The problem I run into with these FCKeditors is that there is an option to spell check the document, but the option is grayed out.  Also, the Firefox spell check does not work within the editor.

We officially have released the 4.0 version for all of our DNN modules in our subscription. This is a major release for several reasons.

1. EntitySpaces - We are now using the latest release from EntitySpaces (2008.1.927.0) .
2. BusinessObjects - Since we updated ES, we had to update our BusinessObjects.
3. WebControls - Webcontrols handles assemblies for ES and BO. All modules use WebControls for bookmarks, comments, ratings, and voting.
4. Templates - As we perfect our own DNN social network, we frequently make changes to the templates to support new features and fucntionality.
5. DNN 4.7 - 4.9 - Our 4.x releases will support DNN 4.7 - 4.9. When DotNetNule 5.0 is released, we will be releasing all of our modules as a 5.0 release in support for the new DNN manifest files changes and DNN 5.0 specific methods. At some point, we will no longer support pre-DNN 5.0 sites, but date is not determined at this time.

There are also significant changes in the Groups and ProfileSearch module.

For the Groups we added:

• WebControls to allow bookmarks, comments, ratings, and voting.
• Image handling for Group image (Group photo album will be in the next release just like you have in ProfileSearch)
• Latest X Groups to show newly created/updated groups.

For the ProfileSearch we added:

• Karma points for display
• DisplayName in window title for SEO.
• Email notifications when adding friends.
• FirstName and LastName search
• Setting for how many photo albums to display in a row.

Version 4.0 for all modules will be released over the next 48 hours or so.  You must update WebControls first.  Once that is done, all modules previous to version 4.0 will be broken.  This update requires that all Venexus modules be updated to version 4.0.

Specific information on the updates is coming soon.

In the October issue (37) of DNNCreative, is the DNN SEO interview I did with Richard Wooten. Discussion includes site optimization of keyword(s), contextual linking, competitor research, pinging and feed aggregation sites,manual link submissions, and the future of localizations and social search.

Within Venexus Search it is possible to add additional search engines.  By default, users can be given the option to choose between portal search and web search.  This must be enabled in the module settings.

I was just installing the DNN 5.0 RC1 release and noticed something new and very cool. You can now set SMTP Settings during the installation process. This will definitely save a minute of time with each install!

Thanks core team!

Using the [AVATAR] token is a quick and easy way to spot user submitted content as well as identify the user.

As DotNetNuke developers, we have been asked to build a MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, or whatever the most popular of the day “social network” might be, lots of times over the last few years. With the many multi-million and sometimes billion dollar social network acquisitions that have happened recently, it became a more popular request from many of our clients that we could no longer ignore. At first we sat quietly waiting to hear what DNN 5.0 would have built into it concerning social networking, but we never found a solid answer. In fact, as I write this, from what I understand, there will be no “social networking” features included until DNN 5.1. A few other “social network” modules have popped up, but none seemed to meet the basic needs of a real social network for DotNetNuke and/or did not meet basic criteria for design and features. We became impatient. Therefore, earlier this year, we started developing a DotNetNuke Social Network using modules from the Venexus Software Collection. Please read more.

We perform a lot of DotNetNuke upgrades. Sometimes we see sites that are very old (recently did a DNN 2.0 upgrade), that have a lot of 3rd party or custom modules installed. Many times, these modules are not being used. So, to eliminate any possible upgrade issues, we will unistall any modules that are not being used. Here is the SQL for determining which modules that are installed that are not being used:

SELECT     ModuleDefinitions.ModuleDefID, ModuleDefinitions.FriendlyName, ModuleDefinitions.DesktopModuleID
FROM         ModuleDefinitions LEFT OUTER JOIN
                      Modules ON ModuleDefinitions.ModuleDefID = Modules.ModuleDefID
WHERE     (Modules.ModuleDefID IS NULL)

This new module extends the basic “core” DNN user profile.  Users can perform searches against various fields within the user's profiles, add pictures(within galleries and albums), and friends.

We are excited about all of the new developments that have happened recently concerning jQuery. Scott Guthrie announced the Microsoft will support jQuery in Visual Studio. Joe Brinkman announced today that  DotNetNuke 5.0 will support jQuery.

We have started using a lot of jQuery in our DotNetNuke modules. For example, Virgil used jQuery for the Ratings control in our WebControls. Here is an example of a DotNetNuke Social Network and Social Search Engine site that uses our webcontrols extensively.

Carousel example:

See it in action

See more DotNetNuke jQuery examples

Several modules were updated today.  Seamus, Web Controls, Business Search, Business Information, Search Directory, and Index Item.  As always, Seamus should be updated first followed by Web Controls.  These two contain files that the other modules need in order to function properly.

The latest release of Venexus Search Directory includes a new module setting for Groups Only.

By adding the Media Type token in the List template, an icon will be displayed for the appropriate media type - audio, video, image, or application.  The Group token will display the item's group.

Don't mess with any of that embed code that Youtube provides.  Simply copy the URL from your browser while on the Youtube page of the video and paste it into the YouTube Video URL field.

In addition to the algorithm being modified to return more relevant results, there are quite a few new settings and features in this release.

There are many reasons one may want to dynamically change the module or page title in DotNetNuke. The modt common reason is for DNN search engine optimization. Here is a quick snippet of code for changing the titles in DotNetNuke. In this case, we have wrapped this ability with a module setting that enables or disables the functionality for a page or module:

 If CType(Settings("EnableTitleOverwrite"), String) = "1" Then
 Me.ModuleConfiguration.ModuleTitle = Left(esIndex.IndexTitle, 255)
 End If
 If CType(Settings("EnableWindowTitleOverwrite"), String) = "1" Then
 CType(Me.Page, CDefault).Title = Left(esIndex.IndexTitle, 255)
 End If

The only change in this release is a "Default to Add" option in the module settings.  Enabling this will make the main view of Seamus a form for adding a RSS Feed or Site URL.

Seamus should always be installed first, followed by Web Controls.   Web Controls should always be installed first.

The Venexus Business Queue has been updated to fix a folder naming issue.  This was causing errors for some users.  If updating to this version, make sure to uninstall the previous version first - also make sure Delete Files is selected.   The module can be downloaded here and the documentation here.

A new version of  VenexusSearch was released today.  Make sure you update Seamus to V3.1.0 or higher and WebControls to V3.0.9 or higher before updating this module.

The Venexus Groups module is now available for download if you have the 12mo subscription package.  The module allows registered users to create groups of friends or people with similar interests, so they can stay connected.  Users can join or leave groups similar to MySpace Groups.  For more information please read the documentation which can be found here.  The module can be downloaded here.

A new version of VenexusIndexItem was released today.  Make sure you update Seamus to V3.1.0 or higher and WebControls to V3.0.9 or higher before updating this module.

A new version of VenexusSearchDirectory has been released.   Make sure you update Seamus to V3.1.0 or higher and WebControls to V3.0.9 or higher before updating this module.

A new version of VenexusSeamus, the search engine aggregation module utilizing syndication, was released today.  You can download it here.