DNN Guide Module Development Best Practices

DNN, formerly known as DotNetNuke, has been around for a while. One of its editions, called DotNetNuke Professional Edition, was launched in February 2009, with version 4.9. Four years after that, in July 2013 to be precise, this edition was renamed Evoq Content. Furthermore, the DNN platform is open-source software, which is distributed under an MIT License. With that, it means website owners wouldn't need much technical knowledge before operating their site and adding any functionality that's not available in the DNN core modules.

DNN platform is now becoming popular by the day, not just as a blogging platform but also as a Content Management System (CMS). Many organizations, both small and large, are already making use of the platform for their day-to-day website needs. For you to get the best out of your DNN website, you'll surely need to add more functionalities to it.

While there are several forms of extensibility for the DotNetNuke platforms, the most common one is module development. Speaking of that, it's worth knowing that you can handle the custom development for DNN modules in several ways, using tools such as Visual Studio 2010 and 2012. Apart from that, you can also make use of WebMatrix and express (free) editions of Visual Studio for the DNN module development.

In this article, I'll be sharing with you some of the best practices for DotNetNuke module development. However, before we go into that, let's have a look at some of the important things that you need to know about DNN modules. In case you're already familiar with "module", you can skip this part and move over to the next section, where we'll be discussing the DotNetNuke module development best practices. But, in the case you're new to DNN and would like to know about DotNetNuke modules, this is for you.

By definition, modules are software components that contain one or more routines. Also, it represents a set of reusable code, which can be installed into any DNN site. One interesting thing about a DNN module is that you'll be able to drag and drop them with ease to a page after installing them.

Furthermore, as a website owner, it's worth knowing that you can have multiple instances of the same module on a single web page. Also, you can share the modules across different pages and in the paid versions of DNN. Although it's also possible for you to share your DNN modules across multiple sites, it's worth noting that you'll only be able to do that through the Site Groups feature. Out of the box, DNN comes with some modules, called the DNN core modules. The issue with that, however, is that you won't be able to use them for a lot of functions.

How do I mean? Ok, let's take for instance you need a photo gallery module on your website, you won't be able to install it from the core modules mentioned above. That's because DNN doesn't come with a photo gallery module out-of-the-box. However, you need not worry too much about it, as there exist several third-party photo gallery modules that can take care of such needs. Speaking of third party modules, the DNN ecosystem has recommended some stores, where you can find relevant modules for your DotNetNuke site. One of them is the DNN Store. You can visit it by checking this page. In the store, you'll find several modules that can help you perform all kinds of functionalities on your DNN website. However, you'll have to pay before getting the chance to install them on your web page.

In case you have little or no budget and you need some DNN modules for your website, you need not worry too much about it. That's because there are also some platforms, recommended by DNN, which offer their codes as "open source". As such, you'll be able to download and install several modules from them for your DotNetNuke website. On GitHub, you can find some of the best modules for your web page at zero cost. Just like the first two platforms, you can also check DNN Forge for some free modules.

The Best Practices