1. Introduction to DotNetNuke:
The current version is 5.x
It was written in Vb.net
But the custom module can be written in any .Net supported language ie C# also.
It has builtin support for SqlServer provider but has to extend custom provider for supporting other
databases.
DotNetNuke has good support for Server Operating systems. But can be installed in XP too.
Different DotNetNuke Versions:
DotNetNuke 3.x was built on .Net framework 1.1 and DotNetNuke 4.x was built on .Net framework 2.0
1. DotNetNuke 3.x – 4.2 supports .Net framework 1.1
2. DotNetNuke 4.6 – 4.4 supports .Net framework 2.0
3. DotNetNuke 4.09 – 5.1(current) supports .Net framework 3.5
DotNetNuke supports
Silverlight
Ajax
Web 2.0 concepts
From DotNetNuke market place we can buy third party modules for cheaper rates. Even so many free
modules are available.
DotNetNuke Feature list:
1. Adsense
2. Documents
3. Feedback
4. HTML
5. Map
6. NewsFeeds
7. Store
8. UsersOnline
9. Announcements
10. Events
11. Forum
12. IFrame
13. MarketShare
14. Reports

2. 15. Survey
16. Wiki
17. Blog
18. FAQs
19. Help
20. Links
21. Media
22. Repository
23. User Defined Table
24. XML
Benefits:
It’s open source
It was built on .Net framework.
Large community support and good support from the DotNetNuke portal guys.
Gets response within 1 business day for our queries in DotNetNuke forums. It is very active.
Continual stable version releases.
Including new features in all the releases.
Large number of custom modules (both free and commercial) available in DotNetNuke Market
Place.
At reasonable prices we can get best modules. Lets say www.bring2mind.net and from
http://www.marketplace.DotNetNuke.com we can get Tagging, Content & Publishing module,
Document versioning.
Our expertise benefits we have more expertise on .Net. It will help us in using the existing
resources effectively instead of learning a new language.
High Level Approach:
How to extend DotNetNuke?
1. Existing modules (out of the box custom installation0
2. Free modules available in internet
3. Paid modules available in DotNetNuke Market Place
4. Custom module development
DotNetNuke Control Panel enables us to perform the below actions
1. Page Functions like adding pages, import ,export functionalities ,
2. Add New module , Add Existing module and
3. Common tasks like user, roles, files, site configuration tasks.

3. 4. Apart from that there is a setting for each module to perform some more tasks.
There are three types of users provided by DotNetNuke.
1. Host User for adding custom modules either a third party module or our own developed
module.
2. Portal Admin user for performing tasks like Add new modules on the site and giving permissions
to the relevant users.
3. General users who are registered on the site who have very less permissions.
From sourceforge.net we can download DotNetNuke.
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=77052&package_id=77939
Installation & Configuration:
For installation we have to download install.zip file
For upgrade download upgrade.zip file.
For custom development download source.zip file and install starter kit. Install starter kit it
installs DotNetNuke templates in Visual Studio.
Here we are extracting install.zip file into a folder by name ‘dnn4install’.
Create empty database in SqlServer.
Right click on the folder ‘dnn4install’ and select properties. In Security tab add “Network” and “Network
Service” and give full permissions to both for Windows Server 2003. For Windows Server 2000 select
“AspNet” in security tab.
Open the web.config file and change the connectionstring and appsettings to point to the database.
Type inetmgr in RUN. Right click on Default WebSite and create New Virtual Directory say dnn4install’.
In browser open http://localhost/dnn4install/install/install.aspx
It shows typical and custom installation modes.
With Typical installation only some default modules like Links, HTML comes. LiveID, OpenID
authentication providers comes.
Select custom installation mode so that wiki, blogs, forums etc in-built modules are seen in
DotNetNuke.
With “Auto” installation mode: It bypasses the wizard completely.

4. Apart from LiveID, OpenID authentication providers Active Directory,CardSpace comes in Custom
installation mode.
Note: May face problem if Active Directory authentication mode was selected.
Configure host user and portal administration. Remember the portal administrator username and
password.
Working with DotNetNuke:
Adding custom third party modules:
Login with Host credentials
Click on Host -> Module Definitions
In the screen click on “Install New Module” link

5. In the next screen browse the zip file and click on “Install New Module” link.
Then all the files in the module are extracted and installed automatically.
“Installation Successful” message appears at the end.
Create a new tab:
See the “control panel”. Select “Edit” mode.

6. In “Page Functions” click on “Add”.
See the below picture.
Give some name to Page Name, Page Title fields.
Select “None Specified” for “Parent Page” if there is no parent page for the newly added one or select a
page from the dropdown list if it has parent page.
Check the checkbox “Include in Menu”
Give the required permissions for the users.
And click on “Update” link.

7. Stay in your newly created page.
Now in the control panel which is at the top select “Add New Module” radio button.
Select the newly added module in the “Module” dropdown list.
Select “Pane”, “Insert” and “Align” as per your requirements and click on “Add” link.
The new module appears in the page.
Create Menu:
Click on Add link in Page Functions in Control Panel.
Give Menu12 for ‘Page Name’ and ‘Page Title’.

8. Select the page ‘Test’ in “Parent Page” dropdown. So Menu12 comes under ‘Test’ tab.And click on
update link.
Add SubMenu:
Click on Add link in Page Functions in Control Panel.
Give ‘Sub Menu1’ for ‘Page Name’ and ‘Page Title’.
Select the page ‘Menu12’ in “Parent Page” dropdown. So ‘Sub Menu1’ comes under ‘Menu12’ menu.

9. Don’t forget to check ‘Include in Menu’ checkbox.
Finally it looks like the below:
There is no limitation on the creation of submenus. But the user interface gets disturbed as shown in the
screens below.

10. Issue:
Limitation: If no .o f tabs increases then Admin, Host won’t appear and the newly added ones also.
There is no restriction on the no. of tabs creation but one can display 8 tabs (including Host, Admin
tabs).
Add Leftside , Right side links :
Select “Add New Module” from Control Panel.

11. Select “Links” in Module dropdown.
Select “LeftPane” in Pane dropdown.
Click on Add link.
In the left side “Links” module appears. Click on “Add Link”.
Give Menu1 for Title.
Select”Page” in LinkType.
Select “Menu1” from the “Select A Web Page From Your Site” drop down.
Give description and click on update.
Again click on “Add link” and repeat the process.
And the final output looks like this:

12. Repeat the same for right side pane too as per the requirement.
Creating New User:
Admin -> User Accounts
Adding New Skins:
Host-> Skins
How to hide a menu:
Click on the menu.
Admin -> Pages
It will display list of existing pages.
Click on Settings in Actions at the right side.
Then in the new screen check the checkbox “Include in Menu”
How to go to market place:
Common Tasks in Control Panel
Click on Solutions

13. How to develop our own custom module:
Environment: Visual Studio 2005 vb.net
SqlServer 2005
IIS
DotNetNuke 4.09 version
Here we are extracting ‘DotNetNuke_04.09.00_Source.zip’ file into a folder by name ‘dnn4Source’. Note
that ‘website’ folder present in ‘dnn4Source’’.
Create empty database ‘Dnn4Source_DB’ in SqlServer.
Right click on the folder ‘dnn4Source’and select properties.
In Security tab add “Network” and “Network Service” and give full permissions to both for Windows
Server 2003. For Windows Server 2000 select “AspNet” in security tab.
Type inetmgr in RUN. Expand Web Sites. Right click on Default WebSite.
Select New -> Virtual Directory
Give Virtual Directory Alias name as ‘dnn4Source ‘and browse dnn4Sourcewebsite folder for path.
Note: create virtual directory for website in the above step.
Open DotNetNuke.sln file in notepad.
First two lines are like this:
Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 9.00
# Visual Studio 2005
Project(quot;{E24C65DC-7377-472B-9ABA-BC803B73C61A}quot;) = quot;http://localhost/DotNetNuke_Maintenance/quot;,
quot;http://localhost/DotNetNuke_Maintenancequot;, quot;{79D3BA0F-F76F-4A84-AE7F-C6A01EC247F9}quot;
Just change the virtual directory name from “DotNetNuke_Maintenance” to “dnn4Source”.
Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 9.00
# Visual Studio 2005
Project(quot;{E24C65DC-7377-472B-9ABA-BC803B73C61A}quot;) = quot;http://localhost/ dnn4Source /quot;, quot;http://localhost/ dnn4Source quot;, quot;{79D3BA0F-
F76F-4A84-AE7F-C6A01EC247F9}quot;
Save it.

14. Then double click ‘DotNetNuke.sln’ to open the visual studio solution.
It has this projects structure.
Locate the file release.config (under http://localhost/dnn4Source ) and rename to web.config.
Open the web.config file. Default web.config file looks like the below.
Change Connectionstring tag and appSettings tag to point to the new database settings.
Use SQL Server 2000/2005 in both Connection String and App Settings tags.

15. In browser open http://localhost/dnn4Source/install/install.aspx
It shows typical and custom installation modes.

16. With Typical installation only some default modules like Links, HTML comes. LiveID, OpenID
authentication providers comes.
Select custom installation mode so that wiki,blogs,forums etc in-built modules are seen in DotNetNuke.
With “Auto” installation mode: It bypasses the wizard completely.
Select Next.
Select “Test Permission”. “Your site passed the permissions check” should appear.

17. Click Next.
Select SqlServer 2000/2005. Give database name. Give credentials. Give dnn4(say) for Object Qualifier.
It helps in identifying the custom tables and sps of DotNetNuke. Their names starts with this dnn4.
Click “Test Database Connection”.
“Connection Success” message should appear.

18. Then click Next.

19. Then Click Next. Configure host . Remember the host username and password.

20. Click Next
Default modules are HTML and Links
Click Next
Apart from LiveID,OpenID authentication providers Active Directory, CardSpace comes in Custom
installation mode.
But facing problem when selecting Active Directory authentication mode.

21. Click Next
Click Next

22. Click Next.
Configure portal administration . Remember the portal administrator username and password.

23. Click Next

24. Install DotNetNuke_04.09.00_StarterKit.vsi starter kit which creates the following templates in Visual
Studio editor.
DotNetNuke Dynamic Module
DotNetNuke Simple Dynamic Module
DotNetNuke Skin.
Open ‘dnn4Source’ solution.
AssemblyInfo.vb and Global.asax.vb files present under “App_Code” in “http://localhost/dnn4Source/”
folder.
Right click on http://localhost/dnn4Source/ in the solution explorer and Select “Add New Item”.
Select “DotNetNuke Dynamic Module” template and Visual Basic as the language. Give “SampleModule”
for Name. Click Add. “SampleModule” is the module name for the DotNetNuke site.

25. Observe the App_Code folder in “http://localhost/dnn4Source/” folder.
It has created ‘ModuleName’ folder having DataProvider.vb,
SampleModuleController.vb,SampleModuleInfo.vb and SqlDataProvider.vb files. It means it has created
business logic layer and database logic layer files.
DataProvider.vb and SqlDataProvider.vb files are for database logic layer.
SampleModuleController.vb and SampleModuleInfo.vb files are for business logic layer.
One more change is
Under ‘DeskTopModules’ folder it has created “ModuleName’ folder which contains
App_LocalResources,Documentation, EditSampleModule.ascx, Settings.ascs,ViewSampleModule.ascx
,01.00.00.SqlDataProvider and SampleModule.dnn.It means presentation layer files are created
automatically by the DotNetNuke portal engine.
01.00.00.SqlDataProvider file contains the queries to create tables and stored procedures.
SampleModule.dnn file is required to add this module into DotNetNuke.

26. Read the help page given after adding the module.
It instructs to rename /App_Code/ModuleName to /App_Code/SampleModule, and rename
/DesktopModules/ModuleName to /DesktopModules/ SampleModule.
Right click on ‘ModuleName’ of App_Code and DesktopModules in the Solutions Explorer and rename
them to ‘SampleModule’.
Build the solution. It should build successfully.
Set http://localhost/dnn4Source/ as the start up project and default.aspx as startup page.
Run it. DotNetNuke website comes up. Login with host credentials.
Click on Host -> SQL

27. Switch back to ‘dnn4Source’ Visual Studio solution. Open 01.00.00.SqlDataProvider file under
DesktopModules/SampleModule under http://localhost/dnn4Source/ and copy the content of
01.00.00.SqlDataProvider file.
Switch back to the DotNetNuke website and paste the script into the window, check the quot;Run as Scriptquot;
box and click EXECUTE.
if not exists (select * from dbo.sysobjects where id =
object_id(N'{databaseOwner}[{objectQualifier}YourCompany_SampleModule]') and OBJECTPROPERTY(id,
N'IsTable') = 1)
BEGIN
CREATE TABLE
{databaseOwner}[{objectQualifier}YourCompany_SampleModule]
(
[ModuleID] [int] NOT NULL,
[ItemID] [int] NOT NULL IDENTITY(1, 1),
[Content] [ntext] NOT NULL,
[CreatedByUser] [int] NOT NULL,
[CreatedDate] [datetime] NOT NULL
)
ALTER TABLE {databaseOwner}[{objectQualifier}YourCompany_SampleModule] ADD
CONSTRAINT [PK_{objectQualifier}YourCompany_SampleModule] PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED ([ItemID])
CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [IX_{objectQualifier}YourCompany_SampleModule] ON
{databaseOwner}[{objectQualifier}YourCompany_SampleModule] ([ModuleID])
ALTER TABLE {databaseOwner}[{objectQualifier}YourCompany_SampleModule] WITH
NOCHECK ADD CONSTRAINT [FK_{objectQualifier}YourCompany_SampleModule_{objectQualifier}Modules]
FOREIGN KEY ([ModuleID]) REFERENCES {databaseOwner}[{objectQualifier}Modules] ([ModuleID]) ON
DELETE CASCADE NOT FOR REPLICATION
END
GO
/** Drop Existing Stored Procedures **/
if exists (select * from dbo.sysobjects where id =
object_id(N'{databaseOwner}[{objectQualifier}YourCompany_GetSampleModules]') and
OBJECTPROPERTY(id, N'IsProcedure') = 1)
drop procedure {databaseOwner}{objectQualifier}YourCompany_GetSampleModules

28. GO
/** Create Stored Procedures **/
create procedure
{databaseOwner}{objectQualifier}YourCompany_GetSampleModules
@ModuleId int
as
select ModuleId,
ItemId,
Content,
CreatedByUser,
CreatedDate
from {objectQualifier}YourCompany_SampleModule with (nolock)
left outer join {objectQualifier}Users on {objectQualifier}YourCompany_SampleModule.CreatedByUser
= {objectQualifier}Users.UserId
where ModuleId = @ModuleId
GO
Observe the bold statements. They are meant for creating tables and stored procedures
in the backend.
It creates tables and stored procedures in the backend.
Note: To manually execute this script you must *****/
/***** perform a search and replace operation *****/

29. /***** for {databaseOwner} and {objectQualifier} *****/
databaseOwner is generally dbo
objectQualifier is Dnn4 which was created during installation of dnn4source
It follows this naming convention:
CREATE TABLE {databaseOwner}[{objectQualifier}YourCompany_SampleModule]
It creates Dnn4_YourCompany_SampleModule table in db.
5 Stored procedures like this pattern:
create procedure
{databaseOwner}{objectQualifier}YourCompany_{operation_name}{Module_Name}

30. Here
operation_name is Add,Delete,Get,Update (it creates for all CRUD operations)
Module_Name is SampleModule
In this case:
Dnn4_YourCompany_AddSampleModule
Dnn4_YourCompany_DeleteSampleModule
Dnn4_YourCompany_GetSampleModule
Dnn4_YourCompany_GetSampleModules
Dnn4_YourCompany_UpdateSampleModule
Now click on Host -> Module Definitions.
Down:
Click on “Import Module Definitions” link.
In the “Import Module Definition” screen select “SampleModule.dnn” in Manifest drop down.

31. Then click on “Import Manifest” link.
Then it should appear in “Module” drop down in Control Panel.
Select “Add New Module” radio button and select the “SampleModule” from Module drop down and
select a pane and click on Add to a page.
If any error is coming like this:
Then check the database whether the tables and stored procedures are created or not.
If there are no errors then click on “Add Content” link in the newly added module.
After adding the content in the module the final output appears as below:

32. This completes the custom module development.
Check the table (Dnn4_YourCompany_SampleModule) structure in database
It has one column for adding the content.
Now append some more columns in the db and execute the generated script
“01.00.00.SqlDataProvider” in SqlServer or DotNetNuke (Host->SQL) site.
Do the corresponding changes in business logic, domain logic and presentation layers files which are
DataProvider.vb and SqlDataProvider.vb files are for database logic layer.
SampleModuleController.vb and SampleModuleInfo.vb files are for business logic layer.
Under ‘DeskTopModules’ folder it has created “ModuleName’ folder which contains
App_LocalResources,Documentation, EditSampleModule.ascx, Settings.ascx and
ViewSampleModule.ascx files. It means presentation layer files.

33. References:
1.DotNetNuke mirrors:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=77052&package_id=77939
2.Upgrade DotNetNuke 3x to 4x:
http://www.mitchelsellers.com/blogs/articletype/articleview/articleid/106/upgrading-dnn-3x-to-dnn-4x.aspx
3.Videos:
http://www.dnncreative.com/Tutorials/DNNTutorialsforCoreModules/BlogModule/tabid/308/Default.aspx
Todd Davis: Videos on module development
http://www.dotnetnuke.com/Default.aspx?tabid=810
4.Module programming:
http://dnnsecrets.wordpress.com/2008/01/19/create-a-helloworld-dotnetnuke-module-in-6-easy-steps/
http://www.dnncreative.com/Tutorials/DNNTutorialsforCoreModules/BlogModule/tabid/308/Default.aspx
http://www.dotnetnuke.com/tabid/795/Default.aspx
4.For sending new post to DotNetNuke Forums:
http://www.dotnetnuke.com/Community/Forums/tabid/795/forumid/108/scope/threads/Default.aspx
5.DotNetNuke module development for beginners:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/custom-controls/Creating_A_DNNModule.aspx
6. Workflow:
http://www.codeplex.com/workflow
7.Other References:
http://www.dnncreative.com
http://dotnetnuke.com