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DNN FAQs

Welcome to Foremost Media's DNN FAQs page, your comprehensive guide to understanding and utilizing DNN (DotNetNuke) for website development. DNN is a versatile and user-friendly content management system, ideal for creating and managing dynamic websites. On this page, you’ll find answers to common questions about DNN, offering insights into its features, capabilities, and how it can benefit your web projects. Whether you're new to DNN or looking to deepen your knowledge, our FAQs are here to help guide you through the world of DNN website development.

Are there any videos or tutorials on how to use the DNN editor?

We have a page dedicated to covering the basics. Most of this information is recapping what you learned in your training session. You can learn how to do most of the common functions that will need to learn in order to successfully manage your website.

If you have not had any training, you are strongly encouraged to schedule your training session for your website. Learning how to use the tools the website has to offer you can dramatically increase your understanding of how to make your website work for you.

How do I add a new page to my website?

You can add a page a couple different ways, but the easiest way to add a page is to hover over the pages tab in your admin toolbar at the top of the website while you are logged in as an admin. Then a dialog box will appear. In the actions menu at the top of the box you click "add". Your add page dialog box will then appear. You can then fill out the information needed for the page. The only piece of information that is required is the page name. Click "add page" and your page will be created and you will be redirected to that page.

How do I add a hyperlink to my web page?

You can add a hyperlink to text, images, documents, files, or to external websites. When you login to the website as an admin, open the editor by selecting "edit content". You have a hyperlink manager in the editor, and the icon in the toolbar at the top looks like a chain link. Highlight the section of the page that you would like to make a link, and click the chain link icon.

You will see a dialog box pop and you will have several options on how to add this link. You have the option to link to a page on your site. You have an option of linking to an external website or resource. You also have the option of linking to a document in the document manager.

How do I control where the page goes in the menu when I create it?

When you create a page, you will have some options available to you to specify where you want the page to exist. You have an option called "parent page". This option will be a drop down list with all of the site pages in it. You can select which page the current page that you are creating will exist under. If you would like the page to be on the top level of navigation, then you choose "none specified". If you would like the page to exist underneath another page, just choose that page.

You also have control over the exact location of the page that you are creating. The Insert Page function lets you place the page before, after, or to the end of a set of pages. Finally, you have the option to show to the page in the menu or not. So, you could create and place a page on the top level of navigation, but not include it in the menu.

Can I copy a page or the page structure so I don’t have to make another one from scratch?

Yes, you have the option when you are creating a page to copy any page. This option will give you a list of the modules that exist in any page that you select. When you select the page, you can select any module on that page and you will have some options on how to replicate it.

You can also copy individual modules so you don’t have to recreate the same module over and over. You do this by hovering over "modules" in the admin tool bar at the top while logged in as an admin. Choose "add existing module". Choose the page that the module that you want to copy resides on. Then choose the module out of the list of the module list. Then select what pane you want to inject the module in. If you would like to have a copy of the module, select the check-box. If you would like a reference of the module, then leave it deselected.

Can I restrict access to my site, or pages of my site to certain users?

Yes, you can accomplish this by creating and assigning roles to individual users. You can also create role groups and group by user role.

Click on "admin" while you are logged into the site as an admin. You will be taken to the admin page. There you will see an icon for "security roles". Click on it and you will be taken to the security roles of the admin section. Hover over the "manage" button. You will see the option to "add new role", or "add new role group".

If I accidentally delete a page or a module, is it gone forever?

If you accidentally delete a page, or a module you can go into the Recycle Bin and restore your page, or module. When you restore it, it will appear back in the section that it was deleted from. You can go back and continue to edit just as before. While logged into the site, you can click on "admin" in the toolbar at the top. On the admin page, you will find an icon that is entitled Recycle Bin. Click on it, choose page or module, find your page or module, and you can restore it.

What is a WYSIWYG editor?

WYSIWYG stands for "What You See is What You Get". Basically, it works much like Microsoft Word or similar word processing software. It is very useful in helping people manage, edit, and update the pages of their website quickly by seeing the changes instantly right on their monitors.

You can see on the screen how the page will look when you are finished. You can add text, images, documents, and hyperlinks. You can add styles to the font and change how the text will look by adding inline styles right to your content.

How come when I copy my content from Word into the editor and click "save", the text does not look the way it is supposed to?

When you copy text from Microsoft Word, and then paste it into your webpage what is happening is you are also pasting in extra code that is used to format the content in Word. The issue is this code is specific to only Microsoft Word, and when you put it into your editor and click "save", your page will break.

The answer to doing this correctly and having everything look good is using the "paste as plain text" option. Hover over the paste options, it looks like a clipboard and it is on the top left hand side of the editor tool bar. You click this icon and choose "paste as plain text". A dialog box will appear and you paste your content in and click "save". This strips out all of the extra formatting so your page does not break.

How do I adjust the styles for the text of my web page?

Although we do not recommend doing this, you can add inline styles to the text of your webpage by using the content editor if you find yourself needing to change something. This editor will allow you to change the font, font size, font color, background color, and text alignment. You can also add other styles like bold, italics, and underline.

You have control over the text on the pages of your website and you can make them look however you wish. We do not recommend doing this because the content that you add inline styles to will differ from the rest of the pages, and the website will lose its consistent formatting and style that was approved in the design process.

Can I add special symbols to the content of my pages?

You can add special symbols using the editor. On the top right hand side, there is an icon called "insert symbol". This tool can be used to add any special character.

This tool is on the top of the editor on the right hand side. It kind of looks like a horseshoe.

If I make a mistake in the editor and save it, is it permanent?

If you make a mistake, you are able to roll back the version of the module that you are editing as long as it is an HTML module. You accomplish this by scrolling down when you have the editor open.

You will see a section called "version history" at the very bottom. Expand the node on the right hand side. It looks like an arrow pointing down. After you expand the node you will see five options of dates and times that you can roll the module back to. So, if you only saved one time, you can select the very first option for rolling back to the previous version. Note: If you save your mistake more than five times, you will lose the option to roll it back to its previous working version. You only have five version histories as an option to roll back to.

How do I create an ordered or unordered list?

In the editor, you can add the items or text that you want to be in your list on a separate line. You then highlight the text, go up to the editor in the middle toolbar slightly off to the left, and you will see the options. One for "ordered list" and one for "unordered list". Choose the one you want, and it will format it for you.

How do I add a table to my web page?

In the editor you have the option to insert a table. At the top right of the toolbar you will see an "insert table" icon. You can hover over this option and click on it. It will expand and let you create your table by using your mouse to select how many rows and columns you want to have. Then you click on it, and it will insert the table in to the page for you.

Note: You can highlight any section of the table and right click for many options for managing, editing, and deleting the table or table elements.

How do I change the module title?

You can change the title of a module by hovering over the manage button, click on "settings" > "module settings", then change the name of the module title field in the basic settings.

If this does not change the title for you, then you must go into the editor and into the content and change it using the editor. Find the title you wish to change and select the "h tag" you would like to edit. You have the option of Heading 1, 2, or 3, with Heading 1 being the largest and then decreasing is size respectively.

Can I copy content to a different page without having to recreate it all?

You can copy individual modules to other pages on your DNN site with just a few clicks. This is why it is a good practice to give your modules clear and distinctive titles. You will need to identify them for this. You start with knowing the name of the page in which the module that you would like to copy resides on. Next, navigate to the page that you would like to copy the module to. After that you hover over the "modules" option in the admin toolbar at the top while logged in as as admin.

When you do this, a dialog box will appear. You choose "add existing module". After doing this, you will choose what page the module that you want to copy is on from the drop down list called "page". Next, you select which module you want on that page. Finally, you choose what pane and where you would like to insert the module. You must check "copy module", (without content), if you want to make a copy that does not reference the first module. If you do not check this option, the module you are copying will be a reference of the first module and any changes will affect both.

How do I rename a page?

You can rename a page by logging into the site as an admin. Navigate to the page you wish to change the name of.

Then you can click on "page settings" > "module settings" > "basic settings" and rename the page. Save and the page name will change.

How do I change my logo?

It depends on how it is set up, but you can do this by logging into the website as an administrator, and go to the "admin" link at the top.

Then you click on "site settings" > "basic settings" > "appearance". Then you can upload the file to a specific folder in the logo section. You have the ability to choose what directory and the file that you wish to use.

How do I move a page to a different location?

You can move pages to new locations by hovering over "admin" while logged in and clicking on "page management". You can see the list of pages on the site and where they are to the left hand side of the screen. This is a list of all the pages on the site and where they reside at in the hierarchy.

If you expand the nodes to the left of the page names by clicking on the "x’s", you can then drag and drop pages where you would like them to be. You can place them directly under whatever page you would like.

How do I update the copyright year of my website?

You can update the copyright year by logging into the website as an admin. Click on "site settings" > "site details" and then edit the year in the copyright field.

Note: If you see the token [year], then you will not need to update the copyright year, as it is dynamic. Most of the newer systems operate this way.

Can people register to login to my website?

You can allow people to register and login to your website. You can allow people to register as private, public, verified, or allow no registration.

Usually when you allow users to register to your website, you do so in exchange for their email address, or maybe you have different content that you wish to give them access to.

Can I allow users to view only certain pages of my website?

You can allow users to register to your website. You can assign any user to a particular role. These roles will allow your users to view or edit certain portions or pages of your website.

Can I choose where my users are redirected to after they login?

You can choose what page your users are redirected to by logging into the website. You hover over "admin", choose "site settings" > "user account settings" > "login settings" > "redirect after login".

Choose the page you wish your users to be redirected to upon login. You may also set a page to "redirect after logout" in the same section.

How do I require certain fields in my profile settings?

While you are logged in to the website, hover over "admin" and choose "site settings" > "user account settings" > "profile settings".

You can select the fields that you want and choose whether they are required or just visible.

How do I add a Page Name, Page Title, and Description to the pages that I create?

You can add that information when you create the page or you can do it at any time. You go to the page that you would like to edit, hover over "pages" at the top of the browser while you are logged in. Then you click on "page settings". In the dialog box you choose "page details" and fill in the fields that you would like.

How do I change the permissions of a page?

Go to the page that you would like to edit, hover over "pages" at the top of the browser while you are logged in. Then click on "page settings". In the dialog box, choose "permissions" and then check the roles that you would like. You can apply these settings to a whole page or an individual module.

In order to change permissions on an individual module, hover over the "manage" button and click on "settings" > "permissions", and then edit roles according to what you would like.

You can also change the permissions of a specific module by clicking on the "settings" of that module, and going through the same procedure.

How do I upload files to my website?

You hover over "admin" at the top of the browser when you login and choose "file manager". You can upload files and folders with file manager by selecting "upload". You can choose what folder you are going to upload into or you can create a new folder as well.

Can I upload multiple files to my website all at once instead of one by one?

You can upload multiple files to your website one of two ways. First, you can zip a folder of images by right clicking and choosing "send to zipped folder".

Next, go to your file manager and choose the directory where you are going to upload the zipped folder to. Check the "decompress zip files" at the bottom, then browse to the zipped folder and upload file.

Second, you can choose "image manager" while you are in the site editor of any HTML module. Choose the folder you wish to upload to, click on "upload" directly above. In the dialog box you can choose multiple files to upload. You can even add more fields if you wish to add more files to the upload, by clicking "add". Add as many upload inputs as you want and upload them.

If I accidentally delete pages of my website or files that I need, are they gone forever?

We always recommend making a backup of any files that you need or anything that you edit or change. We do offer disaster recovery in case you have accidentally deleted anything and happen to not have a copy what you deleted.

How do you calculate shipping cost in your e-commerce stores?

Most of our clients use real time shipping rates. To use real time shipping rates we need to add weights and product dimensions for each product in the store. Then based on your shipping address and the address the client would like you to ship to, the store goes out to UPS and FedEx websites and calculates the customer's shipping cost in real time. You can tell it to bring back the retail rate or your negotiated price if you have one. It will bring back the prices for each shipping method you wish to allow, (i.e. standard ground, next day, overnight, etc.), then the customer is allowed to choose the service and rate based on their needs.

How do I add a video to my site from YouTube using the site content editor?

Once the video is on YouTube, go to the video page and you should see the embed code. See the screen shot below: Copy the embed code in blue and then go to your website and open the content editor for the area you wish to place the video.

Then type in all caps: VIDEO HERE. This will help you find the exact spot in the code were you want to place the video.

Now click on the source view button at the top of the editor (see below): This changes the content you are editing to code. Now look for the "VIDEO HERE" text and paste the embed code from YouTube right over the "VIDEO HERE" text.

Switch back to the editor view by clicking on the source button again and you should be ready to go.

It seems that I am getting a lot of false or fake registrations and form submissions from my website. How do I stop this?

You can implement CAPTCHA, PUBLIC, or VERIFIED registration on your DNN website for an additional level of security. We also have DNN FORM CENTRIC which has RECAPTCHA service available. This will eliminate spam and false form submissions. Ask us about DNN Form Centric for your DNN website.

I'm trying to upload a file or image and it won't let me. What am I doing wrong?

DNN has max file size upload limits and limits certain file types. The default is max file size is 1MB. Check your file size. If it's over 1MB, your site could be modified to allow larger files and may just need it adjusted. We do limit the max file upload size to 10MB. Common file types are allowed by default (.jpg, .doc, etc). Uncommon file types will need to be accounted for as needed. Please submit a ticket and include the size of the file or file type you are attempting to upload so that we can adjust those settings for your site.

I edited module content and it doesn’t display correctly. How can I fix it?

DNN modules contain 5 versions (versions "tab"). If you haven't saved too many times you can revert back to a previous version. If you've saved multiple times and cannot go back far enough, submit a ticket and the Foremost Support team will work to correct the HTML structure as needed.

What Does DNN Stand For in Web Development?

DNN, originally known as DotNetNuke, has evolved in its naming over time. In the online community, it's frequently referred to as DNN CMS, distinguishing it from other acronyms in the tech world. DNN has become a common shorthand for this robust platform.

Similar terms like DNN Platform and DNN Community Edition all refer to the same framework, rooted in the original DotNetNuke name.

What Is The Frequency of DNN CMS Updates and Version Releases

DNN CMS, as an open-source software, is maintained by a dedicated community of volunteers. Due to the community-driven nature of the project, it's challenging to predict the exact number of releases in a given year. However, the DNN community is known for actively updating the platform, with several releases typically occurring each year to enhance and improve the system.

Is the DNN Code Base Free for Use?

Yes, DNN is an open-source platform operating under the MIT license. This means that the software is entirely free for use. You can use DNN without any charge, and this freedom extends perpetually, offering users a cost-effective solution for their web development needs.

How SEO Friendly Is The DNN CMS?

DNN CMS has been designed with SEO in mind, even before 'SEO-friendly' became a widespread concept. It offers numerous features and functionalities to help optimize your website for search engines effectively. Additionally, there are various open-source and commercial extensions available within the DNN ecosystem that can further simplify and enhance your SEO efforts, making it a robust tool for achieving your online visibility goals.

What Is The Scalability of DNN CMS for High Traffic Websites?

DNN CMS stands out in the CMS ecosystem for its excellent scalability. It is known for its ability to handle both small and high-traffic websites efficiently. The architecture of DNN allows it to scale as long as the underlying infrastructure supports it. This scalability has been a core feature of DNN since its inception, with communities of over 1 million end-users and instances supporting tens of thousands of concurrent websites. DNN performs well in traditional web farms and Windows-based cloud infrastructures, offering flexibility to scale up or down as needed.

Can You Tell Me About The Security Aspects of DNN Websites?

DNN is renowned for its robust security, making it one of the most secure CMS platforms available. Despite being a target for bad actors, DNN maintains a remarkably low number of reported CVEs (security bulletins), standing out in comparison to many other CMS solutions. Its strong security record has led to its adoption by large Fortune 100 companies and state government agencies, where it has undergone extensive security audits and testing. DNN's commitment to security is evident, and you can review all reported CVEs at our security center for detailed insights.

How Does DNN Handle Multi-Language Support?

DNN is well-equipped to support multi-language websites, featuring a built-in framework for content localization. This process starts by setting a default language and then adding additional languages as needed. For each new language, DNN facilitates translation tasks, allowing for the creation of new resources and marking pages for translation, thus supporting diverse linguistic needs effectively.

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