Asp.net - what are the best latest tools /frameworks, etc to look at . . .

Question

Ok, i have done a bunch of asp as well as asp.net right when it came out. A friend is starting a non profit organization and he wants me to put together a site for him. I figured i would kill 2 birds with one stone and look to freshen up my skills on the latest that the web has to offer in asp.net, web 2.0, etc.

The site requirements are pretty simple:

1. Organization mission statement
2. Users ability to register
3. Photos, content
4. Blog posts
5. Ability to donate directly on the site (maybe through paypal)

So my questions is what are the best tools to start here given its going to be hosted on windows ASP.net platform 3.5. Any other frameworks that i should be looking at.

Where is the best place to start?

I could easily build the site just putting a table together and a bunch of static pages but i figured if it made sense to utilize and help freshen my skills, it would be worth the efforts of the learning curve.

Feel free to suggest any other items that i haven't listed.

Answer 1

Have a look at ASP.Net MVC and JQUERY also take a look at S#Arp as a nice platform to build your site upon. It setups ASP.Net MVC, with nHibernate and has really good guidance on a good DDD structure.

Answer 2

In case you've overlooked it, The AJAX Control Toolkit -

addresses three needs. First it gives website developers a place to get components to make their web applications spring to life, second it gives a set of great examples for those wishing to write client-side code, and third it is a place for the best script developers to get their work highlighted.

For an open source functioning CMS system, look at N2. N2 is a lightweight CMS framework to help you build great web sites that anyone can update. The user interface is intuitive and empowering. The developer story is something quite exquisite.