dotnetnuke upgrades, third party modules, and performance

DotNetNuke®

Upgrades, Third Party Modules, and

Performance

Presented by Ian Robinson

DotNetNuke Announcements

• DotNetNuke Connections 2010 Speakers Announced

• European Day of DNN Sessions and Speakers Announced

• DNN 05.04.01 Released• Portal Localization• Blog 04.00.00 Released• DotNetNuke Training Announced• Events 05.01.00 Beta Available• Core XHTML Forum Discussion

QA Team Recruiting

Presentation Agenda

• Upgrades– Why & How

• Third Party Modules– Build vs. Buy– Buying Considerations– Installing

• Performance– Managing Features Effectively– Configuring DNN

Why Upgrade?

• Features– Private messaging was introduced in 5.3.1

• Dependencies– Third party module depends on newer version of

DNN• Security

– 5.3.0 & 5.3.1 Have “Critical” Security Flaw• Bugs

– 5.2.3 corrected an issue “where security roles were not properly enforced between child portals”

Picking a Version

• Personally recommended– Latest stabilization release

• 05.04.01 is currently latest version *

• Many prefer to lag behind a version or two• 05.02.03 is generally recommended

• If you still can’t move to DNN 5 (why?)– At least upgrade to 4.9.5

* 05.04.02 should be out soon

How do I Upgrade?

• Backup– Entire File System– Entire Database– Verify

• Upgrade File System• Complete Wizard

Extensions: Build vs. “Buy” *

• Options– Buy and configure

• Often the cheapest and fastest• Usually requires compromises

– Buy and customize• Often gets you 80% of the way• Still need means to customize (developers)• Lose upgrade path

– Build from scratch• Usually the most expensive option (resources, money,

time)• Don’t have to compromise

* Extensions can, of course, be free, too

Finding Extensions

• Open Source– The DotNetNuke Forge / Codeplex

• Commercial– Snowcovered

• Showcase Sites (Indirectly)– dnnGallery.net

Considerations

• Company– Reputation– Support– Community Involvement

• Product– Source Code– License– Technical Dependencies– Key Features: Templating, Localization

• What is everyone else using? Why?

Installing/Uninstalling Extensions

• Be as informed as possible– Readme files– Instructions on the web site– Other people’s reviews– Forum posts

• Backup your site• Extensions• Install Wizard

Managing Features for Performance• Manage Features

– Site Log– Scheduler– Event Viewer– Authentication Providers

Configuring for Performance

• Configure Host Performance Settings– Page State Persistence– Module Cache Provider– Cache Setting– Authenticated Cacheability, (msdn reference)

– Compression Setting *– Whitespace Filter

* Advanced alternative: Configure GZIP in IIS

Other Performance Considerations• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

– jQuery• Use Yslow extension for FireBug• Third Party Products

– PageBlaster– Aptimize

Thanks to our Sponsors

• R2integrated for sponsoring our refreshments.

• Tekpub, JetBrains, Microsoft, and Intertech for providing us with free software licenses, books, and training opportunities.