Q. What is DNN (DotNetNuke)?

A. DotNetNuke is an open-source Web Application Framework ideal for creating and deploying projects such as commercial websites, corporate intranets and extranets, online publishing portals, and custom vertical applications.

DotNetNuke is provided as open-source software, licensed under a BSD agreement. In general, this license grants the general public permission to obtain the software free-of-charge. It also allows individuals to do whatever they wish with the application framework, both commercially and non-commercially, with the simple requirement of giving credit back to the DotNetNuke project community.

DotNetNuke is built on a Microsoft ASP.NET (VB.NET) platform, and is easily installed and hosted. With a growing community of over 440,000 users, and a dedicated base of programming professionals, support for DotNetNuke is always close at hand.

There's a very good overview of the DNN framework and it's capabilities. Check it out.
http://www.dotnetnuke.com/default.aspx?tabid=777

You can also sign up for an online demo, no installation needed. http://demo.dotnetnuke.com

Q. What version of DNN do I need to have to use AspDotNetStorefront ML/DNN?

A. DNN version 4.5.1 or higher is required.

Q. What makes AspDotNetStorefront ML/DNN different than other DNN "storefronts"?

A. We bring our robust and market leading feature set from AspDotNetStorefront ML to the ML/DNN version, including features such as Real Time shipping support, Google & Yahoo site maps. For a complete feature list, see our features matrix page. We also make full source available for a very affordable price, to allow customizations for developers building out turnkey or custom sites for clients.

Q. Is AspDotNetStorefront ML/DNN VISA PABP Certified?

A. Not yet, but it is planned. We will be working with the DNN core team shortly on obtaining VISA PABP certification for the ML/DNN version. While AspDotNetStorefront ML is fully VISA PAPB Certified, due to the deep integration with the DNN core user roles, login, and security, the ML/DNN version must be separately certified. The ML/DNN version is based on our fully certified ML 7.0 codebase, so we expect that certifying ML/DNN will be a straightforward process. For example, the ML/DNN version uses the same payment gateway core code used in our ML 7.0 version.

Q. Can you mix DNN modules and ML/DNN modules together (e.g. add a Blog + ML/DNN XmlPackage)?

A. Yes, ML/DNN modules can be displayed with other DNN modules on the same page. This is one of the big advantages to the DotNetNuke platform, where you literally have access to hundreds of commercial modules that you can add into your DNN site along with AspDotNetStorefront. Modules include things like document libraries, forums, knowledge bases, image galleries, calendaring and scheduling modules, blog modules, etc. This is one of the most exciting parts of DNN is the ability to use and integration cross-modules on the same site to expand and enhance functionality. AspDotNetStorefront was designed with help from the core DNN engineering team, to ensure seamless user role integration, common login, and module compatibility.

Q. Is source code available for ML/DNN?

A. Source is optionally available for $995, in either C# or VB.NET. You must sign our Source License Agreement (SLA) also agreeing not to redistribute source code. Additionally, after downloading source code, no returns are allowed. When purchasing full source, these steps are all automated by our own site, making the process very easy to order. With full source, you are NEVER limited to the functionality we provide, and you can fully customize, adapt, extend or otherwise add your own required features into the storefront to meet the requirements of your own, or your clients needs.

Q. Are reseller discounts available?

A. Yes, We offer discounts on 3 or more licenses, starting at 20% and going as high as 45%.

Q. What hosts are supported?

A. AspDotNetStorefront ML/DNN is compatible with nearly all DNN friendly hosts. In particular, hosts with solid reputations like PowerDNN.com are excellent choices at affordable prices, offering a professional level of hosting services. We again suggest that you get exactly what you pay for in hosting, so if you pick the cheapest host on the block, you just purchased the cheapest hosting/performance/security/support also in nearly all cases. So please remember that your choice of host is also a critical factor in the overall success of your e-commerce platform.

Q. Is ML/DNN a set of modules?

A. Yes. We provide 8 DNN modules:

• ASPDNSF_Affiliate
• ASPDNSF_Checkout
• ASPDNSF_Entity
• ASPDNSF_GiftRegistry
• ASPDNSF_Product
• ASPDNSF_Topic
• ASPDNSF_Wishlist
• ASPDNSF_XMLPackage

Q. Can I add ML/DNN to my existing DNN site or do I have to start from scratch?

A. You can add ML/DNN modules to your existing DNN site. We suggest that you backup your web.config and siteurls.config before doing any upgrade or install. Also, these two files need to be writable. ML/DNN checkout module will modify these two files.

Q. What are the differences between ML and ML/DNN? For example, what payment gateways does ML/DNN support?

A. The ML/DNN product is designed specifically to be installed into a  DotNetNuke portal site. The ML version is designed for those creating a new website from scratch (or converting an old/existing site onto our platform). For a comparison of features available by product version, see our feature matrix for a full checklist. Most DotNetNuke developers would choose the ML/DNN product. If you are not using DotNetNuke, you would probably use the ML standalone version, which doesn't require DotNetNuke. For a full features matrix, click here.

Q. Will your new offering for DotNetNuke provide integrated SSL support... or will a third party SSL module be required?

A. Yes, SSL support is included and does not require a third party module. Note: For reference on this question, the versions of DNN below 4.5.4 did not provide native SSL support. There was no way to designate some pages as requiring SSL and some pages as not requiring SSL. To solve this, you usually had to buy a third party add-on.

Q. Are multiple portal installations of ML/DNN supported?

A. No. ML/DNN can be installed in a multi-portal DNN environment, but can only exist once and only in one of the portals. DotNetNuke portals can be either a parent or a child portal. Child portals can be accessed on the URL with a domain like www.dnnhost.com/childportal. Parent portals are only portals that can be accessed by using their own domain name like www.parentportal.com or subdomain.dnnhost.com.

Q. Can each portal store have a different skin?

A. Yes.

Q. Is there a common login for all portals?

A. Yes, DNN host accounts are cross portals.

Q. Does ML/DNN use native DNN roles?

A. Yes, we use DNN Administrator role and DNN Host role.

Q. Can portals share ML/DNN data?

A. ML/DNN is designed to keep data separated by portal.

Q. Are Google & Yahoo site maps supported?

A. Yes. For a full features matrix, click here.

Q. Can I move from ML to ML/DNN? What data is lost, how do I do that conversion?

A. Yes, more info coming soon on how to do this...

Q. Are DNN Skins fully supported by ML/DNN?

A. Yes, and more info coming soon....

Q. How do I install the ML/DNN modules?

A. Unzip your provided ML/DNN download file. The installation instructions can be found in the AspDotNetStorefront DNN Install Guide.doc file from the extracted zip file.

Q. Can I use a custom payment provider (not listed in supported payment providers)?

A. Yes, you can. You must have the source code however to add a new payment gateway provider. You'll need to write an additional class file and compile it into the ASPDNSFGateways project. You'll also need to modify a few other files including, but not limited to: the Gateways.cs class file in the ASPDNSFGateways project to account for your new gateway, AppLogic.cs in the ASPSNFCommon project, and orderconfirmation.aspx.cs. If you are concerned with PCI compliance you'll also need to make sure that you follow all PABP/PCI guidelines, which we have done in our own gateway implementations.

Q. Can I use an SQL 2000 database for ML/DNN modules?

A. No, ML/DNN requires SQL 2005 or SQL 2005 express.

Q. I created a new DNN host user account. Why do I get the following error message when logging into ML/DNN admin site with the new DNN host user account? "Either you are not currently logged in, or you do not have access to this content."

A. You need an AspDotNetStorefront customer account. To fix this problem, log in as the new host user and browse to Host > AspDotNetStorefront Install. Scroll down the page and click on the "Create customer" link.

Q. I created a new DNN admin user account. Why do I get the following error message when logging into ML/DNN admin site with the new DNN admin user account? "Either you are not currently logged in, or you do not have access to this content."

A. You need a AspDotNetStorefront customer account and admin permission. Login as host and browse to ML/DNN admin site. Browse to Users > View/Edit Customers and click on the "Set Admin" button for the user account you want to set an AspDotNetStorefront admin. You can also browse to Users > Edit Admin Users and assign admin permissions with user email addresses.

Q. I get the following error message when loading the ML/DNN admin site. A critical error has occurred. The specified path, file name, or both are too long. The fully qualified file name must be less than 260 characters, and the directory name must be less than 248 characters.

A. This is a known issue with IIS & DotNetNuke which has been reported in the DNN forums. A partial workaround is to shorten the local path by moving your website closer to the root of the drive.

• Using IIS Manager, stop your DNN website
• Move the files from c:\inetpub\wwwroot\dotnetnuke to c:\dnn (or another drive)
• Verify permissions on the new folder (as per DNN installation instructions)
• In IIS Manager|Websites|DotNetNuke Properties||Home Directory Tab, change the local path to your new location
• Restart the website.

Another workaround is to modify your web.config file. Changed the defaultProvider to BroadcastPollingCachingProvider

Q. Can I export to QuickBooks from the ML/DNN version?

A. No, we have not yet added the T-Hub QuickBooks sync support to the ML/DN. It will likely be available in the first service release.

Q. I get the following error message after installing ML/DNN modules. You MUST set your HashAlgorithm in the AppConfig manager in the admin site to an allowed valid value! This is required for security reasons.

A. The AppConfig table didn't get cached correctly. To correct the error, restart your DNN application. Login as Host. Click Host >Host Settings and then scroll to the bottom and click the "restart application" link.

Q. How can I create a custom XML package for the XMLPackage module?

A. Create a custom XML package and copy it to the /Portals/0/aspdnsf/XMLPackages/ folder. The package will then be displayed in the drop down box in XML Package settings.

Q. I have several DNN modules with the "Display Module On All Pages" selected and they do not show on all pages when a user selects a category?

A. To display categories on all pages, please use the XMLPackage module. Set module settings by selecting "menu.categories" in XML Package Settings. XMLPackage can be displayed on all pages. Entity module redirects users to the first page that has the applicable AspDotNetStorefront module. URL rewriter doesn't redirect requests of Entity module to multiple pages.

Q. I don't see the latest changes I made on the modules. How can I correct this?

A. This may be a result of cache. Please make sure that your browser is set to get the most updated pages at every visit. You can also change the cache settings in DNN. Login as Host. Browse to Host > Host Settings > Advanced Settings > Performance Settings.

Q. When clicking on the product or category links, I get a page 404 error message.

A. ML/DNN requires changes in the DNN url rewriter, SiteUrls.config. Please check if the file exists before installation and that it is set to be writable. Follow our ML/DNN documentation to add the required URL rewrite rules to support the AspDotNetStorefront modules.

Q. After installing ML/DNN modules, I get the following error message. The files '/ASPDNNSF_Demo/App_Code/HTML/HtmlTextInfo.vb' and '/ASPDNNSF_Demo/App_Code/Aspdnsf/PageBase.cs' use a different language, which is not allowed since they need to be compiled together.

A. The following section should be added to your web.config file.
<codeSubDirectories>
<add directoryName="HTML"/>
<add directoryName="Aspdnsf"/>
</codeSubDirectories>

Q. When I click on the product page, I get redirected to the home page.

A. Product module redirects users to home page if there is no product id specified. This is done to prevent blank product screen from displaying. Also, product module should only be added to the hidden product page.