge of DotNetNuke and would love to share it with the DotNetNuke community. Well today is your last chance to turn in your speaker submissions for the North American conference. Just go to the OpenForce homepage at http://www.openforce09.com and follow the directions but you better hurry before time runs out.

Coming to Florida for Day of DotNetNuke? Stay for the Workshops!

Tue, 05 May 2009 03:57:00 GMT

I believe many DotNetNuke® fans out there are aware of the one-day event in Tampa, FL called Day of DotNetNuke®. Orlando DotNetNuke User Group founder, Will Strohl, organizes this event and it seems to be a promising turnout.

I am just excited to see another major DotNetNuke® event happen in addition to OpenForce in the U.S. Day of DotNetNuke is organized to provide free education to all who are interested in learning about the platform. I see this event as an opportunity to evangelize DotNetNuke® project to many who are new to it.

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Day of DotNetNuke 2009 Call for Speakers Has Begun

Sat, 02 May 2009 15:10:00 GMT

I am so excited to write this blog entry. Especially since I have been fielding requests almost daily from potential DotNetNuke speakers from all over. We having finally opened the call for speakers for the Day of DotNetNuke! Unfortunately, we need to get things done very quickly, so we need speakers to submit their session abstracts fast – and we will in turn need to make our selections and draft the agenda even faster.

The rules for being chosen as a speaker for the 2009 Day of DotNetNuke are simple:

Make sure your session is about or uses DNN version 5
Do not present an advertisement session (no live infomercials)
Make your session abstract as complete and descriptive as possible
Call for speakers closes on May 13th
Speakers should be chosen and notified on May 15th

Follow those rules, and read some of the suggested sessions listed on the Day of DotNetNuke website.

This event is quickly proving to be the must-attend DNN event of year so far. It is free, and has already had a huge positive response in the DNN community, the DNN ecosystem, and from others outside of the DNN circles. That alone has been incredible!

If you have never spoken in front of a crowd, this event might be the perfect platform for you to start. Also, if you plan to speak at the upcoming OpenForce 09, this might be a great place and time to work out the kinks in your presentation.

So, how do you get started? Just visit the Speakers page on the Day of DotNetNuke website – and submit your session to us.

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke,DNN,DNN Blogs,Day of DotNetNuke,Events,Community,Speakers

OpenForce 09 Call for Speakers, Sessions Submitted…

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:17:00 GMT

Today Joe Brinkman announced the official OpenForce ‘09 Call for Speakers.

Apart from being excited about the event and what it has in store, I particularly liked the way the topics were split into 4 simple and concise categories:

Development
Design
Administration
Open Source

If you are an avid DotNetNuke user, then I am sure that you are asking yourself: how do I join in the fun? Well, Joe put it best by answering that question with the following quote:

“Are you a DotNetNuke expert? Do you like to share your DotNetNuke knowledge with the community? Do you enjoy speaking in front of large crowds? You are exactly the person we are looking for.”

Obviously, those who know me, know that I fit that bill, and therefore I proceeded to submit two abstract (at least so far) in the “Development”, and “Administration” categories, and they are as follows:

DotNetNuke as a Blogging Platform - Part 1: Setup and Administration (Category: Administration)

DotNetNuke is a highly extensible and configurable content management platform and it includes several free core modules that provide powerful out-of-the-box functionality, one of which is the DotNetNuke Blog module.

The DotNetNuke Blog module includes several modules that together provide a rich user experience and provides functionality that empowers you to harness DotNetNuke for more than just a website management but to engage your users and members with up-to-date information about your business, your cause and your message.

In this session Antonio Chagoury will provide a detailed walk-through of the core Blog module, setup best practices, and demonstrate its full capabilities. So if you are thinking of using WordPress or any other external blogging platform for your blogging needs then hold that thought for a little longer; If you are already on another platform Antonio may persuade you to switch by showing you how to consolidate your operations into one single system, DNN.

DotNetNuke as a Blogging Platform - Part 2: Extending It! (Category: Development)

You've probably setup the DotNetNuke Blog module and you are on your way to becoming the next great blogger, but you are now running into feature limitations and would like to simply DO MORE! You may want to integrate and syndicate your content with other third party services or you might simply want to add more pizzaz and dazzle to your blog, but your thinking: "where do I begin?"...

If you are either a blogger, a DotNetNuke Blog user, or you are simply interested in learning more about developing feature-rich DotNetNuke modules then session is for you! In this session Antonio will demonstrate some valuable module development tips, tricks and information by extending one of DotNetNuke's largest and most complex modules. After this session we are confident that you will adopt what we demonstrate in your module development practice.

I would appreciate your feedback on the choice of my topics and I am, as usual, open to all suggestions… please do keep them coming!

Finally, as some of you may know, I co-founded and I organize the Capital DotNetNuke User Group (CDUG). CDUG is a forum for members of the DotNetNuke community in the D.C. metro area to discuss and share ideas, challenges and solutions about their DotNetNuke experience.
I am still tinkering with the thought of submitting an abstract in the “Open Source” category that would provide attendees a “How-To Guide to Starting a User Group” in their local communities. There is a lot to talk about on that topic and a lot of knowledge to share that would certainly provide helpful information and insight that interested users will find extremely valuable. I am certain that life would have been much easier had I known then what I know now; I would like to share that knowledge. Once again, let me know what you think!

I look forward to sharing my thoughts and knowledge at Open Force 09, should I be privileged to do so.

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke,DNN Blog,DNN,OpenForce,Events

Calling all Speakers – DotNetNuke OpenForce Wants You!

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:58:14 GMT

We are once again in the heart of the planning season for DotNetNuke OpenForce. It is that time of year when we ask all of you to submit your session abstracts for this years OpenForce North America conference. I know that the last 2 years, we have had great response from our community and I expect that this year will be no different.

Like the last two years, we are accepting session submissions in 4 different topic areas: Development, Design, Administration and Open Source.

Development – These are basically session dealing with code. Whether it is topic on module development or building custom providers or dissecting the internals of DotNetNuke, anything that would appeal to the software coders is fair game.

Design – This topic area is targeted at the web designers. This goes beyond just talking about skins. It also includes topics like SEO, and accessibility and can even include Localization. These sessions should focus more on the aesthetic and usability aspects of building a DotNetNuke website.

Administration – This topic area is where speakers present sessions that address the needs of the end user. How do they install DotNetNuke, how do they configure it for a Web Farm or to run in the cloud(this is different that writing a module that uses cloud services), how can they improve site performance. These sessions really focus on the day to day use and administration of running a DotNetNuke website. This topic area is also a catchall for any business related topics.

Open Source – This final topic area is designed to show attendees how they can incorporate other Open Source tools into their development, design and administration tasks. It might be a topic on using XUnit for testing or using GIMP and Paint.Net for creating your skin elements. The idea here is to expand the attendees view of the Open Source community and to bring in fresh and complimentary ideas from other Open Source projects. These sessions should still be relevant to DotNetNuke in a very meaningful way. A topic showing all the wonders of using Wordpress for blogging is not appropriate.

Frequently Asked Questions.

Q. What are good topics?

A. This is a hard question to answer since we often don’t have a standard list of topics we want to see. Each year when we sit down to evaluate submissions we try to strike a balance. We want to have a few beginner topics like basic skinning and basic module development, some intermediate level topics like adding jQuery to your module or developing XHTML compliant skins. Finally we’ll look for advanced topics like a deep dive on the DotNetNuke installer or using the 960 Grid System for skin development. In addition to balancing the level, we’ll also try to make sure we have good coverage across different technology and web design trends. These are much more subjective since there are so many great complimentary technologies. In the past we have had sessions covering topics like Security, Silverlight, Unit Testing, Accessibility, Menu controls, AJAX, PowerShell, High Availability and scalability, Localization and Globalization, Continuous Integration, Subsonic, Web standards, LINQ to SQL and SEO. The key is that we look around at what is happening in the web development space and try to pick sessions that we think are current and relevant. Attendees are just like the rest of us – they see some new technology or new trends like Entity Framework, Cloud Services (Azure, Mosso, EC2), CSS Layouts (YUI, 960, etc), jQuery, Mega-Menus and many more, and the attendees want to find out how they can incorporate these technologies into their own sites running on DotNetNuke.

Q. Who Should Submit?

A. Are you a DotNetNuke expert? Do you like to share your DotNetNuke knowledge with the community? Do you enjoy speaking in front of large crowds? You are exactly the person we are looking for.

Every conference relies on the quality of its speakers and as proven last year, the DotNetNuke community has a lot of great speakers. While we anticipate that some core team members will want to speak, we are also interested in having speakers from the broader DotNetNuke community as well. So please don't hesitate to offer your speaking services. Even if you didn't get selected to speak last year, please submit sessions. We hope to rotate in some fresh faces and give a few more speakers the opportunity to present.

Q. How do I Submit my Sessions?

A. This call for speakers is specifically targeted at OpenForce North America. We will have a separate call for speakers for OpenForce Europe.

To submit your sessions, Login to the OpenForce09 site and then go to the Call For Speakers page.

Q. What do I get if I am selected to speak?

A. Every speaker at the DotNetNuke OpenForce North America conference will receive 4 nights of lodging at the Mandalay Bay Casino and Hotel along with free conference registration. Conference registration will allow every attendee full access to the expo hall, and all sessions at the DevConnections and DotNetNuke OpenForce conferences. (Pre and Post conference training days are not covered in the complimentary registration).

Q. When and where is the Conference?

A. This years conference is being held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino from November 10th through the 12th. There will also be pre-conference and post-conference workshops available.

Additional conference details will be posted on the OpenForce 09 website as they become available.

OpenForce 09 Call For Speakers Announced

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:39:00 GMT

Last night, the call for speakers for the annual DotNetNuke OpenForce conference begun. Right now, the DotNetNuke Corporation is focusing on OpenForce North America, to be held in conjunction with DevConnections in Las Vegas. Joe Brinkman announced the call for speakers via twitter. Having gotten to know many of the more visible and prominent members of the DNN community over the last year, including Core Team members, I really wish I had submitted a session last year. I think I will make a few submissions this year. Why might one want to do that?…

Submitting a session that gets chosen has its perks. You get a free registration into not only the OpenForce conference, but also DevConnections. You also get 4 nights paid stay at the Mandalay Bay Casino and Hotel, where the who’s who will be staying as well. The Mandalay Bay is a 4-star hotel.

If you are a speaker-type, and have given at least one technical presentation in the past, I suggest that you submit a session. Speaking has it’s own rewards, even without the perks that I just mentioned.

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke,DNN,DNN Blogs,OpenForce

OpenForce 2009 Call for Speakers Announced

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:37:00 GMT

Joe Brinkman announced earlier today via Twitter that the Call for Speakers has officially opened for OpenForce 2009! After a great conference last year I am really looking forward to seeing what gets put together for this years event which is scheduled for November 10-12th in Las Vegas.

I encourage anyone that has an idea to submit their topics! I have already submitted 5 session topics in hopes of landing a speaking slot again this year, after presenting in 2007! For those interested, below are the titles of sessions that I have submitted.

Advanced DotNetNuke Module Development Techniques
Creating DotNetNuke Authentication Providers
Charting and DotNetNuke the Easy Way
CodeSmith and DotNetNuke - Improving Developer Efficiency
Getting the Best Performance Out of DotNetNuke
Working with DotNetNuke Users - De-mystifying the API

If you have a session idea that you would like to see me present on as well, please feel free to drop me an e-mail or make a comment here and I can see if it is something I can submit as an idea!

Huge DotNetNuke Event being planned in Florida in June

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 23:55:06 GMT

Last June, there was a big event at the Orlando Convention Center called DotNetNuke OpenForce. This June there is going to be a bigger DotNetNuke event called Day of DotNetNuke which will be held in Tampa, FL on Saturday June 13th. All the authors that wrote the book Professional DotNetNuke 5 will be speaking along with many other DotNetNuke pro's. There are two tracks being planned for the day.

The Orlando DotNetNuke User Group is in charge of the event with help from Microsoft Evangelist Joe Healy. Will Strohl, ODUG President, is looking for volunteers to help with the event on the Day of DotNetNuke web site. Will does a great job leading ODUG and is a great guy to know.

There is much to learn about DotNetNuke version 5 and now is the time to start making your plans to visit beautiful Tampa Bay in June and attend this event.

Hope to see you there!

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke,Day of DotNetNuke,Tampa FL

The Day of DotNetNuke is Coming…

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:28:00 GMT

Last year, we had a DotNetNuke event in Orlando called OpenForce Connect – Orlando. It was an excellent event. This year, we are holding the first of many annual events called the Day of DotNetNuke. Planning just began last week. The Day of DotNetNuke will be held in Tampa, Florida on June 13th. Last time, we had the luxury of the DNN Corp behind us. This year, the event is being put together by the Orlando DotNetNuke Users Group (ODUG).

There is not a whole lot of information that I can divulge yet. In fact, the website is not yet complete. Our skin should be applied on April 17th. Sponsorship information will also be available before that date. I have a draft worked up, but I have to wait for some final details to be worked out before I begin pestering people to sponsor. :)

That being said, I have a question for all of you. What DNN topics are you looking for at code camps and DNN events? What is there about DNN that really mystifies you? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke,DNN,DNN Blog,Events,Day of DotNetNuke,Community

Space Coast SQL User Group Meeting Recap

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 05:21:00 GMT

On Thursday, March 12, 2009, I presented a session to the Space Coast SQL User Group in Melbourne, Florida. The topic was Managing DotNetNuke Using SQL Server. This was my first time presenting to a user group other than the Orlando DotNetNuke Users Group, but I hope to do this some more in the future. I have presented at several code camps, and the OpenForce Connect event in Orlando last year, but I really enjoyed the coziness there is to be had in presenting to a user group.

Speaking Engagements

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:04:00 GMT

As we get moving into 2009, one of my personal goals this year was to get out and do more presentations to User Groups and at conferences. Well thus far I have two confirmed speaking engagements for the first half of 2009. Below is the information on the two items.

Friday April 17th, 2009 - Bartlesville, OK .NET User Group

I will be presenting at the Bartlesville user group on Friday April 17th, this session will be focused on the use of the Microsoft Charting Components. Many people know that the components exist, but many are unsure of exactly how they are used within an application, especially when working in windows or web environments. In this session I will provide a number of code samples and demonstrations of the control in use.

Bartlesville .NET User Group Website

Tuesday May 7th, 2009 - Orlando DotNetNuke User Group

In this presentation I will be introducing Advanced DotNetNuke module development techniques, with a focus on tips/tricks for DotNetNuke 5. I will cover items such as methods of avoiding Module Isolation and dealing with packaging, deployment and management of large scale DotNetNuke solutions.

Full Information on the Orlando DotNetNuke Users Group Website.

Future Engagements?

Right now I don't have any more items scheduled. If you are a user group leader and would like me to present to your group, drop me an e-mail msellers@iowacomputergurus.com and we can discuss options.

Also, as the year progresses I will be submitting my regular collection of topic suggestions to both OpenForce/DevConnections as well as the SDC conference.

Presenting at the Orlando DotNetNuke User Group Meeting 3/5

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:37:00 GMT

I'll be heading to Orlando next week to present at the DNN User Group meeting on 3/5. If you're in the area be sure to come to the meeting, I'll have some Engage: Hunting shirts to give away (the same bright orange that were a hit in Las Vegas at Open Force!).

Check out the full blog post for all of the meeting information.

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