Sept 2024 SoFri: David Poindexter - Building a Custom DNN Theme Object

In this Southern Fried DNN User Group Meeting:

Speaker: David Poindexter - DNN MVP - DNN Strategy Lead - Web & Mobile App Developer - Community Fanatic
Topic: Building a Custom DNN Theme Object

In this meetup, David Poindexter demonstrates development for a custom DNN theme object from scratch. He uses one of the barebones DNN Community starter projects to kickstart development and to keep things simple. You'll see how to turn simple requirements into a feature. The techniques learned here will serve as a foundation for development of other types of DNN extensions.

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Community Topics and Updates

• 🎤 Ryan expresses excitement to be at the September 2024 Southern Pride DNN User Group meeting after a long absence.
• 📅 The next DNN Summit is scheduled for February 2025 in Las Vegas, offering both in-person and virtual attendance options.
• 🎟 Early bird registration for DNN Summit is ongoing until November 2024, with special hotel rates at the Cosmopolitan for attendees.
• 🗣 Ryan encourages new attendees to explore the event's schedule and session lineup, highlighting that sessions will be recorded for later viewing.
• 🛠 DNN recently released version 9.13.4, focusing on bug fixes, performance enhancements, and dependency updates.
• 📝 Ryan Moore describes plans to write blog posts addressing misconceptions about DNN's age and capabilities, advocating for its continued use and development. This article posted on the DNNCommunity website describes DNN support and advocate reasons to share with IT Managers and clients:  https://dnncommunity.org/blogs/Post/19374/The-Case-for-Staying-with-DNN-Why-Migration-Isn-t-Always-the-Best-Choice

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DNN Development Training - Building a Custom DNN Theme Object

David Poindexter
DNN MVP - DNN Strategy Lead - Web & Mobile App Developer - Community Fanatic

• https://dnndave.com/ 
• https://twitter.com/davidpoindexter 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpoindexter/ 
• https://www.facebook.com/dpinnovation/ 
• https://www.instagram.com/dpoinde/

Recommendations and Presentation Notes:

• 🖥 David Poindexter presents on building a custom DNN theme object, applicable beyond DNN to other custom development projects.
• 🛠️ Walkthrough session focused on creating a theme object for displaying last login time.
• 🖥️ Demonstrated cloning and setup of the GitHub repository for the starter theme object.
• 🧩 Explained usage of MS Build within Visual Studio for building and deploying the theme object.
• 📝 Discussed setting up properties and event handling in the ASP.NET user control.
• 🐞 Addressed debugging and testing strategies within DNN environment.
• 🚀 Prepared for development with focus on integrating the theme object functionality.
• 💻 The user is debugging and refining code related to displaying the last login date for a user.
• 📅 They are integrating this functionality into a DNN theme, specifically modifying the home layout of the Exilian theme.
• 🛠️ The process involves registering a theme object, defining public properties like dateLabel and dateFormat, and ensuring proper integration into the theme.
• 🧰 They encountered issues with naming conventions and code compilation, resolving them through adjustments in namespace and class naming.
• 🔄 Additionally, they discussed potential caching issues affecting the display of real-time login data, which may require cache clearance in production environments.
• 💬 David provided a walkthrough on using skin objects and fixing issues with module bases.
• 💻 Demonstrated troubleshooting live during the session, showing practical problem-solving.
• 📅 Scheduled upcoming Southern Fried user group meetings for October 17th, November 21st, and December 19th.
• 🎄 Plans include a Christmas party in December with a game show format.
• 📢 Encouraged attendees to volunteer for future presentations and discussions on DNN topics.

Watch the Southern Fried DNN User Group September 2024 Meeting:

About the SouthernFried DNN User Group

Even though our DNN user group is nestled in the Carolinas, we are really YOUR DNN User Group regardless of your Southern heritage or lack thereof. Everyone is invited to attend in person or to join us online! We always try to broadcast the meeting so everyone can participate. Register now for the online meeting details for those of you wanting to join online

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