Why Dot Net Nuke?

Introduction to DNN

dotnetnuke.com is the "canonical" source of information on DNN because it holds the copyright to the software.

Among web CMS (Content Management System) offerings, DNN does not currently offer Drupal's Categories based on a new paradigm of fine-grained fluid knowledge management rather than merely arranging files and folders (as with Joomla, Microsoft SharePoint, and other traditional CMS). On the other hand, some say this is an advantage because it doesn't make things more complicated and difficult.

Why DNN? Its Advantages

I need to upgrade static web pages to a "community website" with Captcha-enabled forms, RSS feeds, SEO, ratings, overload protection, and other features needed in websites today.

Rather than reinvent the wheel by creating my own user management code for new user registration, login authentication, etc. I'd like to adapt a CMS system.

There are a number of choices (Mediaweb for Wikipedia-looking wiki pages, DotNetNuke, and __ from Telerik.

Ultimately, what I'd like to do is reverse engineer a CMS into UML diagrams used to generate code.

Even if it's your personal site, eventually you're going to be asked "why DNN and not Joomla , Alfresco , LifeRay, etc." What will you say?

Picking a CMS base system revolves around several considerations:

• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2003/2008 vs. Linux
• Framework: Microsoft ASP.NET Framework vs. custom
• Language: Microsoft C# or VB vs. PHP or Python
• ORM: Microsoft ORM or NHibernate or NetTiers or CSLA
• Database: Microsoft SQL or Oracle or MySQL

Here are some aspects that have been identified in favor of DNN:

• DNN has a longer history and community than Ruby, ..., etc.
• DNN can thus offer new integration features faster than waiting for Microsoft.
• DNN has more a more complete set of Templates than Ruby, ... etc.
• DNN's taxonomies enable more flexible arrangements of content than Joomla, etc.
• (Unlike Joomla) DNN pages can be rendered with no tables (CSS-only) via the Zen theme

Why NOT DNN?

Those who favor other approaches point out:

• "The ASP.NET C# language is clumsier than PHP, Python, or other language used to create other CMS packages."
• "Joomla looks better."
• "Paradoxicaly, less modules are offered for DNN than PHP Open Source CMS because the culture among DNN developers is to charge for everything."
• "It is more difficult to manage Microsoft servers on hosted sites because more involvement (and thus limitations and delays) by hosting administrators must be involved in adding programs.
• Paradoxicaly, "less modules are offered for DNN than PHP Open Source CMS because the culture among DNN developers is to charge for everything."
• Yet still, "Modules get abandoned by developers."

Infrastructure Decisions

My notes on DNN installation references this architecture diagram: