Brian Scarbeau

Kudos ODUG

Brian Scarbeau — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:42:32 GMT

Today marks the day when the Orlando DotNetNuke User group officially has 200 members.

It was a year and half ago that I started this group with about 7 members who came and met on a Saturday morning to discuss issues relating to the best open source web portal, DotNetNuke. Will Strohl was there along with a co-worker. Will has been a great member and now great leader of the group.

More recently, Will was in charge of putting together the Day of DotNetNuke held last month at the Microsoft Office in Tampa, FL.

Many members are benefitting from this user group and I wish it continued grown and success.

Technorati Tags: ODUG,DotNetNuke

Is DotNetNuke getting female friendly?

Brian Scarbeau — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:21:10 GMT

So if you attended the Day of DotNetNuke in Tampa, FL last Saturday, you had to notice. There were many females in attendance. Some were there being good sports and attending with their husband/boyfriend. Some were web designers who wanted to learn about DotNetNuke. This was much different than past events that I’ve attended.

I have spoken at many code camps in Florida and you have the typical geek whose overweight like me and has face hair or hasn’t shaved yet toting their laptops from room to room. This event was different.

So to all the females who came out last Saturday, Welcome. I hope DotNetNuke is getting female friendly. Thanks for coming to my session.

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke

Day of DotNetNuke a HUGE SUCCESS!

Brian Scarbeau — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:42:25 GMT

Kudos to Will Strohl for the countless hours he put in to organize the Day of DotNetNuke held in Tampa, FL today. Thanks to the sponsors, speakers and volunteers who made the day a huge success.

The official count for the day verified by Microsoft host Joe Healy was 138. Joe was a great host making everyone comfortable and he also was one of the speakers. Yes, Microsoft does love DotNetNuke! Joe would make a great WROX salesperson as he was trying to sell the WROX Professional DotNetNuke 5 book that I coauthored along with Floridians Darrel Hardy, Stan Schultes, Ryan Morgan, and Canadian Shaun Walker.

There was much to learn about DotNetNuke 5 and favorite 3rd party modules during the day. Gifford Watkins from Atlantic Webfitters traveled from Nova Scotia to speak at the event.

It was great to see everyone and a special thanks to DotNetNuke Corporation for sending Joe Brinkman to give the Official/Unofficial DotNetNuke State of the Union Address.

Look for some changes in DotNetNuke 5 builds

Brian Scarbeau — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:45:56 GMT

There have been a couple of builds already for the new version 5.1 of DotNetNuke. On the DotNetNuke site, there is even a thread for users to discuss any problems they are having with the builds and they are encouraged to log their problems or suggestions on their Gemini site.

The current build is 364 and there's already changes from the previous build. For example, here's the new Admin Settings:

One change from the previous build is that Google Analytics is now located here. You could find this setting under Admin> Site Settings and this new feature makes it easier to locate. This is primarily used to set up your site with Google Analytics and you need to sign up with google and get verified to do this.

When signing up with Google Webmaster Tools you will need to Verify your site ownership. Choose the "Upload an HTML file" method from the Google Verification screen. Enter the filename displayed ( ie. google53c0cef435b2b81e.html ) in the Verification textbox and click Create. Return to Google and select the Verify button.

Missing from the Control Panel is the Install Additional Modules link. To do this you will need to go to Host>Extensions and scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and then click on Batch Install Extensions and then select the Available Modules that you want to install.

In version 5 of DotNetNuke, only the Host can install modules and skins. Once available to the site, the Admin can add new modules or skins to their site.

Taken off the Control Panel was the aligning of modules on the Pane. What was added was a drop down list of the modules that you have on a pane. On the right of the Control Panel is a link to Host or Admin Console. Here's what it looks like:

These are the same settings that you get in the drop down list and you can see them all on a single page if you want.

One thing for sure is that DotNetNuke will require the current Microsoft .NET framework to be installed on your site. You'll get a warning under Host >Settings if your not current.

I'm looking forward to the final build. Hope you are too!

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke

DotNetNuke 04.09.04 Upgrade

Brian Scarbeau — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:57:45 GMT

In the past, after backing up my SQL database and DNN site, I'd hold my breath when I upgraded my sites hoping and praying that all will be well after the upgrade. Today, I did the same when I upgraded to version 04.09.04. Low and behold, all did go well with the upgrade and the site came back up after the upgrade.

Here's what the upgrade has to offer:

What's New in 04.09.04

Major Highlights

Fixed a major module caching issue which resulted in empty content for webcrawlers
Improved performance of FormatRemoveSQL method

Security Fixes

Low - Errorpage information leakage
Low - HTML/Script Code Injection Vulnerability

Updated Modules/Providers

The following modules and providers have been updated in the 4.9.4 packages. Please see the specific project pages for notes on what bugs or enhancements were corrected with each release.

Modules

Announcements 04.00.03

Providers

Removed the AD Provider so that it cannot be installed by the Install Wizard. It can still be manually installed.

I like to stay current with my version of DotNetNuke and I'd advise you to do the same. Check my Security posts in my blog as to why you should. Good luck with your upgrade.

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke, Upgrades

Free DotNetNuke Webinars

Brian Scarbeau — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:54:07 GMT

DotNetNuke Co-Founder, Nik Kalyani, has added some new webinars to attend. The most popular is a demonstration of DotNetNuke. Here's the webinar information on that one:

DotNetNuke is the leading open source solution for website content management and web application development on Microsoft ASP.NET. Nik will demonstrate how easy it is to create and maintain your website using DotNetNuke. He will discuss the flexible open framework and show how easy it is to add functionality to your website by adding modules. He will also talk about the concept of skinning and how easy it makes customizing the look of a website for novices or website professionals alike.

Tom Kraak, from Seablick Consultion is doing one on Search Engine Optimization. Tom was recently at the Orlando DotNetNuke User Group meeting and he knows his stuff about search engines and DotNetNuke so you won't want to miss this webinar.

Join us as we discuss DNN search engine optimization with expert Tom Kraak. We'll start with the basics of SEO, then learn how search engines work and the difference between on-page and off-page SEO. Next we'll dive into a discussion on specific aspects impacting SEO in DNN and what you can do to ensure that your DNN-based website gets high ranking in search results. The session will last for one hour followed by a 30-min Q&A segment.

Nik is doing a good one on Module Development, Skinning, and an Introduction to the Professional Version of DotNetNuke.

Modular Development:

In this DNN Fundamentals session, we describe the process of creating a DNN module. Targeted to ASP.NET developers who want to get started with DNN module development, this session will help you understand how modules fit into the overall DNN framework, how they are developed, packaged and deployed. The session will use C# as the development language, but the concepts can also be used for developing in VB.NET or any other CLR-compliant language.

Skin Design:

In this DNN Fundamentals session, we describe the process of creating a DNN skin. Targeted at web designers who want to get started with DNN skin design, this session will help you understand the role of skins in the the overall DNN framework, how they are designed, packaged and deployed. We'll also visit some great-looking DNN-based websites and discuss the skins used on these sites.

Professional Edition Overview:

In this DNN Fundamentals session, we review DNN Professional Edition. We'll start with an overview of DNN's capabilities and architecture, then explore features specific to the Professional Edition. We'll explain why Professional Edition is important for businesses that want to use DNN for mission-critical scenarios and answer your questions about this edition of DNN.

Nik is a DotNetNuke pro and does a great job in his webinar training. All these are for free!

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke, Webinar

Day of DotNetNuke speakers announced

Brian Scarbeau — Mon, 18 May 2009 12:35:29 GMT

ODUG President, Will Strohl, has been a busy guy lately organizing the Day Of DotNetNuke which will be held in Tampa, FL on Saturday, June 13th. There are 30 sessions planned for the day.

Do you recognize any of these names as authors, Code Camp Speakers, Microsoft MVP's, Forum Contributors, DotNetNuke Leaders?

Joe Brinkman

Chris Hammond

Stan Schultes

Cuong Dang

Darrell Hardy

David Pablicko

Gifford Watkins

Henry Lee

Jeff Cochran

Jim Begley

Joe Healy

Mitchell Sellers

Paul Scarlett

Ralph Williams

Ryan Morgan

Tom Kraak

Tony Valenti

Tracy Wittenkeller

Will Morgenweck

Will Strohl

Brian Scarbeau

They all will be speaking that day. Go to the site, register fast because the venue can only hold 200. Hope to see you there!

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke, Day of DotNetNuke

Are you an Administrator of a DotNetNuke site?

Brian Scarbeau — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:41:05 GMT

Do you care about security? You should and you should also stay updated on security issues with the platform that you have your site on. That's why you need to come to the Security Bulletins Policy section on the DotNetNuke site to stay current on any potential threats.

Here's what they go through and evaluate issues:

Severity Levels

Each confirmed issue is first assigned a severity level (Critical, Moderate, or Low) corresponding to its potential impact on the security of DotNetNuke installations.

Critical—A security issue is rated critical if it can be exploited by a remote attacker to gain access to DotNetNuke data or functionality. All critical issue security bulletins include a recommended workaround or fix that should be applied as soon as possible.
Moderate—A security issue is rated moderate if it can compromise data or functionality on a portal/website only if some other condition is met (e.g. a particular module or a user within a particular role is required). Moderate issue security bulletins typically include recommended actions to resolve the issue.
Low—A security issue is rated low if it is very difficult to exploit or has a limited potential impact.

The Security Task Force then issues a security bulletin via the DotNetNuke security blog, forum posts and, where judged necessary, email. The bulletin provides details about the issue, the DotNetNuke versions impacted, and suggested fixes or workarounds.

Here's the latest threat and another reason why you need to upgrade your site to the most current version of DotNetNuke.

HTML/Script Code Injection Vulnerability

Published: April 1, 2009

Version: 1.0

Maximum Severity Rating: Low

Background

To support paypal IPN functionality, DotNetNuke posts information to and receives status information from the paypal webservice. To do this it uses a name/value pair as part of the request, which is echoed to the form action attribute to ensure that any actions post to the correct page.

Issue Summary

It was possible to amend the name/value pairs and inject html/script which could allow hackers to perform cross-site scripting attacks.

Mitigating factors

If your site is not using paypal functionality, you can delete or rename (to a non aspx extension) the file at Website\admin\Sales\paypalipn.aspx

Affected DotNetNuke versions

All

Non-Affected Versions:

N/A

Fix(s) for issue

To fix this problem, you are recommended to update to the latest version of DotNetNuke (4.9.3 at time of writing)

Acknowledgments

N/A

Security Policy

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke, Security

Nik Kalyani-DotNetNuke Webinar Review

Brian Scarbeau — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:20:10 GMT

So I just spent an hour attending the DotNetNuke Corporation Webinar entitled DotNetNuke Demonstration. Needless to say, I'm a fan of DotNetNuke and I can't get enough knowledge of the product. Nik began the session by defining what the product DotNetNuke is and how easy it was to design a site. He then gave a brief explanation of the community and professional version of DotNetNuke. Next, he spoke briefly of the technology used which consisted of DotNetNuke, ASP.NET, .NET. IIS, a Windows Server and a SQL Server. The next topic was about Architecture and how DotNetNuke was a Web Content Management System and a Web Application Framework. Nik then went on to discuss how you can have as many portals that you want with one DotNetNuke installation and how you can have as many users of your portal as well. Next came a discussion on what goes on pages. He demonstrated how skins get placed on a portal and how modules get placed as well on a page. He then went to create a new page and how you can just put one skin on that page. He created an event using the Schedule module and showed how to install an new module that is not part of DotNetNuke.

Finally, Nik showed several different websites that used the product. All in all, it was very informative. You can go to the DotNetNuke site to view the recorded webinar if you want.

Here's a schedule of future webinars:

DotNetNuke Demonstration
10 am PDT, May 21 (World Time)
Nik Kalyani, Co-founder
Click Here

DotNetNuke Deep Dive
10 am PDT, June 3 (World Time)
TBD
Coming Soon

Here's some information about Nik:

Nik Kalyani

Nik Kalyani (MVP) has over 15 years of experience as a technology professional and entrepreneur. His previous companies include Definiti, Inc., a software consulting company (acquired), iWidgets, Inc. a venture-funded Internet startup (folded) and Speerio, Inc., a software components company (IP acquired by DotNetNuke Corp.). He is a member of the Steering Committe of the OpenAjax Alliance and is the founder of DotNetNuke user groups in Washington, D.C. and Silicon Valley. Nik has a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from Western Michigan University. He blogs at TechBubble.

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke

Guess whose coming to Day of DotNetNuke?

Brian Scarbeau — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:33:58 GMT

Will Strohl was able to get Joe Brinkman from the DotNetNuke Corporation to do the Keynote at the Day of DotNetNuke to be held next month in Tampa, FL.

Joe Brinkman

Joe Brinkman (MVP) is a co-founder and the VP of Core Technology of DotNetNuke Corp. With over 22 years of IT experience and a Computer Science degree from the United States Naval Academy, he brings broad experience in a variety of software and hardware architectures. Joe was the CTO for DataSource Inc. where he led the development of Jetson, a J2EE development tool that automated many of the difficult tasks with creating and deploying EJB-based applications. Joe has also co-authored two popular books on DotNetNuke, and is currently working on a third. His areas of focus on the team include business strategy, technology architecture, and advanced technology development.

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke, Day of DotNetNuke

Great communication from the DotNetNuke home office

Brian Scarbeau — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:28:37 GMT

There are two current blogs on the DNN site that is worth looking at to stay current on DotNetNuke news. One is from Scott Willhite and it includes a good outline from a recent team meeting. This is worth reading if you are looking to win a prize at the upcoming Day Of DotNetNuke. For example, in my session, I may ask true or false, DotNetNuke is planning on having a skinning contest. Or, name one of the coolest new features in DNN version 5.1. I'll have something to give out for the correct answers. So go read his blog for the answers.

The next blog worth reading is from co-author of Professional DotNetNuke 5, Open Source Web Application Framework for ASP.NET book and Chief Architect Shaun Walker. Shaun discusses the changes at DotNetNuke Corporation and why he's been so quiet lately.

Both blogs are worth reading.

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke, Day of DotNetNuke, Shaun Walker

Upcoming DotNetNuke Webinar

Brian Scarbeau — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:38:19 GMT

DotNetNuke Co-Founder, Nik Kalyani will be the leader for a series of Webinars.

Here's the schedule:

Title

Time and Date

Presenter

Registration

DotNetNuke Demonstration
10 am PDT, May 7 (World Time)
Nik Kalyani, Co-founder
Click Here

DotNetNuke Demonstration
10 am PDT, May 21 (World Time)
Nik Kalyani, Co-founder
Click Here

DotNetNuke Deep Dive
10 am PDT, June 3 (World Time)
TBD
Coming Soon

Technorati Tags: Webinar, DotNetNuke

Got something to say about DotNetNuke?

Brian Scarbeau — Sun, 03 May 2009 01:30:08 GMT

If you do, then the call for speakers is open for the huge event called Day of DotNetNuke which is being held on Saturday, June 13 in Tampa, FL. You'll have until May 13th to submit your proposal.

Here are some simple Day of DNN ground rules when thinking about and submitting your sessions:

ALL sessions should related directly to and display ONLY DotNetNuke version 5
Choosing a session from the list below will increase your odds of being chosen
Session ideas are very welcome
Your abstract for the session should be as descriptive as possibe
You may submit as many sessions as you want, but only 1 or 2 might be chosen

Check out the site for more information. I'll be speaking along with ODUG Prez Will Strohl and all the authors who co wrote the Wrox book Professional DotNetNuke 5: Open Source Web Application Framework for ASP.NET

Join us in Tampa in June!

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke,Day of DotNetNuke

Interested in sponsoring at the Day of DotNetNuke event?

Brian Scarbeau — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:18:43 GMT

Will Strohl is interested in talking to you if you are. Here's the logistics for the day:

The Day of DotNetNuke is not unlike a standard code camp. There are several speakers committed to present
topics in 5 tracks. Many speakers are accomplished authors, and highly regarded DNN community members. In
the 5 tracks, each will have 6 sessions. Each session will run roughly 60 minutes, with breaks between sessions
to allow for speaker/attendee interaction and speaker set‐up. The event begins at 8:00 AM, and the last session
ends at 5:00 PM, with a sponsored raffle to follow.

There are different contribution levels that you can choose.

Your company will be listed on the site and will have many perks during the event.

Example Sponsor Banner Size(s)

Here are the goals for the event:

• To provide a first class training and learning experience for all attendees. Even though it will be free, we
hope to make this event just as good, or better than a paid event would be.
• To provide a great networking experience for attendees, vendors, speakers, employers, employees, and
other community members.
• To build the local DNN community.
• To build a relationship between the sponsors and local community members. Sponsors are the only way
that events like this can be made a reality. Giving sponsors a way to directly connect with people and
companies that fit their advertising demographics is a very lucrative opportunity.

This event will be huge. An after party in Tampa, FL is already being planned. Hope to see you there!

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke, Day of DotNetNuke

Day of DotNetNuke is fast approaching!

Brian Scarbeau — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:18:15 GMT

Make your plans now to attend a huge DotNetNuke event scheduled for Saturday, June 13th in Tampa, FL.

If you need to learn more about the features of version 5 of DotNetNuke then you need to be there. There will be sessions on installing DNN, Skinning, Administration, SEO, jQuery, DNN Architecture to name a few. Great swag gifts to be given out and organizer Will Strohl is planning a great after event get together in sunny Florida.

All of the Florida authors who worked on the Professional DotNetNuke 5 will be presenters along with several other DNN professionals. It should turn out to be a great DotNetNuke day. Will Strohl and Joe Healy from Microsoft do a great job organizing events. Hope to see you there!

Check out the site for more information.

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke, Day of DotNetNuke

Ajax World Conference + DotNetNuke

Brian Scarbeau — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:31:25 GMT

DNN Leader and co author of Professional DotNetNuke 5, Shaun Walker will be speaking at the Ajax World Conference in June. Here's his session:

Revolutionary Web Platforms - DotNetNuke and ASP.NET
Shaun Walker - Creator & Maintainer, DotNetNuke
This session will discuss how DotNetNuke leverages cutting edge Microsoft web technology to create rich, interactive, enterprise web solutions.

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke, Shaun Walker

DotNetNuke 5 Skin Objects

Brian Scarbeau — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:40:21 GMT

Timo Breumelhof, DotNetNuke Skinning Group Lead has put together a nice table on the list of skin objects for DotNetNuke 5. He blogged about it here and you can find the guide here.

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke,Skinning

Huge DotNetNuke Event being planned in Florida in June

Brian Scarbeau — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:55:06 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

DotNetNuke Community Edition 4.9.3 New Release Features

Brian Scarbeau — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:31:52 GMT

Major Highlights

Add Office 2007 File Extensions to default allowable file extensions in Host Settings
Add reference to SQL Server 2008 to Install Wizard to make it clear that SQL Server 2008 is supported
Moved Whats New Module/Page to Host menu as it contains content which is not applicable to the Administrator
Corrected a problem with "Auto" installation option which would occur when using a non-dbo database user
Inline updates to Text/HTML were not HTML encoded when stored in the database
App_Browser renamed to App_Browsers in order for ASP.NET to recognize it incorrectly
Pages in the navigation menu linked directly to a file no longer served the file correctly
Can not delete Portal if search items exist in the database which are associated to the portal
Removed None Specified option for Folders in Page Export feature as it could cause an error if a user clicked Export without selecting a folder.
Fixed major performance issue when adding new portals which would cause the system to unload and reload all cached objects

Security Fixes

Low - HTML/Script Code Injection Vulnerability

Updated Modules/Providers

The following modules and providers have been updated in the 4.9.3 packages. Please see the specific project pages for notes on what bugs or enhancements were corrected with each release.

Modules

Announcements 04.00.02

Providers

None

Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke,Upgrade

Orlando Code Camp Talk

Brian Scarbeau — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:19:52 GMT

Yesterday was the fifth Orlando Code Camp put together by the good folks at the Orlando .NET user group. This was the fourth time that I've had the opportunity to speak at this code camp. I remember one year, I was the only one speaking on DotNetNuke and yesterday there were six sessions going on covering various topics in DotNetNuke.

There were over 500 registered before the event and there several walk on people who just showed up. The event took place at Seminole Community College in Sanford, FL which is a nice location for the event.

The toughest part is trying to find your way around campus to the building and room that you want to go to. There are signs but sometimes you just need to ask someone where the room is like I did when I asked Will Strohl "Where's room E?" which was were my presentation was in the early morning. I just followed Will to the room which made it easy for me but there were several people in the hallway trying to find their room.

As I arrived on campus, I walked in with a developer from Gainesville, FL and this was his first Code Camp. He had no idea what to expect but was anxious to learn more and to network with others at the event. People travel far for these Code Camps even out of state.

Wrox publishing gave each speaker two Professional DotNetNuke 5: Open Source Web Application Framework for ASP.NET books to give out to those attending. I gave my book out to someone from Boston and the other to someone who traveled from Maryland to the Code Camp. It was also kind of cool that I was asked to autograph the book because I was a co-author.

Needless to say, the day had someone for everyone and the price was right which was FREE including lunch. Can't complain about that. Kudos to the volunteers who put in numerous hours organizing, planning, and running the event.

Technorati Tags: Orlando Code Camp,DotNetNuke