Recently, Shaun Walker posted a blog in which he discussed whether DotNetNuke (DNN) should be rewritten in ASP.NET MVC. This blog created quite a stir, both within the DotNetNuke Community and within the ASP.NET Community as a whole.

In a comment that I added to Shaun’s post I suggested that the debate should not be over whether DNN should be rewritten in ASP.NET MVC (or any other framework that may come in the future), the discussion should be on “How can we enable developers to use the ASP.NET Technologies of their choice when developing extensions for DNN.” After all, if we rewrite DNN in MVC we effectively lock out WebForm developers.

DotNetNuke is a highly robust web-application framework that is ideally suited for a wide variety of purposes, from simple websites to enterprise applications.  Associated with the framework is a team of security professionals who are dedicated to ensuring that third-party developers are able to create secure modules (and that the DotNetNuke framework itself is maximally secured against external threat).  In this way, DotNetNuke developers are able to quickly leverage security services provided by the core framework, allowing for more rapid development and increased overall quality. In this article we review some of the security-related services that are offered by the core DotNetNuke framework and discuss their ability to defend against real-world threats.

Beginning with version 5.1, DotNetNuke introduces provider-based authorization as a first-class framework extension point. Prior to this enhancement, authorization in DotNetNuke took place entirely within the core and was not customizable in any way.  In this article, we explore the motivations, implementation, and configuration associated with these changes, and discuss what this might mean for future customization.

Web applications have made many advances over the years, especially in the area of user interface design. Interactive interfaces, complex windows style GUI, seamless flow and a great user experience are some of the requirements that developers are faced with. As developers we look to frameworks and libraries for easier, faster development. In this article we’ll focus on adding jQuery UI, a library of rich client side components, to a DotNetNuke Module.

Microsoft’s LINQ to SQL is a great choice for module development in the DotNetNuke platform. It allows for rapid development, is well-suited to smaller and focused architectures, and has a lightweight footprint. For many DotNetNuke modules – which often focus on performing one highly-focused task – this is a natural fit. In this article we explore the many advantages of using LINQ to SQL as a data tier within a DotNetNuke module and demonstrate a sample module using this technology.