Received this question:

Thanks for the e-mail. I was finally able to add a blog to DNN. I am finding this program hard to use. I am trying to sell it to my employer. I am finding the help files, not that great. I want my user to be able to query our data base and I want to make forms etc. However I am not finding much help online. I also can’t find a whole lot of modules that are free. I am really starting to think this wasn’t a great idea. I need a free website that has dummy video’s. LOL Hope you can help.

Hi Maria, LOL I understand what you are going through! I'll try to help as much as I can...

What do you mean you'd like your user to be able to query the database? What exactly do they need to be able to do? and how?

Forms can be made in all sorts of ways, i.e. you can make simple forms using the feedback module and more complicated forms using the Form and List module (both included with DNN).

It is a shame though, the most user friendly and useful modules are premium and cost money... such as Datasprings Dynamic Forms http://www.datasprings.com/products...amic-forms

There are lots of cheaper alternatives.

Cheers,

Andy

Marias reply:

Thanks, I will be working on it some more today.

Basically what I want to do is. Make a form that when a user wants to find any information from our database they can find it. For example say I want to find out how much money “Sam” made I can enter his name and click on “money earned this month”. And the form will get the data and output in to another readable format. Hope that make sense. So I am trying to do those types of forms, and I hope that I am using the right wording for what I want. Like I said I am really really new at this! I am going to check out your suggestions later tonight and see if it works.

Let me add some thoughts to this.

First, there are quite a few free modules, and many of them are (IMHO) quite good. The best place to look for free modules, skins, skin objects, etc. is at codeplex.com. If you are using DotNetNuke 6, you can even search codeplex and Snowcovered from the Host, Extensions page right inside of DotNetNuke.

For querying and generating reports and other displays from a database,

-- the free Reports and Form and List modules are part of DotNetNuke. The are quite flexible, particularly in their use of XLT and visualizer functions to display the data.

-- I have also used SGSV from tressleworks.ca (It costs $7, which is nearly free). SGSV should be in your toolbox.

--Data Springs Dynamic Forms is a great module. There is also FormMaster. I've used both of these, too.

Now as for a user locating "any information from our database" -- this assumes that your database is set up in a manner that permits the necessary queries. If you can generate the queries from a form input, then you can use most (all) of the modules I listed to produce results.

You also mentioned that you thought that using DotNetNuke is "hard." Give it a little time and I think that you will find it is easy. To do this, though, you need to break it down in parts and begin to understand each part. As a web application framework, DotNetNuke is quite powerful and encompasses a broad range of capabilities. You'll need to focus on the pieces that you need, so that you can get to know them well and without being distracted by EVERYTHING else that it can do. Our tutorials should be able to help in that regard. Plus, you can always ask questions, and we'll try to answer them.

Hi all

Andy told me he was posting my questions here...

I have lot's of questions and will be posting them soon.

Right now I am working on trying to use the form's and list module that is in dnn 6 and finally got it! Or close to it. I downloaded and printed the documentation on it and found it to be very very good for me. it's v 5.1.2 and not sure how update it was, but I did make lots of note on my copy.

I download to weather modules that are free and still don't have them working.

I am working making a quiz and answer page and that is working good. I'll let you know which module worked for me as a newnie.


I will check out all free modules and see how easy they are!

Maria

ok I really really need help! I've looked online, read everything, tried so many thing, downloaded the world and still have no idea how to change the "headerpane", it shows dotnetnuke and it's gray picture thing...I upload a picture that i want to use and still can't figure out how to change it.


please help

maria

Did it or rather my supervisor did it......feeling really stupid!

You should be feeling newly empowered!

I recommend the book the Chris Hammond and Patrick Renner as a good introduction to administering DotNetNuke sites.

I am back and have more questions....

I have my dnn 6 working finally!! and i was able to get that blog module to work and yes it is easy once you get it! So now i have one last thing to do! soo here it is..

I suck and have no real exerince with sql and my boss want me to make a form with drop down options etc... and he wants what people put in it to go to a sql database..

and so here i am got sql open...made a real real bad database and add stuff to it...so i don't know what to do next. I have ready stuff that i don't get and watched video's that i still don't get.

so what i really need is free help.

i can make a form on the website that i like, but I want the input to go to sql....i really hope i am make it clear because i suck at this.

please can you respond to me like i am 5 years old so that i will know what to do! or can you point me in a direction that might help...

Thanks
Maria

Maria,

There are (at least) three modules that you could use: Form and List (part of DotNetNuke's suite of modules), FormMaster, and Dynamic Forms.

Dynamic Forms is the module with the most features, and requires more of a learning curve. I really like FormMaster.

All have multiple data types, the ability to save data to a table in your DotNetNuke database, the ability to send emails, and other capabilities.

Mostly, you won't need to do any SQL to use them. You may need some SQL if you want do reporting.

I think that all can download data in a csv format for Excel.

FormMaster costs under $100, and will save you that much money the first time that you use it.

If that's not enough of a pointer, ask some more questions.

can the form and list module records in dnn 6 be saved to a sql database or another type of database?

i can use the form and list module and i like it because it's easy to use. but I need to be able to build a database that my boss can use to. And thanks so much for answering my questions!!!!

My boss's won't give me money to by an modules and I am trying to sell them on DNN 6, I think if i can get this form thing to work...i might in the future get this to invest money..but right now they won't.

i want to create a form, that does this:

say today i sell 10 apples, i would go to our website and fill out a form on how many apples i sold today. then my boss would look up in a database all the stuff that i did that day.

i am starting to like dnn 6 and if i can get this to work, i can sell it to them!

i just wish i could make this work.

Think you can help me with this???

Maria

Yes, you can use the F&L module and save the form results to a database table. With the F&L module, you go get a little bit of reporting built in. Start, though, by creating the form and then display the results with the list part of the module.

As you get into this, you might want to let your boss know that purchasing modules also save some money. You can get a lot of functionality for a modest cost. He'll be paying your salary to do the important stuff, not to recreate something that can be purchased.

I'll be more than willing to help. Just keep the questions coming.

is there anyway to point the inputs from the forms to somewhere else and then i can make another form for my boss's to use (so that they can, like say see how many apples i sold that day)?

I'm fairly certain that the answer is yes.

You can also use the Reports module to do things like that.

wow thanks for answering so fast....I've created a test form and i inputed a few times. i would like the stuff that i inputted got to a database on our servers and from their my boss's can access it. so sellers input their sells and my boss's use a different form in which they can enter anyones name and see what that person sold that day or anyday. am i making sense to you??

maria

i've printed off the form and list module documentation a few weeks ago and i've look it over again and see nothing that can help me. do you happen to know where i can make the changes or where in dnn i need to go to create a database?

I am going to goole somemore LOL

maria

I am on page 1006 of DNN 6.0.1 SuperUser Manul and still haven't figured it out.....

maria

I installed the reports module....and will try it again tomorrow...but i am not sure if i will solve my issue...i need to save all my data to our sql server and i am a newbie and know nothing.. i did create a test database in sql and i was hoping there was a way to send my data from form and list module their

maria

FormMaster has a demo!!!! I am going to try it for the 15 days!!!! maybe it will work for me!! I hope it works and its not hard to setup and use!! if i can get it working in less then 15 day....maybe i can get them to buy it.....wish me luck because so far...the only stoping my boss from investing in dnn 6 is getting this form/database thing.

maria

so i do like form master 2008 demo...however i still have no idea how to attach sql server to dnn 6 and i created some test form and now i want to create a form that queries the table from the other form...i really wish their was a true newbie website, i am finding that their isn't really much help or answers. i can't even find the database where form master stores my answers to the forms...i think its time to call it quits and just keep our old crap website...atleast it works.