DNN 7.0 Overview - What's New in DNN 7.0?
For Content Editors:
Control Panel
DotNetNuke 7.0 includes a brand new control panel for managing your site. Each menu has
been updated to offer a more intuitive experience. We've even made it possible for end users
to personalize the menu by creating their own bookmarks within the menu. The Host and
Admin menus include areas for common items, advanced items and personal bookmarks.
The Modules, Pages and Users menu items provide quick access to common features in
those areas.
View Mode by Default
Navigating page-by-page while in edit mode has never been the most efficient way to
navigate a DotNetNuke site. Edit mode increases the overall page payload and browser
rendering. In DotNetNuke 7.0, users are now always in View mode. The Edit Page menu
gives the user the ability to quickly toggle edit mode along with providing quick access to
common page tasks.
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Edit Mode Improvements
DNN 7.0 has View Mode as the default view for all users. You can also choose to select
"Stay in Edit Mode" which switches the default view to edit mode. The default View Mode
improves page rendering and response time for general purposes.
Drag and Drop Modules
DotNetNuke 7.0 brings back Drag-n-Drop and its better than ever. You can now drag
modules between panes and from the control panel to a pane while in edit mode.
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DNN 7.0 Overview - What's New in DNN 7.0?
Cross Site Module Sharing
For DotNetNuke installs with multiple sites, there is a fairly common need for the ability share
content across different sites. In DNN 7.0 Professional and Enterprise Edition, you now have
the ability to share modules across multiple sites within the same DotNetNuke instance.
Sharing the HTML module is very simple. Just choose "Add Existing Module" from the
Modules menu then select the site that contains the module you would like to share. Next,
choose the page where the module exists and you will see a list of shareable modules come
sliding across.
Actions Menu
In DNN 7.0, we have removed the Manage button in favor of a new approach that will
provide greater consistency with skins. The Manage button has been replaced by an Actions
menu that properly separates common module tasks. You will see three icons that represent
Edit, Manage and Move. The Edit menu will be used for module-defined actions. The
Manage menu is used for settings and admin tasks. The Move menu is used to move a
module between panes when drag-n-drop isn't available.
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HTML Module Auto Save
Have you ever been working on a piece of content and have your browser crash? Maybe you
thought you were trying to clean up a few browser windows and accidentally closed the
wrong window. If you have been a victim of lost HTML work, you will love the new auto save
feature. Simply enable the Auto Save option from the HTML Module Setting’s window and
you'll manage content easier knowing that your hard work is being saved in the background.
HTML Module Version Compare
Have you ever wanted to know what changed in a piece of content between versions?
DotNetNuke makes it easy for you to keep track of multiple versions of your content, but now
we have made it even better! With Version Compare, you can easily see the difference
between each stored version of content. You can choose to highlight the actual text changes,
or for those that want even more detail you can switch to HTML view and see the actual
code that was changed.
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DNN 7.0 Overview - What's New in DNN 7.0?
New Default Skin & Template
The Dark Knight skin has had a good run, but it was time for Awesome Cycles to step up
their game. The clean and simple Gravity skin is a great example for designers to use to
become familiar with the CSS improvements with 7.0.
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Simplified Installer
The first thing you will notice is that the installer has been updated. Not only have we
updated the look and feel, but we also simplified the overall install process. You shouldn’t
have to click through a series of screens in order to just get your website running. With the
7.0 installer, we have taken an approach that allows for the application to be installed
quickly, but also provides you with the ability to configure advanced features if you wish.
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DNN 7.0 Overview - What's New in DNN 7.0?
New Getting Started Page
The first thing you will see after you have completed the install is our new Getting Started
page. The 7.0 Getting Started page includes quick access to two intro videos, the new
Advanced Settings page and quick links to community resources.
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For the Enterprise:
Active
Enterprise users can now login using their Active Directory credentials. This
provides the added security and simplicity of single sign-on across multiple web
sites that comply with the organization’s existing security policies.
Directory
SharePoint
Available exclusively in the DotNetNuke Enterprise Edition, the Microsoft
SharePoint Connector enables fast, secure publishing of documents stored in
SharePoint to public web sites, extranets or intranets. You can securely
manage your document library within SharePoint and selectively publish
specific documents using the flexible, cost effective DNN platform. DNN 7.0
extends your SharePoint investment by adding support for popular SharePoint
Lists in our Microsoft SharePoint Connector.
List Integration
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DNN 7.0 Overview - What's New in DNN 7.0?
For Web Designers:
DNN 7.0 makes it easy to create beautiful and engaging web sites with an
overhauled CSS foundation that improves cross-browser compatibility, extends
standards compliance and increases site performance. DNN 7.0 provides
standard form patterns that designers can reuse or extend to build frequently
used user-interface elements.
Overhauled
CSS
Foundation
A new style guide provides an easy way for skin developers to see how
headings, buttons, lists and HTML content types will be rendered. Designers
can then quickly customize and adjust their CSS to optimize new design skins.
Style Guide
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For Web Developers:
DNN 7.0 gives developers the ability to build and expose secure web services
through the DNN Service Framework, which is now based on Microsoft’s Web
API. The included jQuery, jQueryUI and Knockout.js libraries make it even
easier for developers to utilize web services to create modern, interactive clientside applications.
Service
Framework
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DNN 7.0 Overview - What's New in DNN 7.0?
Data access has been simplified through the introduction of a micro-ORM,
allowing simpler, more secure database interactions with fewer lines of code.
New Data
Access Layer
Full Razor
Support
With the baseline DNN platform requirements moving to ASP.NET 4.0, Razor is
now a first class citizen in the framework for developing advanced modules with
full support for packaging and distributions. ASP.NET Razor is now optimized
for developing dynamic extensions and for combining code and content in a
fluid and expressive manner.
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