Pants Optional!

First Published Module (Timed Skins) – DNN 5 Version

dylan.barber@embarqmail.com — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:33:47 GMT

Change skins based on a schedule. Ever needed to have your site change skins for the seasons or the holidays. Now you can set up a schedule and get on with your work.

http://www.snowcovered.com/Snowcovered2/Default.aspx?tabid=242&PackageID=16898

CodeMyPantsOff First Published Module (Timed Skins)

dylan.barber@embarqmail.com — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:07:44 GMT

Timed Skins

Change skins based on a schedule. Ever needed to have your site change skins for the seasons or the holidays. Now you can set up a schedule and get on with your work.

http://www.snowcovered.com/Snowcovered2/Default.aspx?tabid=242&PackageID=16887

Skinning Fun (Adding Classes to the body tag from a DNN skin)

Dylan.barber@embarqmail.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:42:16 GMT

With jQuery and CSS becoming so much more the norm for web development it becomes even more necessary to be able to manipulate classes on elements not in the skin, specifically the body tag.

There are really two ways to do this and each has it benefits and problems, jQuery and inline code.

Jquery: This method is so simple simply add in the skin and it will add whatever class to the body tag, in DNN the id of the body tag is ‘Body’. The only problem with this method is if you are depending on that class being there even if jQuery fails to run you are out of luck.

Inline Code: the method uses a simple bit of inline vb.net code to add the class to the body tag

Now this method will work as long as DNN works it only depends on the ASP.NET parser parsing the file out as it will have to for any DNN portal to work. The problem here is there is that millisecond of more processing.

Both methods are valid and work fine – I think the second method is a bit more reliable since a user could have JavaScript turned off on the client then your site may look strange if you have coded CSS classes for the body.

Online Jobsites and Politics – A Rant Maybe?

dylan.barber@embarqmail.com — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:52:29 GMT

In a time of economic crisis when the main discussion in Washington seems to be if there should be a stimulus or a jobs program its interesting to see how a political candidate advertises for help to build a website. Now I for one am happy to see that sort of work appear on a job site and most likely it will go to one of the lower bidders but what I find interesting is that a State Representative running for office would not think to add some verbiage into the job description such as ‘US candidates only’ or even something about ‘Michigan based providers given preference’. I may be wrong but even something as simple as a website, if it goes off shore, would be political ammunition for any opposition candidate or group. What do you think?

I think I will keep an eye on this Job on Elance - http://www.elance.com/c/rfp/main/rfpBid.pl?jobid=18976113

Ever Have To Backup Backwards? Convert MS SQL 2008 - 2005

Dylan.barber@embarqmail.com — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:42:16 GMT

Okay guess Microsoft never figured someone would want to restore something from SQL Server 2008 to 2005 so its not that intuitive to do. Here’s a, mostly, tested way to do it.

1) Start convert wizard

Open SQL Server Management Studio2008. in 'Object Explorer', right click the database that you want to convert. Select 'Tasks' > 'Generate Scripts...'.

2) Next

Click 'Next'.

3) Select database and objects

Select the database that you want to convert, and check on 'Scripts all objects in the selected databases'

4) Convert Options

Set options:

'Script for Server Version' = 'SQL Server 2005'
'Script Data' = 'True'
'Script Database Create' = 'True'

5) Output Option

Select option 'Script to file', 'Single file' and 'Unicode text'.

6) 'Finish'

View summary and click 'Finish'.

7) Result

Now you got a complete database creation script with data. It can be executed on target database server.

8) Amend Script

Open the generated script in SQL Server Management Studio 2005. Find the following section and amend the path to proper data folder

    CREATE DATABASE [StockTraderDB] ON  PRIMARY 
( NAME = N'StockTraderDB', 
FILENAME = N'c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\StockTraderDB.mdf ,
 SIZE = 4352KB , MAXSIZE = UNLIMITED, FILEGROWTH = 1024KB )
 LOG ON 
( NAME = N'StockTraderDB_log', 
FILENAME = N'c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\StockTraderDB_log.LDF',
 SIZE = 6272KB , MAXSIZE = 2048GB , FILEGROWTH = 10%)

9) Execute the Script

When finished, You should get converted database of SQL Server 2005

Originally from http://www.devx.com/dbzone/Article/40531/0/page/1

Mass Tabs – the free way to build a huge site quickly

Dylan.barber@embarqmail.com — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:31:01 GMT

Okay another fun little thing for your DNN portals. Ever needed to create a bunch of tabs all at once under another tab? Its kind of hard to sit and click through the add page dialog 10, 20, or 30 times. So I created a small little module (its still sort of Alpha at this point) to allow you to create a whole bevy of tabs in one stroke. Simply fill in the names of the tabs, one name per line, set the other parameters and hit the Update button.

I have tested this on 4.9.5 and 5.2 so it needs more testing but it should be solid because it uses the same code as the core manage tabs functionality. In fact if you ask me this should be in the core!

I put the project up on Codeplex so feel free to download comment and mess with it all you want. The project url is http://masstabs.codeplex.com.

Thanks!!!!

Find My DNN Portal

dylan.barber@embarqmail.com — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:16:35 GMT

Recently I have started helping out with some development and support for FindEightDigital.com. FindEight has a dedicated server and has smartly split up portals into databases that correspond to the level of traffic they receive.

This presents me with a bit of a problem because I need to discover what portal is in what database and its id. After looking this up in about three databases I decide to get my friend (http://zackue.com) to write me a little query so I can always find the right database. Here is the nice little query he came up with.

IF OBJECT_ID ('tempdb..##TempTemp','U') IS NOT NULL
      DROP TABLE ##TempTemp

CREATE TABLE ##TempTemp (ID INT, Name NVARCHAR(MAX ), DbName NVARCHAR(MAX))

exec sp_MSforeachdb 'IF OBJECT_ID (''?.dbo.Portals'',''U'') IS NOT NULL INSERT ##TempTemp SELECT PortalId, PortalName , ''?'' FROM ?.dbo.Portals'

select * from ##TempTemp;

My 5 Favorite Objects for DNN Portals

dylan.barber@embarqmail.com — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:57:43 GMT

Building DNN for clients sometimes can take finding some custom module on Snowcovered or building one yourself but there are some modules and other objects I really like to have in my DNN portal no matter what it looks like or does.

Oliver Hines Advanced Control Panel. This replacement for the control panel that admin and host accounts see is slick and optimized for the web. Makes working with the control bar just that much easier. (Download)
Oliver Hines Optimized Skin Objects. Something that has been long overdue for DNN! By taking out some of those post backs it really does appear to make the site peppier to end users. (Download)
Oliver Hines Primary Portal Alias. Now this little install is actually a core modification so you might want to think about it before installing but if you are serious about SEO and 301 redirects for your portal this is the modification to use. Especially if you don't want to or cant mess with IIS directly. (Download)
DNNDoneRight DNN Menu (Guess its now DNN Garden). This is a great menu with a lot of options for the menu including a templated version so you can style it exactly like you want. I particularly like the Mega Menu (Download)
Oliver Hines Google Analytics Evolved. Okay this is something that I think the DNN core should of done when they added in the Google analytics to the core but since they didn't we are lucky its open source so someone else could. (Download)

These are my 5 favorite things to include on portals. Do they make portal development any easier or help me add content to pages not really, they do solve some of the small issues that take so much time to solve each time a portal is started.

Have more you would like to add?

Work Smarter, Not harder (maybe?)

dylan.barber@embarqmail.com — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:23:17 GMT

Here are a four strategies you can use to get the most out of your time at home:

When is your peak efficiency? At what time during the day are you most alert, focused and ready to go? How long does it last?
Maybe you work best from 8am to noon. But, are so brain dead in the afternoon, you might as well be doing something else. Then perhaps you get a second wind after dinner for 3 or 4 hours, and voila, there’s your 8 hour day. Not quite your typical day at the office, but you’ve gotten twice as much done as you would otherwise. For some people it’s starting a 5 am, others like to work through the night.
The trick here is to pay attention to your internal clock and figure out when your energy is highest.
Do other things during your down time: Exercise, groceries, oil changes. If you are not the 9 to 5 type, then this works perfectly because you avoid the crowds at stores, the gym, and the garage filled with the people who only have time on weekends and after 5pm on weekdays. No line ups, no waiting around = more efficient.
Create a work friendly atmosphere. Not only have dedicated workspace that is tidy and organized, but make it inspiring and inviting. Hang art on the wall, have potted plants in the room, play music that helps you concentrate, buy comfortable furniture. Feeling good in your environment results in improved productivity.
Stir things up once in a while. If you are uninspired in your normal space, set yourself up with a laptop and work in the dining room or living room, or add a cell phone and go to your favorite coffee shop once in a while. Sometimes completely new surroundings will help you work better and faster. Plus, it’s more fun!

Being flexible and incorporating interesting strategies into your work habits are some of the best advantages of working at home. Do you have any unconventional ways of improving your efficiency and effectiveness?

Playing with the new DNN Blog (4.00.00 Beta 3)

Dylan.barber@embarqmail.com — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:06:00 GMT

I installed the new DNN blog on a test install again today. The beta 3 is really shaping up to be a nice package. Its sort of late to add my 2 cents now but I will anyway.

The ‘Recent Entries’ and ‘Recent Comments’ modules might want to be split out into their own Module instances and not part of the overall Blog module. The reason I say this is when setting up a blog in a larger site. I wouldn’t set these on the blog page these go to something like the home page. Putting them as their own module instance would make it easier for users to move those around and have them where portal builders want.

If we now have categories is there really a need for child blogs? This is a feature that I have always found a little hard to use. I think it has some validity but categories seems to be more mainstream and understandable.

I did not see anything on any roadmap but I also wondered if it was ever going to be possible to have multiple people manage one blog. We use the blog for a lot of communication and we have to have a shared login to manage that – not a big deal but a bit of a hassle when working in a larger group. Where if I could simply allow users to publish to a specific blog it seems like it would solve a few problems (like live writer not seeing all the blogs etc.)