Hello Lee:

I am new to DotNetNuke and downloaded the Community Edition yesterday and I am using Visual Web Developer 2008 Express.

I installed DotNetNuke and created my first test site. But that was yesterday. How do I access my site under construction? Google can’t find the local host. When I use VWD and click the view website link the program works well but when I close VWD the program malfunctions. I have VWD set to dynamic ports because I think it doesn’t work so well on fixed ports. Also the program loads very slowly.

I would like to see a tutorial on accessing the websites under construction.

Also can an installation of DotNetNuke be copied to another folder and renamed or is a fresh installation required?

So far I have found your tutorials very helpful and easy to follow and this was quite persuasive in choosing DotNetNuke.

Google cannot find your installation because it isn't on the Internet.  Do do that, you will have to create a website on your computer using IIS.  The biggie is that you will also need to have a domain name in the Internet's DNS system that points to your computer. 

When you close VWD -- assuming that you are using the internal web server that is part of VWD -- you are essentially turning off the website.  It's not malfunctioning.  It's simply not functioning.  It is possible to use VWD with the IIS web server.  Take a look at adefwebserver.com for some help.  You can also install DotNetNuke with IIS and create a website that runs on your computer.  Then, you can open that website in IIS if you need to develop. 

Most people will never need nor use VWD to develop a DotNetNuke site because it is needed only if you want to develop custom modules.  Though, it can be helpful if you want to develop a custom skin.

The program will load slowly in a development environment as you have described because it reloads and recompiles every time you start it.

Yes, you can copy an installation to another folder or rename it.  You may need to do some additional configuration changes, such as making sure that file permissions are changed.  You will also need to repoint IIS to the new directory.

Besides adefwebserver, there are several useful books available.

Also, you do not need to run VWD to install DNN on your local computer, these tutorials can also help you to get started:

• How to install DotNetNuke to Windows 7
• How to install DotNetNuke to Vista
• How to install DotNetNuke 4.5 to Windows XP Pro with IIS

• How to backup a live hosted DotNetNuke website and restore it to a localhost installation
• How to transfer a localhost DotNetNuke installation to a live website
• How to adjust your Nameserver settings