Hi,

I am new to DotNetNuke.  I have downloaded the web application and installed it on my localhost.  I have also installed some of the available modules.  However, all this has been from reading pieces of information from various places.  My question is that is there any document that I can follow from the beginning to end that describes how to build the web site?  For example in VS 2005 you start by setting up the root virtual directory and start adding ASP (or ASP.NET) pages to it.  Then you build your menu.  I have seen alot of documents on skinning but things have not fallen into place for me while working with DotNetNuke in terms of building the sites components (pages) etc.  Is there any document or Forum that you can point me to for a step-by-step approach to building the site?  There are alot of information but all are dispersed and diffiult to find some information that you are looking for unless you stumble upon it.

Thanks.

For starteres, take a look at these tutorials:

• An Introduction to the Principles of DotNetNuke
• Quick Start Guide to DotNetNuke
• Basic Introduction to Working with Pages in DotNetNuke
• How to Build a Website using DotNetNuke
• Planning a DotNetNuke website

The "How to Build" tutorial goes through the process of building a complete site, including the skin.

And don't forget the ever-popular "Dummies" series of books.  There is at least one about DotNetNuke.  There are others, too, that you might find useful. 

Just to go through some of your questions though ...

• Installing DotNetNuke essentially creates your root directory. 
  
• There are no pages!  The data to create pages is stored in your database.
• The menu is part of your skin, so you don't have to do that, either - if you want to change the way your menu works, or how your pages look, you change the skin.
  
• Once you have your basic site you can add pages, add modules to pages, add content to modules.
• There is an administrative set of tools to help customize your site.
• The "Pages" tool helps you arrange pages

Don't forget that DNNCreative is your home for asking questions, getting information, etc.  Ask lots of questions!

Thanks Jo for your reply. The information you provided has started to give me some understanding of how it all is supposed to work. I will have a lot more questions in the future though. I wanted to buy a book on Amazon.com but when I read the recommendations none of them were very supportive of the books on this subject. I have not seen the book you mentioned yet but I will look for it. Thanks.

"DotNetNuke for Dummies" is the book I had in mind. It's the first one that comes up if I search for "DotNetNuke Dummies" at Amazon. I actually haven't read that book, but it probably coveres the bases.

My main bood is the "Professional DotNetNuke 4" book by Shaun Walker and a cast of thousands. It's not a cookbook, but it helped me. It goes into a lot of details that most folks don't need to know. It will be updated early next year, too, for DotNetNuke 5.