Mandeeps Blog

DNN 9.9.0 Compatibility With Our Products

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 06:13:00 GMT

DNN 9.9.0 includes the new MailKit provider for better support for Office 365.

Mandeeps Common Library has been leveraging MailKit provider for a while now and hence there is a version conflict if you upgrade to DNN 9.9.0

Recommendation

Be sure to upgrade to latest version of Mandeeps Common Library (v4.0.6 as of this post) prior to upgrading to DNN 9.9.0

If you do not upgrade to the latest Mandeeps Common Library and attempt an upgrade to DNN 9.9.0 then it's likely that your site will throw an error indicating a version mismatch of MailKit and MimeType assemblies. You can quickly resolve this error by simply copying both MailKit.dll and MimeKit.dll from Mandeeps Common Library Install Package to your sites' /bin folder.

DNN 9.6.0 Compatibility with Our Products

Thu, 07 May 2020 11:50:00 GMT

DNN 9.6.0 was released on April 28th, 2020 and includes several enhancements, bug fixes, and security fixes. There are 7 security bulletins that are addressed by DNN 9.6.0 so we strongly recommend to upgrade.

Unfortunately, DNN 9.6.0 also includes breaking changes that affect all our products. Good news is that we just released a new version of Mandeeps Common Library to address this.

Install Latest Mandeeps Common Library
Simply upgrade to the latest v3.5.0 of Mandeeps Common Library for DNN 9.6+ compatibility across all our products apart from Live Campaign and Live Visualizer.

Install Latest Live Visualizer
Simply upgrade to the latest v1.3.0 of Live Visualizer for DNN 9.6+ compatibility.

Other Modules: Compatibility with DNN 9.6.0

Live Articles
Live Blog
Live StoreFront
Live Utilities
Live Content
Live Exchange
Live Forums
Live Knowledgebase

These modules are NOT COMPATIBLE with DNN 9.6.0 due to breaking changes in jQuery 3.5.0 that is part of DNN 9.6.0. This is a known issue and will be resolved in DNN 9.6.1 which ~~will be released shortly~~ has been released.

Currently, there are 2 options:
- ~~Wait to~~ upgrade to DNN 9.6.1 and skip DNN 9.6.0 altogether.
- If you must upgrade or have already upgraded to DNN 9.6.0 then upgrade your jQuery to 3.5.1. Refer to this blog post for details.

Feel free to reach out to our support team if you have any questions or concerns.

DNN 9.4.2 Breaking Change

Thu, 14 Nov 2019 13:32:00 GMT

Hold off on upgrading to DNN 9.4.2 due to a breaking change that affects many of our modules.

What Happened?

DNN 9.4.2 was released on Nov 12th, 2019. One of the method signature in this release was changed resulting in a breaking change for many of our modules and potentially many others.

The issue is reported at https://github.com/dnnsoftware/Dnn.Platform/issues/3289

What's Next?

Wait and upgrade to DNN 9.4.3 when it's available. At this time, we recommend skipping DNN 9.4.2.

Preview Live Visualizer TADUG

Mon, 29 Apr 2019 09:30:00 GMT

Join us at Toronto Area DNN User Group for a preview of Live Visualizer - Structured Content Solution for DNN & Evoq Sites

Live Visualizer works in tandem with the already popular Live Forms module and is designed for end user; no developer skills required, not even a single line of code or technical jargon. Write content once and use it anywhere with emphasis on data security, re-usability, and ease of use. This is a structured content solution that is feature rich and users will love!

Join us on meetup

Preview Live Visualizer

Mon, 18 Mar 2019 09:57:00 GMT

Founder and Owner of Mandeeps.com, Mandeep Singh, along with Technical Lead, Manish Kumar and VP of Mandeeps.com, Gagandeep Singh, will provide a preview of the soon-to-be-released module their team has been working on - Live Visualizer.

Join us on meetup. More information is available at Southern Fried DNN User Group Blog

Monthly Digest - January 2019

Mon, 18 Feb 2019 06:42:09 GMT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editor's Note
DNN Summit
Minor Releases

EDITOR'S NOTE

It's been a while since our last newsletter but I'm excited to share what we've accomplished and what's coming up.

Live Forms 5 was recently released with amazing new user interface. One of the leading form builders of DNN Platform just got better with multiple column layouts, workflow & moderation, and new HTML Editor and Assets field. It's paving the way for our upcoming Live Visualizer: Structured Content and App Builder for DNN Platform that is powered by Live Forms and its numerous extensions and robust functionality. We have several clients BETA testing Live Visualizer and we're anticipating a release next month.

Our Live StoreFront release candidate was also released 2 weeks ago and we're now getting ready for the official release. It's been a long development journey but we're excited to present to you a fully featured eCommerce solution that's build from grounds up, specifically for DNN & Evoq platforms.

As always, we've had numerous minor releases with enhancements and bug fixes. Live Helpdeskhas a new email channel log feature along with ability to pass in custom fields from Live Forms extension. Our HTML Editor continues to evolve and an adminstrator can now modify the default profiles that are applied to new modules.

I'm also looking forward to see many of you at DNN Summit this week. Be sure to tag me down for a conversation if you're attending the annual DNN conference in Denver, Colorado.

DNN SUMMIT

Ever wondered what's it like to be a vendor in DNN ecosystem? If so, be sure to check out the session at DNN Summit this week. I'm looking forward to meet everyone in Denver, Colorado. Be sure to tag me down for a converstation. I would love to talk to you.

MINOR RELEASES

Preview Live StoreFront

Mon, 15 Oct 2018 09:50:00 GMT

In this meetup, Mandeep Singh will present their new eCommerce solution for DNN. This product has been in the making for like three years now, so we just know it is going to be worth the wait!

Join us on meetup. More information is available at Southern Fried DNN User Group Blog

Monthly Digest - September 2018

Wed, 03 Oct 2018 07:57:19 GMT

Editor's Note
Live StoreFront Beta 1
Major Releases
Minor Releases
Promotions

EDITOR's NOTE

I'm back with another monthly digest.

I'm happy to announce that Live StoreFront BETA Download is now available for those that would like to help us test our eCommerce Solution. This is a great opportunity to request any features and provide your valuable feedback. We also welcome your feedback on a limited preview of our Live StoreFront limited demo site.

Live Articles 3 is now available and joins rest of our software suite by providing Modern Web Patterns, Unified User Interface, and Mandeeps HTML Editor.

Speaking of the HTML Editor, I'm happy to announce that the most requested feature for our Editor is now available: Apply Custom Editor Options to Multiple Modules. Also introduced the full page mode for modules such as Live Campaign to draft your email templates.

Almost, a dozen other products were also updated with minor bug fixes and enhancements.

LIVE STOREFRONT BETA 1

Live StoreFront BETA 1 is available for immediate download and will expire on October 15th, 2018. Provide us with your valuable feedback by installing it on your test site. Do not install this BETA download on your live or production site. We don't gurantee any upgrade path from BETA to the official version. A walkthrough video and limited documentation is available for beta testers.

MAJOR RELEASES

Live Articles 3

MINOR RELEASES

Authorize.Net Extension V1.1.3
Live Accordion V6.0.6
Live Blog V4.0.8
Live Campaign V4.0.4
Live Content v7.0.4
Live Helpdesk V2.0.1
Live Tabs V6.0.3
Live Utilities V2.0.2
Workflow Library v2.0.4
Mandeeps Common Library v3.0.8

PROMOTIONS

25% OFF on Any Edition: Live Articles 3

Must purchase from Our Store

Use Promo Code: SEPTPRO
Expires on October 5th, 2018

Monthly Digest - July 2018

Fri, 03 Aug 2018 03:06:39 GMT

Editor's Note
Live StoreFront Preview
New Releases
Major Releases
Minor Releases
Promotions

EDITOR's NOTE

I'm back with another digest and lots of interesting news.

I'm very excited to announce our new eCommerce solution, Live StoreFront is now available for preview in a limited demo. We've also launched a Beta Program for those that would like to assist in testing and reviewing the pre-released version.

Our new Data Analytics & Business Intelligence module, Power BI Embedded allows you to embed your dashboards, visuals, reports, and tiles in your DNN Site. It's included with our DNN Essentials Ultimate collection and can be purchased individually.

We've also released 2 new extensions for Live Forms. Shopify Multipass offers a Single Sign On (SSO) between your DNN and Shopify site. Any user that login or register on your DNN Site will be automatically logged in on your Shopify site. Zoho Helpdesk makes it super easy to capture user information from Live Forms and create a ticket on your Zoho Helpdesk. Both of these extensions are included with our DNN Essentials Premium collection and can be purchased individually.

Live Campaign 4 and Live Content 7 are now available with Modern Web Patterns, Unified User Interface, and Mandeeps HTML Editor. Live Dashboard 2 and Cloud Storage 2 were also released for DNN 9.2 compatibility. Over half a dozen other modules were released with bug fixes and enhancements as well.

We're getting close to releasing our Live StoreFront ecommerce solution and the excitement is building. Be sure to join the Beta Program if you would like to download, test, review, and provide feedback on our upcoming eCommerce solution.

LIVE STOREFRONT PREVIEW

We're busy publishing the documentation for our Live StoreFront module and will open our Beta Program as soon as its available. Be sure to sign up if you would like to be notified when a beta download is available.

In the meantime, feel free to preview our Live StoreFront limited demo site.

New RELEASES

MAJOR RELEASES

The following major releases now feature our new HTML Editor, modern web patterns and unified UI for a seamless user experience.

MINOR RELEASES / DNN 9.2 READY

PROMOTIONS

25% OFF on Any Edition: Power BI Embedded, Shopify Multipass Extension, Zoho Helpdesk Extension, Live Campaign 4, Live Content 7, Live Dashboard 2, Cloud Storage 2.

Must purchase from Our Store

Use Promo Code: AUGPRO
Expires on August 11th, 2018

Monthly Digest - April 2018

Wed, 25 Apr 2018 03:06:39 GMT

Editor's Note
Major Releases
Minor Releases
DNN 9.2 Ready
TLS 1.2 Ready
Promotions

EDITOR's NOTE

A lot has happened since our last monthly digest. Live Blog 4 is now available with Modern Web Patterns, Unified User Interface, Mandeeps HTML Editor, New Modern Theme, Open Graph Tags, Structured Data, and support for carousel effect with multiple photos for each blog post. It integrates seamlessly with Live Campaign and Live Social so it's extremely easy and automatic to send a bulk email campaign or post across multiple social networks such as Facebook & Twitter.

Many services and hosting providers dropped support for previous versions of TLS and begin enforcing TLS 1.2. In response, we've released new version of many modules including Live Forms and its extensions for TLS 1.2 Compatibility. I'm also excited to announce SecurePay; our new Live Forms payment extension for our Australian users.

Over 500+ deprecated API's were removed in DNN 9.2 release causing breaking changes across the entire ecosystem. We're happy to announce that most of our modules are now DNN 9.2 Ready; others are pending modern web patterns and unified UI development.

Active Forums is one of the many modules that suffered the DNN 9.2 API removal. Several clients requested the ability to migrate from Active Forums to Live Forums. I'm happy to announce that you can now migrate from YAF or Active Forums to Live Forums. Similarly, you may migrate from YAF or DNN QA to Live Exchange.

Our HTML Editor has a new feature that allows admin to specify the root folder for browse and upload for both image and link plugins. New Live Exchange theme is now available for Porto & Tahoe. Similarly, a specific Live Forums theme is now available for Porto & Tahoe. Other minor releases include Live HTML, Live Slider, and Live Tooltip.

We had our hands full this past month. I promise that next month we'll be back with preview of our eCommerce solution: Live StoreFront

MAJOR RELEASES

Live Blog 4
SecurePay Extension

MINOR RELEASES / DNN 9.2 READY

TLS 1.2 READY

PROMOTIONS

25% OFF on Live Blog 4 or SecurePay extension. Any Edition.
Must purchase from Our Store

Use Coupon Code: APRPRO
Expires on April 30th, 2018

A/B Testing on DNN Platform & Evoq Sites

Mon, 23 Apr 2018 23:28:00 GMT

A quick search on Google for A/B Testing results in plethora of information. So I'll keep this post brief by not reiterating what A/B Testing is, why should you use it, or how does it actually work.

Live HTML makes it extremely easy to run experiments with A/B Testing. In a nutshell, A/B Testing comprises of:

Creating Variation
Also known as Test content that is measured against a Default or Control content. It's extremely easy to provide an alternative or Test content in Live HTML.

Track Conversions & Collect Data
Live HTML makes it super easy to mark your links as conversions. It automatically calculates the number of impressions vs. clicks and its smart enough to figure out if the user actually viewed the content (or if the user merely visited above the folder and your content was buried at the bottom of the page)

Analysis & Results
Live HTML will automatically perform statistical hypothesis on collected data and show concise results such as whether your new variation is performing better, worst, or if there is not enough data for a conclusion.

Take a look at the video below to see how to perform A/B Testing on DNN Platform or Evoq Sites.

Porto 4 - ADA Compliance - Section 508 & WCAG 2.0 AA

Thu, 18 Jan 2018 01:54:16 GMT

We’re happy to announce that our latest iteration of our best-selling Porto Theme is now fully accessible and meets ADA compliance. Specifically, we’ve updated the theme to be Section 508 & WCAG 2.0 Level AA compliant.

How is the theme tested for compliance?
We used the WAVE Web Accessibility Tool to ensure there are 0 Errors for Section 508 & WCAG 2.0 Level AA

What components are compliant?

Everything included within Porto Theme that is accessible by end users is compliant including core theme components such as Skin Objects, demo pages in Portal Templates, and the included Live Slider module.

What is not compliant?

The included Style Switcher component with Porto Theme is not complaint. This tool is reserved for Superuser / Host access only and is never shown to the end user. Also, any bundled modules that are purchased as part of our DNN Essentials Collection are not yet tested for ADA compliance. It’s our goal to update all our products to be ADA compliant in near future.

Have Questions?
Contact Us and we’ll be happy to address your concerns. Thanks

Page Speed & Performance in Porto 3

Wed, 21 Sep 2016 09:40:00 GMT

View Minimal Page

Porto 3 introduces a new Shortcodes Packager that allows complete control over number of external libraries. A minimal version is under 300 KBytes1

YSlow Analysis

1 Must enable Client Resource Management & GZIP Compression

Porto 2 Sets a New Benchmark for Performance

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 06:59:00 GMT

We’ve just released a new version of our bestselling DNN Theme – Porto 2.

It has many new features, but in this post I’ll focus on just one: Speed & Performance. That’s right! Performance is a feature. Page speed is a significant factor in SERPs (Search Engine Result Page) rankings and bounce rate. It’s even more important now with responsive designs and mobile rankings. There are many articles on web on why fast page speed is better. So for rest of this post, let’s look at what is considered fast within DNN ecosystem.

Our goal was simple. Make Porto as fast as possible within technical limitations of DNN framework. We settled on Google PageSpeed Insights as our measuring tool. For comparison, we looked at http://www.dnnsoftware.com itself along with top selling DNN Themes. We used the following best DNN Themes as our benchmark to set a new standard of performance.

5 DNN Theme vendors were selected from Top Vendors on 9/18/2015

2 themes were selected for each vendor based on Best Selling Revenue – Last 2 Weeks (as of 9/18/2015)

dnngo.net

EasyDNNSolutions.com

bestdnnskins.com

DNNSmart.net

DNNVista

Results are ranked based on Desktop Speed. Click on the Vendor name to view its profile and Theme name to view the analyzed page. Scores can change based on server load and content changes. Individual scores and results are linked with snapshots at time of analysis (9/18/2015) Use the Test Now links to see the current analysis.

Rank	Vendor	Theme	Desktop Speed	Mobile Friendly	Mobile Speed	Mobile User Experience	Test Now
1	Mandeeps.com	Porto 2	87	Yes	67	100	Speed / Mobile
2	DNNSoftware.com	Custom Theme	78	Yes	57	98	Speed / Mobile
3	dnngo.net	Theme 049	77	Yes	52	100	Speed / Mobile
4	dnngo.net	Theme 050	61	Yes	41	99	Speed / Mobile
5	bestdnnskins.com	Best Theme	57	Yes	46	99	Speed / Mobile
6	EasyDNNsolutions.com	Ozone Theme	54	Yes	43	99	Speed / Mobile
7	DNNSmart.net	WZ0001	52	Yes	44	98	Speed / Mobile
8	bestdnnskins.com	Multifunction V2	48	Yes	39	100	Speed / Mobile
9	EasyDNNsolutions.com	Galore Theme	54	Yes	42	100	Speed / Mobile
10	DNNVista	Creative Theme	41	Yes	37	99	Speed / Mobile
11	DNNSmart.net	WJ0046	42	Yes	11	99	Speed / Mobile
12	DNNVista	Legacy Theme	33	Yes	26	99	Speed / Mobile

It was no surprise that the DNN Theme in use on DNNSoftware.com was the best performing theme; hence it became our benchmark.

We’re happy to announce that Porto 2 sets a new benchmark for performance within DNN ecosystem.

Disclaimer: Porto 2 was tested with Client Resource Management feature enabled. No other changes or modifications were made to DNN Core or other files.

Updated DNN Blog Template For DIXIT Skin

Thu, 25 Sep 2014 15:48:42 GMT

Luis Cabrera released an improved version of the DIXIT custom template for the Official DNN Blog Module.

3 Features Every DNN Module Must Have

Mon, 28 Apr 2014 18:45:46 GMT

DNN has always had myriad of extensions to meet almost any business requirements. So many that it’s always a challenge to decide on one module from many competing products.

Consider the following checklist before clicking on “Checkout” for your next DNN Module(s):

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

Your site is your store front and it’s imperative that it’s always accessible. DNN Modules that overlook SEO considerations have the potential to not only decrease your SERPs ranking but to remove them altogether from search results .

DUPLICATE CONTENT: Make sure that the module does not duplicate content. For example, if the module uses query parameters such as www.yoursite.com?ItemId=12or www.yoursite.com?article=dnn-module-features then every unique URL should have a distinct Page Title, Meta Description & Keywords.

FRIENDLY URLs: The single most effective SEO consideration is to ensure that the module integrates with your Friendly URL provider and creates friendly URLs. This is no longer a concern with introduction of improved URLs beginning with DNN 7.1.

AJAX: Make sure AJAX is limited to back end interaction and not used as a primarily driver of content. Automatic content fetch on page scroll is great but if not implemented correctly would result in content that’s not indexed by search engines. If the module uses AJAX extensively then ensure that the URL Hash (such as www.yoursite.com#section-1) is changed with every change in content presentation and Hash URLs exist in static/root document to be indexed by search engines.

PERFORMANCE

The average web users’ attention span is under 7 seconds so it’s crucial that the DNN Module is performance optimized and renders as quickly as possible.

CACHING: Every DNN Module should implement caching to replace frequent round trips back to the database and / or file system.

CLIENT RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: Introduced in DNN 6.1, CRM framework allows the site to load much quicker by combing all JavaScript & CSS resources into composite files reducing the number of HTTP requests required to render a page. Ensure that the DNN Module implements the Client Resource Management framework.

JQUERY FRAMEWORK: Confirm that the module integrates with DNN API to request jQuery or jQuery UI framework rather than injecting their own scripts which results in increased page size and conflicts across other modules and components.
USER EXPERIENCE

It’s a given that the DNN Module must have the required features that meet your business requirements. It’s imperative that it also has a satisfying user experience.

INTUITIVE USER INTERFACE: Make sure the User Interface is intuitive and easy to follow. If you as the admin/integrator can’t accomplish basic tasks without looking over documentation again and again then it’s likely your clients / end users will be calling you over and over again as well.

WELL DOCUMENTED: Make sure the module includes documentation with easy to follow screenshots and/or videos.

EXCELLENT SUPPORT: Any software is as good as its support. Make sure the support is prompt and competent to address your business requirements. It’s always a good idea to start with a pre-sales question.

Responsive DNN Blog Template For DIXIT Skin

Mon, 10 Feb 2014 00:39:11 GMT

It's always great to hear that we're adding value to the DNN ecosystem with our products and services. What's even better is when community members add-on to our products and share their work with others.

Last week I recieived an email from Luis Cabrera with a link to download a responsive DNN Blog Template matching with out DIXIT Skin. Following is the email in its entirety.

Hello Mandeep,

A few months ago I purchased your Dixit skin from the Dnn Store and I am not only very happy with your product but also extremely satisfied with the customer service your company provides. I posted a few issues on your ticketing system and I always received a prompt reply and the best service.

The reason for this email is to share with you why I created the Dixit Dnn Blog Template, which is a custom template for the official Dnn Blog module.

When I decided to create my site I had a small budget and I knew I wanted to purchase your Dixit skin for sure. I also needed a good blog module and I considered several including the Ventrian News Articles module and your Live Blog. But due to budget reasons I decided to use the official Dnn Blog Module, despite of its shortcomings.

The official Dnn blog includes a template that is outdated not responsive. So I decided to create my own template based on your Dixit skin and share it as open source. By promoting the Dixit Dnn Blog Template I am also promoting your site and especially your Dixit skin and I think there will be many people like me who may benefit from it.

You can read more about it here

I hope you find this as positive as I did and I hope to hear from you.

Thank you,
Luis Cabrera

DNN Essentials is Now Azure Compatible

Sun, 30 Jun 2013 21:57:21 GMT

I'm happy to announce that our entire DNN Essentials module collection is now fully compatible with Azure. Many of our modules have long been Azure compatible but the entire collection now adheres to official DotNetNuke Azure Compatibility guide including:

Azure Database Compatibility
All modules have been updated to support the Azure Database layer. This change requires modification to existing SQL Scripts for compatibility with limited Azure SQL Database.

Azure Caching Provider
Azure uses an out-of-the-process caching provider and requires that all cached objects be binary serializable. We've updated our entire collection of modules to support Azure caching provider.

Azure Web Farm / Scaling
It's quick and easy to scale with Azure using DotNetNuke and its inherent Web Farm support. We've ensured that all of our modules are not using Session State which is not compatible within a Web Farm configuration.

Lastly, all of our modules now pass the EVS - Extension Verification System provided by DotNetNuke. This also ensures that you're not greeted with an unsupported message when installing our extensions on your Azure powered DotNetNuke site.

Mandeep Speaks at DotNetNuke Boston User Group

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 01:38:17 GMT

The DotNetNuke Boston User Group is dedicated to the design, development, and use of DotNetNuke - the leading web content management system (CMS) and application development platform for Microsoft .NET. It’s a group mix of designers, developers and end users with one thing in common – they all use DotNetNuke in one way or another, and freely share their knowledge about how to get the most out of the platform.

Mandeep Singh will be the guest speaker at the November 13th, 2012 meeting.

Find out more about the meeting and the User Group @ http://www.dnnboston.org/

This meeting is virtual via WebEx and there are very few spots left so please RSVP if you’re interested. To reserve a space at the meeting, send an RSVP with your name/email to info@dnnBoston.org. In return, you will receive a WebEx invitation that will include connection details and a toll free call-in number.

DotNetNuke Strategically Partners With Microsoft Azure

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 06:45:43 GMT

One of the highlights at DNN World 2012 is that DotNetNuke strategically partners with Microsoft Azure for next 4 years. This virtually translates in cloud driven DotNetNuke sites available at instant notice with ability to scale up as needed.

DotNetNuke has finally laid the foundation for Cloud driven DNN Sites and we will see a significant adoption for Microsoft Azure with the DNN ecosystem.

The good news is for our customers is that we’ve been actively working to support Azure for all of our DNN Modules and as a matter of fact all of our recent offerings support Microsoft Azure. Going forward, all of our modules will be Azure compatible.

DotNetNuke World 2012 - App Showcase

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 05:39:19 GMT

DotNetNuke World 2012 is next week and we're all set to meet DNN enthusiasts from all over the globe.

Are you coming to DNN World 2012?

If so, be sure to check out our App Showcase on Thursday @ 10:00 AM - 10:35 AM. We will be previewing our all new Live Tabs, Live Accordion, and few other modules. Feel free to leave a comment here if you would like to meet in person to say hello. See you at DNN World in Florida.

Getting Ready For DotNetNuke 7

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 05:32:35 GMT

DotNetNuke 7 Beta was just released and we've been working hard making sure that all of our modules are quickly updated to support it. Over the past few days, we've reported several bugs and issues to DotNetNuke and simultaneously made several changes to our own modules to support the new UI/UX patterns of DotNetNuke 7.

DotNetNuke 7 will be announced next week at DNN World 2012

As always, I (Mandeep Singh) will be attending this annual event to meet and greet DNN enthusiasts from all over the world. We have 3 new releases inline with the DotNetNuke 7: Live Tabs & Live Accordion (two of our most popular modules), and all new Live Articles. All of these new releases will be DNN 7 ready.

Over the next few weeks we will be releasing an update for all of our other modules to make them DotNetNuke 7 compatible.

Dashboard: Customer Information at Glance

Wed, 02 May 2012 22:08:53 GMT

Besides working on creating top notch DotNetNuke Modules, we’re also committed to providing a great user experience and after sales support. If you’ve logged on to our site recently then you’re probably familiar with the customer dashboard we introduced a while ago. Dashboard slides down into view when you click on your account name on top right after logging in.

Dashboard provides quick access to most important information such as your MPoints, pending reviews, open support tickets, purchased licenses, account/profile, and your affiliate referral balance.

MPoints
Dashboard shows how many MPoints you’ve accumulated so far. You earn MPoints by interacting with our site. Each MPoint is equivalent of $1 USD redeemable on our store. Find more about MPoints

Manage Reviews
Provide us with your valuable feedback on our products. We automatically reward you with MPoints for writing a review for your purchased licenses.

Support
Provides a quick access to support to view your open tickets or create a new one.

Purchases
Allows you to view your purchased licenses and their relevant details.

Account
Update your password or manage your profile

Affiliate Referrals
Shows your current referral earnings or a link to become an affiliate if you have not signed up yet.

Attend Charlotte Day of DotNetNuke

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 01:57:53 GMT

Attend Charlotte Day of DotNetNuke and enjoy a full day packed with tips and techniques from world-class speakers at this international event. While there, be sure to attend the after dark party and win some cool prizes including DNN Essentials from Mandeeps. We're sponsoring the event by contributing a standard edition of our DNN Essentials module collection.

The official site of Charlotte Day of DotNetNuke is using several modules from our DNN Essentials module collection as well. Live Blog can be found on the official Day of DotNetNuke blog page and Live Content is used throughout the site for subtle informational overlays.

So if you're heading to Charlotte, be sure to attend the raffle event and you may be the lucky winner!

Migrate From Wordpress to DotNetNuke w/Live Blog

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:57:05 GMT

This past week we had couple clients interested in migrating from WordPress to DotNetNuke. Every client had its own reasons for the switch and it varied from hacked WordPress sites' to lack of powerful DotNetNuke features. Whatever the reason might be, we have a solution with our Live Blog DotNetNuke Module.

Live Blog now supports importing from WordPress. It's a simple few clicks process in which you can export your WordPress blog into a WXR (XML) file which can then be imported into DotNetNuke Live Blog seamlessly.

All your blog posts, categories, tags, author information, and comments are imported. Live Blog also supports exporting your existing comments to Disqus if you're interested in using their comments platform.

Note: Live Blog WordPress Import Features is part of upcoming v1.5.0 of Live Blog; however, this build is available now for those that require it and it can be requested by opening a support ticket.

DotNetNuke at CMS Expo 2012

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:52:32 GMT

DotNetNuke will be showcased at CMS Expo 2012 and Shaun Walker will be giving a keynote on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012.

If you’re not familiar with CMS Expo then it’s the place to be for timely, relevant, actionable advice on the worlds’ leading Content Management Systems and the talented people behind them. The expo is packed with over 90+ sessions showcasing the following Content Management Systems:

DotNetNuke URL Parameters

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:43:26 GMT

I've been working with DotNetNuke for over 7 years now and I find that following URL manipulation tips and tricks have saved me enormous amount of time.

Changing the DotNetNuke Skin & Container
Every now and then we find ourselves in the need to change the Skin/Container on a particular page but we do not have admin access to the site. Mostly this is when we're viewing our clients' sites and we want to rule out a CSS/JS conflict between our module and DNN Skin/Container.

We can easily switch the DNN Skin by passing the ?SkinSrc=[G]Skins/_default/No+Skin parameter which is self explanatory: [G] points to the Portals/_default/ and the No+Skin is the name of the skin you want to override. Of course, the parameter should be URL Encoded.

Similarly, we can override the container by passing the ?ContainerSrc=[G]Containers/_default/No+Container

Here are few ready to use URL Parameters that have been URL Encoded:

No Skin & Container
?SkinSrc=%5bG%5dSkins%2f_default%2fNo+Skin&ContainerSrc=%5bG%5dContainers%2f_default%2fNo+Container

Default DotNetNuke Skin & Container
DNN 5:
?SkinSrc=%5bG%5dSkins%2fMinimalExtropy%2fIndex+1024&ContainerSrc=%5bG%5dContainers%2fMinimalExtropy%2fTitle_Blue

DNN 6:
?SkinSrc=%5bG%5dSkins%2fDarkKnight%2fHome-Mega-Menu&ContainerSrc=%5bG%5dContainers%2fDarkKnight%2fPageTitle_Blue

View Specific Module Only

Sometimes we're only interested in viewing a single module on the page to rule out conflicts with other modules. This can be easily achieved by appending ?mid=xxx where xxx is the Module ID of the module.

Login & Register

It's often hard to locate login links on sites that are in their native languages other than English. Besides, sometimes we find skins with no login links at all. It's easy to login to any DNN site by simply appending ?ctl=login to the URL. Similarly, we can reach the registration page by appending ?ctl=register to any DotNetNuke URL.

Show Specific DNN Module in iFrame

Using the tricks above, it becomes quite easy to show a specific DNN Module in an iFrame. We can use the ?mid=xxx parameter to target a single DNN Module and then override the Skin/Container if needed. This is great if you want to show a module from another site/page using an iFrame.

DotNetNuke World 2011 Highlights

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:15:13 GMT

DotNetNuke World 2011 by far has been the most successful conference in terms of attendance which surpassed over 400 attendees this year.

DotNetNuke continues to reshape the CMS industry by redefining it as Cloud, Mobile, and Social (C.M.S). DotNetNuke platform has been in the Cloud with Amazon EC2, Rackspace Cloud, and other private clouds but with release of DotNetNuke 6.0, it’s now officially supported on Windows Azure as well. The platform made a leap into mobile world with release of DotNetNuke 6.1 last week which now allows the platform to seamlessly handle mobile devices such as phones and tablets; which brings me to the first highlight of DotNetNuke World 2011

DRUID Project by Nik Kalyani

If you’re serious about supporting mobile platform within a DotNetNuke ecosystem then you must look at a very promising upcoming project by Nik Kalyani named DRUID. It’s an open source project and available at http://druid.codeplex.com

Here are some of the features of DRUID:

Rule Based Engine & Actions
- This could be as simple as redirecting iPhone users to a specific URL or switching to specific DNN Skin or as flexible and powerful as rendering a new completely new page bypassing DotNetNuke framework altogether using Razor Engine
DotNetNuke Module Integration through Interfaces
- Allows module developers to implement an optional interface to quickly support rendering an alternative view of their modules for mobile platform.

DRUID is fairly new but looks promising so keep a tab on CodePlex for updates.

Service Layer API Framework

Another interesting upcoming feature in DotNetNuke core is support for REST based web service layer API which would open many opportunities such as Desktop Software, Mobile Apps, and other solutions seamlessly integrating with a DotNetNuke site. At this time, there is no timeframe for when this would be available but we do know that there will be two major DotNetNuke releases in 2012 Q2 & Q4 which would be primarily focused on Social aspect of C.M.S and we may see this new service layer API surface then.

Our Modules & DotNetNuke 6 Compatibility

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:25:09 GMT

Update - September 27th 2011
All of our modules have been updated to support DotNetNuke 6.0.1. A workaround has been coded for all modules and will remain in place until DotNetNuke officially fixes the bug which as of now is stated for DotNetNuke 6.1.0 release.

It's been awhile since DotNetNuke 6 has been out and we've even had a stabilization release with DotNetNuke 6.0.1. DotNetNuke 6.x offers many improvements and new features and hence it's an obvious decision to upgrade. We anticipated that many of our customers will be taking the leap and upgrading to DNN 6.x and ensured that all of our modules were DotNetNuke 6.0.0 compatible at time of DotNetNuke 6.0.0 release.

Although DotNetNuke 6.0.0 has been the most tested DNN release ever, it had its share of bugs and issues which are addressed with DotNetNuke 6.0.1. Unfortunately, DotNetNuke 6.0.1 introduced other breaking issues that specifically affect almost all of our modules. In particular, the text editor (Rad Editor) no longer works in our modules. You may see a JavaScript error "onClientCommandExecuting is not defined" when trying to use the editor in one of our modules in DotNetNuke 6.0.1 or upcoming 6.0.2 (The issue was not present in DotNetNuke 6.0.0) This bug has been confirmed by DotNetNuke and is scheduled to be fixed in DotNetNuke 6.1.0 release.

What do we recommend?
If you're running DotNetNuke 6.0.0 then DO NOT UPGRADE to DNN 6.0.1 or upcoming DNN 6.0.2; instead wait for DotNetNuke 6.1.0

What if I'm running DNN 6.0.1 or must upgrade to DNN 6.0.1?
Open a support ticket at http://www.mandeeps.com/support.aspx so one of our support engineers can help you with a workaround until the bug is resolved by DotNetNuke.

More on the "onClientCommandExecuting is not defined" bug:

The bug has been logged in Gemini at http://support.dotnetnuke.com/issue/ViewIssue.aspx?ID=17847&PROJID=2

To summarize, the text editor (RadEditor) does not work in Rich Text Mode if the module control is set to "Support Partial Rendering" & "Support Popups" is unchecked. The bug does not affect core HTML module since it "Supports Popups"

We will update this blog post when the bug has been officially fixed.

Our Website Has New Look

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 02:19:45 GMT

Our website has a new look. We've completely redesigned our site to provide a better customer experience. With the release of DotNetNuke 6 we felt compelled to raise the bar for our own site and that's exactly what we managed through continued focus on clean design and simple navigation. Besides the look and feel, we've also added several new features to our site:

New Branding

One of the things that clearly stands out on our new site is our new logo which is clean, simple, and effective. If you haven't noticed, we also have a new toll free phone number: 1-855-DotNetNuke (1-855-368-6386) which should make it easier for customers to reach us.

Improved Navigation

Our new mega menu allows you to quickly glance at our DotNetNuke Modules and/or services we offer. Support menu allows you to quickly find the forum, faqs, videos, and documentation. You can find all the latest company announcements, blogs, and policies with single click.

Get Rewarded

We've introduced M Points with the launch of our new site. M Points is our way of rewarding our users. Get rewarded for intereacting with our site: whether you're writing a review, helping someone in forums, contributing a video, submitting a bug, or even requesting a new feature for one of our modules.

Watch out for a seperate blog post on M Points next week!

Customer Dashboard

One of another exciting addition to our new site is introduction of customer dashboard. This central dashboard allows you to quickly peak at your M Points, write reviews for modules purchased, view your support tickets, manage your licenses, and of course manage your profile.

Do You Like Our New Site?

Be sure to comment below to let us know. We always appreciate feedback so we can continue to improve our products and services and provide better customer experience.