Hello,

I am a current Xoops CMS admin who has frankly had his fill of the constant road map changes the code forks of that software. I am looking for a new CMS for a gaming community/news site as well as a Pagan/Wiccan news/community site. And DNN has caught my eye.

I like the fact the WYSIWYG editor I see on the DNN sites and the fact its MS platform based. My server is running Small Business Server 2003 (SBS 2003) and it would be nice to deal with a CSM that is geared for that. Rather my current setup of Server 2k3, Apache, PHP and MySQL. Having to keep track of all the various elements (patches, upgrades, etc) can be time consuming from a admin standpoint.

I do have a few questions however:

The modules I see here installed on the home DNN site, are those the core/free modules I see for d/l or are they commercial?

What advice can you offer to a admin coming from the Xoops CMS to move over to DNN? Are there any tidbits of advice that would be helpful to make the move go smoother?

I am fearful of starting another site on a CMS that will fork and change directions more times then my gf changes outfits. I started with Xoops and over 2 yrs time it just become a mess with various forks and modules that stopped working with certain core versions with little oversight/direction on what works with what anymore. I REALLY want to avoid these headaches as it brought my site of 2.5 yrs to its knees. It SEEMS (and I could be wrong) the core/free modules are maintained by official staff that ensure it works with the core. Is this the case?

Thank you for any input you have to offer.

Peter "Strauss" White
Admin of www.nwn2news.net

hello Peter,

The modules installed on DotNetNuke.com are the free core modules.

I can't really offer any advice on moving over from Xoops CMS as I haven't used that system.

You may find however the free QuickStart guide videos helpful:

An Introduction to the Principles of DotNetNuke

Quick Start Guide to DotNetNuke

There are no forks in DotNetNuke, and you are correct that the core code is maintained by official DotNetNuke staff which helps to prevent some of the problems you have experienced.

You should also find that the modules available for purchase keep up-to-date with the latest versions of DotNetNuke and most of them have a good support network.

The first thing I would do is watch the quick start guide videos and then install DotNetNuke on a local host installation and have a good play around with all of the settings.

Hope this helps to get you started,

Thanks,

Thank you so much for the links and feedback, the more I look at DNN the more I am liking it!

no problem, let us know how you get on,

happy nuking!

thanks,