DotNetNuke Website Development in ASP.NET 3.5

The objective of this tutorial series is to help the developer to:

1. Install DotNetNuke in a Windows local host environment using Visual Web Developer Express 2008.

2. Introduce some important administration skills, such as adding user and retrieving passwords in a local environment where password recovery using email is not possible.

3. Customize the home page and filled it with user-defined content.

4. Create SEO-friendly pages and remove unfriendly pages to search engine bots.

5. Remove useless links in the default DotNetNuke installation.

6. Customize website header images.

7. Provide recommendations for troubleshooting common errors that appear in the web development stage of a DotNetNuke website.

Basic Installation of DotNetNuke in Visual Web Developer Express 2008

The first thing you need to do is install DotNetNuke in your Visual Web Developer Express 2008. You can read this tutorial for details.

After installation, make sure that your DotNetNuke website is fully functional (do not yet customize skins and templates... just use the default template/skins/modules provided). So you need to check it in a web browser. Check the navigation as well as the default pages provided by the installation.

The default home page after installation should look like this:

The following are the issues that the developer needs to fix to convert this into a working website:

1. The title tag of the  home page is plain and broad, and not specific to the website's topic.

2. The content of the  home page, as well as the other pages, is not specific to the intended purpose of the website.

3. The copyright information in the footer uses "DotNetNuke Corporation."

4. The privacy statement and terms of use pages use the same title as the home page.

5.  The header image of the website still carries the DotNetNuke theme (it should obviously carry a theme based on the intended website content).

6. Although it has the privacy and terms of use pages, it still does not have contact pages. Additionally, it uses the  default privacy and terms of use content, which is not appropriate for the current website.

Let's sort out these issues one at  a time by illustrating them in this tutorial.

Recover Administrator/Super User DotNetNuke Password

There are two possible ways to edit a DotNetNuke website in a Windows local host environment:

1. Using Visual Web Developer Express 2008 - This will be used when you need to edit some database entries and tables. Additionally, if you need to edit the related ASP.NET scripts and files, using VWD (Visual Web Developer) is very helpful.

2. Using the DotNetNuke administrator panel - This will be used when you need to add content, remove images, configure user accounts, etc. You need a superuser/administrator password in order to edit. You will get these logins while configuring/installing DotNetNuke. Always take note of and keep these passwords properly, because you will need this information later.

One of the common problems when using the administrator panel is forgetting passwords. A DotNetNuke installation that runs in the local host is not going to send the recovered passwords to your email address, because the SMTP service might be disabled in your system.

Of course, if you do not have administrator logins, you cannot edit or add new content to your DotNetNuke CMS. The following is a useful procedure for recovering administrator/superuser passwords without the need for an email password recovery service in DotNetNuke:

Step 1. In your Visual Web Developer Express, go to the Default.aspx of your DotNetNuke website. Then go to File à View in Browser, and the default DotNetNuke website will be shown in the browser.

Step 2. In the home page of the website, click the "Register" link. You will be taken to a user registration page.

Step 3. The following is a guideline for how to fill out these forms:

a. User Name = do not use your previous username; choose a new one.

b. First name = your first name.

c. Last name = your last name.

d. Display Name = this should be the same as your username.

e. Email address = use a different email address from the one you used previously.

f. Password fields = enter this carefully and write it down, so you won't forget this again.

Finally click "Register link." You should see an error: "There was an error sending confirmation emails - The SMTP host was not specified... However, your user account was created successfully." This is because the SMTP host is not enabled, so just ignore this error and click the "Cancel" link.

Here is an example screen shot:

Step 4. Using Visual Web Developer Express, go to View à Database Explorer  à Expand "Database.mdf" à Expand "Tables" à find the database table named "aspnet_Membership." Right click on it and click "Show Table data."

Step 5. The last row contains the password information for the username you have just registered (please also confirm under the CreateDate column to make sure that last row is created as the latest record). You will need to copy both "Password" and "PasswordSalt" of the last row (this is the one you just registered in Step 2) and replace the "Password" and "PasswordSalt" values of the first and second rows. 

Either of the first and second rows contains the administrator password, so if it is replaced with the password for the latest username you created, you can now log in as an administrator using the password you just set.

Of course, after overwriting the administrator password, all rows should contain basically the same passwords:

Note: these passwords are in an encrypted format.

Step 6. Try logging in as superuser/administrator using the website login screen.

Removing default content on the home page

Before you can insert your content, you need to remove the default content shown after the installation (which shows DotNetNuke content).

To do this, follow the steps below:

Step1. Log in as an administrator/superuser.

Step 2. You can now see the edit/pencil icon. When you click on this, it will let you edit that specific portion of the home page. Example:

Step 3. Use your keyboard delete button to remove the content (whether it is images or text). Make sure that there is no default content left. The section will look blank after deletion. Do the same for the paragraph headers; for example, delete "DotNetNuke Community Edition."

Step 4. Replace the paragraph header text with the actual paragraph header text you will use for your own content. Also start adding your own site's content.

Example:

Step 5. You need to change the home page title tag to fit your website content. To do this, in the top left of the website, look for "Page Functions." Click "Settings."

Under "Page Details," put related information. For example:

Page Name: Home

Page Title: Codex-M Digital Tavern

Leave everything else at its default values, then click "Update." The title tag will then be changed.

The Website So Far

Step 6. The content editing on the home page and tweaking of the home page title tag is complete. Try to log out to see what your website looks like to the public.

In the above example, the website will look like this:

What was changed and needs to change?

As you have noticed, the website's look drastically changed after it was edited using the administrator panel in DotNetNuke.

1. The home page now features the correct content, and the default content used during installation was entirely removed.

2. The title tag was also changed to one that is more accurate and descriptive.

3. Since the above screen shot was taken during the log-out, the admin and host links are not shown.

What still needs to be changed?

In part two of this tutorial, you will learn how to further tweak your DotNetNuke website to:

1. Change the website logo/header image. In the above screen shot, the website uses the DotNetNuke logo, which is not correct.

2. Change the terms and privacy statements so that they are no longer using the same title as the home page. For SEO purposes, you need those titles to be entirely different.

3. Change the content of the terms and conditions as well as the privacy statement, so that it is no longer using the default content.

4. Add contact pages.

5. Revise the copyright notice.

Those are the major topics in part two. You will also encounter the common DotNetNuke errors that come up during web development and how to troubleshoot them.