The 10 Commandments of DotNetNuke

Tuesday, April 16, 2013 By Chris Hammond

I started this list a while back, and decided I would go ahead and finish it, and post it online. Thanks to Oliver Hine for #9

As someone who runs, edits or develops for a DotNetNuke website, these are 10 things you should always stick to.

1) Thou shalt back up the files and database before: upgrades, extension installs, extension removals
2) Thou shalt not delete a page, ever
3) Thou shalt not rename a page, ever
4) Thou shalt not move a page, ever
5) Thou shalt not "display on all pages" without thinking through your actions
6) Thou shalt not disparage VB.net or C#
7) Thou shalt not resize images via HTML
8) Thou shalt not run old versions of
9) Thou shalt not paste from Microsoft Word without scrubbing the content
10) Thou shalt not use objectQualifier if at all possible (in development I do recommend it)

So, now the question is, should I put reasons for each of them? Or just leave them as is

Recent Comments

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2-4 Are the same thing. I'd replace one with x) Thou shalt not install every module available in the DNN Store x) Thou shalt release source
Posted By: Jonathan Sheely on Apr 2013
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Jon, While to you and me they are the same thing, for the average user they are different things. Fortunately with 7.1 they should no longer be issues and will be replaced with new commandments.
Posted By: Chris Hammond on Apr 2013
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11) Thou shalt not use portals for unrelated websites, lest thou cry, for thee might feel too lazy to provide a fresh install, and verily thy data shall perish upon separation thereof.
Posted By: Jeff Hardy on Apr 2013
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#2-#4 can easily be rectified by turning off human friendly URLs in the web.config. We turn it off by default for our customers because it causes so many problems.
Posted By: Tony Valenti on Apr 2013
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I like #10 most. Maybe it would be good to split this list in two: one for site admins and one for developers...
Posted By: erik van ballegoij on Apr 2013
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These certainly fall into admin and dev. Renaming, moving and deleting pages works fine if in planning phase or you have a plan for migration. DNN7.1 may solve many issues on the admin side too. Multiportal works quite well now provided you stick to modules with good iportable implementation. With the average DNN app pool running over 100mb, it's the only way DNN can get cost competitive. Turning off human friendly URLs is an all around terrible idea.
Posted By: Lance Long on Apr 2013
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I say leave it as-is and do a blog post for each of them going into detail and link them back as you do it. :)
Posted By: Will Strohl on Apr 2013
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Though shalt not covet thy neighbor's skin?
Posted By: Ryan Morgan on Apr 2013
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Though shalt not modify the core sources ...
Posted By: Matthieu Lubac on Apr 2013
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Though shall not use it's own Multi - Language Capabilities
Posted By: Frank Wahl on Apr 2013
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Not really .NET specific, but definitely applies. Thou shalt not complain about open source projects unless you've actually contributed something yourself.
Posted By: Jason Brunken on Apr 2013
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Nice list. We have our own solution for 2,3,4 & 7 and 9 can be pretty much solved by using CK editor Would like to add: Though shalt not modify the core Though shalt not use Solpartmenu in skins Though shalt not use legacy HTML 4 transitional skins Though shalt not put any font definitions in Module.css Though shalt make all modules templatable
Posted By: Timo Breumelhof on May 2013
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I would like to see a list of Though Shalt focused on Module Dev. Many are obvious but should still be on the list. support iportable Deep use of DNN taxonomy Designers with Templates ...
Posted By: Phil Speth on May 2013
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Hi Chris, I enjoyed your commandments so much I translated them in our French blog. Hope that is ok with you. We spread the good words ! Amicalement.
Posted By: Thomas Chailland on May 2013
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Hi Chris Can you explain why I shouldn't delete(2), rename(3) or move(4) a page? I'm using DNN 7.01 Thanks
Posted By: John Fitzgerald on Aug 2013
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2/3/4 are sort of no longer necessary thanks to DNN 7.1 (assuming you are using the Advanced URLs
Posted By: Chris Hammond on Aug 2013

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Chris Hammond

Chris Hammond is a father, husband, leader, software developer, photographer and car guy. Chris focuses on the latest in technology including artificial intelligence (AI) and has spent decades becoming an expert in ASP.NET and DotNetNuke (DNN) development. You will find a variety of posts relating to those topics here on the website. For more information check out the about Chris Hammond page.

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