I thought some of you might enjoy reading about some of the more technical aspects of how the portal operates. I'll be adding entries here discussing some of the more technical aspects of the portal system your all using and what's happening with it and some of the 3rd party modules.
 
As many of you know the main project is open source. Any one can keep up with what's happening on the project at DotNetNuke.com. There are also forums full of useful information here. The release cycle is anywhere from 3 to 8 months between versions. The active release at this writing is 3.0.13 with 3.1 imminent. This is an unbelievable project when you look at how it started and where it's come. Hard to believe that so many people have given so much time to something they get very little or no income from. For me it has been literally a gift from heaven and I thank God for it every day.
 
The basic operation is no different than any other database back end web application. The portal really consists of a single page, default.aspx. Based on the visitors request the application goes to the database, pulls the information required and displays it to the visitor. This makes for a very powerful application for website construction as the possibilities are really endless.
 
To operate the basic minimum requirements are a Windows server with the .net framework installed and an MSSQL server. Sounds pretty easy until you take a look at the licensing for SQL Server. There are other routes out there to get access to an SQL database, most of which involve sharing your space with 300 - 500 other databases on the same server. Not my idea of optimum performance and reliability. But thats why we're here!
 
As you already know the core framework requires modules for your content. Thats where the rubber really meets the road. The system is really only as robust as the modules you use. We use several 3rd party modules to accomplish many different things in the portal. From the file manager to the news module, everything is chosen based on the features available, it's reliability (very closely related to the reliability of the developer) and it's flexibility. Some modules are there to do a very specific task, like Form Master. Others could nearly run your entire site, like the news module. I'll use this blog as a way to keep you up to date on what's happening with the modules as well.
 
The other very important ingredient is the editor. Your portals use a very advanced editor that allows you to complete a variety of tasks while editing your site. Learning how to use the editor is the single most important aspect of learning how to create a rich website environment.
 
'till next time.......
 
God Bless
Jack