One of the most important web features that you can add to your DotNetNuke (DNN) website is a blog. We've covered DotNetNuke website installation in three other articles, but so far we haven't discussed installing a blog. That oversight will be remedied in this article.
Unlike other content management systems, such as WordPress, Joomla and other popular PHP-based CMSes, blog installation for ASP.NET CMSes such as DotNetNuke can be complicated for new developers.
You will need a strong background in and understanding of ASP.NET development server, Windows file paths/system, portal aliases and, most of all, a strong foundation in the installation, administration and management of a DotNetNuke website/SQL server databases.
The objective of this tutorial is to help new developers to install a blog module for DotNetNuke in Windows localhost using the Visual Web Developer 2008 Express/ASP.NET 3.5 development server package.
This tutorial assumes that you have completely installed/configured a basic DotNetNuke website (without the blog module first) using Visual Web Developer. It should be completely working without any errors. This means that you can browse the home page and the inner pages normally with no errors and no "page not found" errors (see the third tutorial link example above for details).
If you have not created a working DotNetNuke website, it is recommended that you create one by following the steps in the three tutorial links provided above.
As of June 15, 2010, the latest blog module version is 04.00.00. It requires a minimum DotNetNuke version of 04.6.2 (you will learn later how to find out your DNN version), as well as ASP.NET 2.0. You need to select the latest version that fits your DNN and ASP.NET requirement.
Select the "Install" version under the category. This is a zip archive file. After you have downloaded this zip file, do not unzip the file. You need to upload this to your DotNetNuke hosting/administrator panel as a zip package (to be discussed below).
To know your DotNetNuke version:
1. Log in as super-user/Administrator to your DotNetNuke website (click the login link on the home page.)
2. Go to "Host" -> "Host settings."
3. Under "configuration" you will see your DotNetNuke version, for example: 05.02.00
You do not need to worry about meeting the ASP.NET 2.0 requirement because Visual Web Developer 2008 builds websites in ASP.NET 3.5 by default.
Install the Blog Module in your DotNetNuke website
The next thing you need to do after downloading the blog module is install it in your DotNetNuke website. You need to follow the procedure below:
1. Log in as super-user or administrator.
2. Go to Host -> Module Definitions.
3. Scroll down below (at the last) until you see the "Install Module" link. See screen shot below:
4. Click "Install Module."
5. Under "Browse New Extension Package," click Browse and navigate to where you have save the zip file installer.
6. Click "Next."
7. You will be presented with the "package information." Just click "Next."
8. You will also see the "release notes." Just click "Next" here as well.
9. You will be presented with a license. Just click "Accept License," and then click "Next".
10. DotNetNuke will then install the complete files as a module. You will be presented with a "Package Installation Report." To know that you have successfully installed the blog module without any problems, just navigate below the report and you should see: "End Job - Installation Successful."
Your blog is now ready to use and to be configured.
Installing the blog as a module does not allow it to be used right away. You still need to do some major configuration to make sure it will work properly in the local host environment to be tested. Refer to the following procedure:
1. Log-out as administrator/super-user and then close your browser.
2. You also need to close your project and exit Visual Web Developer.
3. If you are using any localhost server, such as XAMPP, you need to turn these services (Apache and MySQL) completely off. You need to ensure that there is no other local host server using Port 80 (and you need to do this every time you are working with your DotNetNuke blog).
You can turn XAMPP off by going to Start à Apache Friends à XAMPP à XAMPP Control Panel. Next, click "Stop" for both "Apache" and MySQL service. Once those are stopped, you need to click "Exit."
4. Open your DotNetNuke website project using Visual Web Developer Express.
5. You need to ensure that the Solution Explorer and Properties window are fully opened by default and as a window (see the screen shot below). Click the name of your project in Solution Explorer (for example, E:aspdotnetprojectsdotnetnukewebsite)
Under the "Properties" window (just below "Solution Explorer"), you will need to set "Use dynamic ports" to "False" and then set Port number to "80."
You need to do this because the blog permalinks are somewhat configured to run in http:// web port (80) by default. If this is not changed, you will not be able to view your blog post by clicking permalinks, and it will return a page not found error (404).
Example screen shot:
6. Save your project in Visual Web Developer, and then go to File à View in Web browser. Your DotNetNuke website can now be viewed in the browser without a port number in the localhost (because it is using default web port 80). Example:
You need to log in as an administrator/super-user before you can make these changes. The following are the steps:
1. You need to create a new page in your DotNetNuke website. This is same procedure as was discussed in the previous tutorials linked to on the first page. To create a new page, click "Add" under "Page Functions."
2. Under "Page name" and "Page title," enter the name Blog, then click "Update."
3. Under "View Page," check "All users," "Registered users," "Subscribers" and "Unauthenticated users." This will let them view your blog in public. Do not check anything under the "Edit" column, as you are the only one allowed to access that.
4. Click "Update" and the new page, called "Blog," is now visible as part of the menu navigation.
5. You need to delete "Enter Title." Just click the drop down beside it and click "delete." What you will have now is a clean page, ready for the blog module to be added.
6. In the administrator navigation, check "Add New Module," and then under "Module:" select "Blog." You can leave other options at their default values.
Screen shot:
7. Finally, click "Add Module To Page." DotNetNuke will integrate the blog module into your newly-created page, named "Blog."
This is how your blog will look after adding the blog module (viewed as administrator and in public).
You will notice that when viewed in public, the "admin" and "host" pages will be gone. But since you have configured the "blog" to be viewable in public, it can be seen in both the administrator and the pubic view.
There are still a lot of things to be done, and your blog configuration is still not complete. You must complete the following tasks:
1. Finalize the creation of your blog by clicking "Create My Blog."
2. Add your first set of blog posts.
3. Create categories for your blog posts.
4. Clean and finalize the look of your blog page (for example, you will decide to eliminate "Recent Posts," "Recent Comments," "Blog Tags," etc. because they might clutter the page).
5. Test the blog permalink URL and get SEO friendly URLs.
All of those 5 major tasks will be discussed in a separate article that will explain how to configure your DotNetNuke blog for its first use.
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ASP.NET DotNetNuke Installation with Visual Web Developer Express
