Developing a DotNetNuke CMS website

Question

I am a junior developer and I have just graduated from university this year. I am working private with some people and I have just been given a music website to develop using DotNetNuke. I have a some experience using DotNetNuke which I have gained making small modules that take care of certain functionality on a webpages but I have never taken on a whole website before. I would love it if some one would give me some guidence on how to approach this project and answer some of my questions.

What are the steps involved in developing a dotnetnuke website?

How different is it from a developers perspective to develop a dotnetnuke cms website from a cms website which was developed from scratch?

When it comes to the database do you add tables to the database incrementally as you develop new functionality or do you plan everything in advance and create tables and stored procedures at once?

Answer 1

What are the steps involved in developing a dotnetnuke website?

1. Pick your version (if you're starting now, pick 5.1.1)
2. Installation (use Source package locally, Install package everywhere else)
3. Settings Configuration (performance, security, user info, etc.)
4. Adding & configuring core/third party modules
5. Adding & configuring third party skins
6. Custom Extension (typically module or provider) Development
7. Custom Skin Development

How different is it from a developers perspective to develop a dotnetnuke cms website from a cms website which was developed from scratch?

Very. When you're starting with an established CMS you're inheriting solutions to tons and tons of solved problems. In the case of DNN, you have a substantial framework at your disposal. The focus will be more on learning and leveraging the existing API/features. If you're starting from scratch you're providing that foundation yourself. Using an established CMS is not necessarily better than the other - it depends on what you're trying to accomplish. If you require fine-grained control over everything and you want a great learning experience, rolling your own may be the best way to go.

When it comes to the database do you add tables to the database incrementally as you develop new functionality or do you plan everything in advance and create tables and stored procedures at once?

No matter what your project is, I'd suggest doing things as they are needed and not before. I think "doing everything in advance" would be impossible/horrible anyway. The heart of this question is really going to be defining your development process - I don't think this would necessarily be any different than in other projects. I like to define the features I want, organize them based on their relation to each other (which should come first due to dependencies, etc) and start implementing them one at a time and give each one the attention it needs.

Answer 2

You may also want to look into Lee Sykes' tutorials on module development using OpenWebStudio. However, I'm more on the design end, mainly just skinning, configuring, SE optimizing sites and matching client needs to our library of licensed 3rd party modules. However, the DNN community is VERY supportive and VERY helpful. There are some great resources out there, and I've found several blogs by the core development team to be essential for helping me wrap my head around the DNN framework.

Keep with it, and don't be scared to ask questions.

References:

www.dnncreative.com - Lee Sykes' Site, many tutorials on the how-tos of the DNN system. It's well worth the yearly subscription IMHO.

www.dotnetnuke.com - The main site for the DNN community

www.snowcovered.com - Central (AFAIK) site where many module developers sell their products, everything from skins to modules.