I have spent the past 3 days at the DotNetNuke World conference. This conference was the first for DotNetNuke Corp on its own. Previously their conferences has been held in conjunction with the Microsoft DevConnections conference. I think this was a great move for DNN. There was about 400 people there and 1000 online viewers for the keynote address. 

DNN has a new definition for CMS (content management system). C = Cloud Deployment, M = Mobile Optimization, S = Social Engagement. This is all part of their new mission. They have some goals for the upcoming year:

• User Experience Improvements
• Cloud Deployment
• On Demand
• Performance
• Social/mobile

There are over 10K modules currently on SnowCovered.com. This store will be undergoing a major overhaul in the future to re-brand it and add new functionality.

DotNetNuke has had a very successful year. Their release was DNN v6. This new version had major user interface changes and functionality changes. For all you programmers the back end was changed from VB to C#.

There are some big improvements for v6.

1. Extension Catalog - You can now purchase modules right in your web site and install it at the same time.
2. Cloud File Storage – The professional and enterprise editions now allow you to store files in offsite providers like Amazon and Azure.
3. SharePoint Connector – In the enterprise edition there is a connector that can connect your SharePoint and DNN web site to share files.
4. Mobile - DNN now has the ability to detect what screen resolution or device is coming to your web site. Based on this information the end user is automatically redirected to the appropriate site for that device. There are mobile templates that come with DNN now. The menu is optimized for small screen when using this template. When creating content there is a preview for most devices currently on the market. When a mobile device comes to your site you can redirect it to a page or site automatically.
5. Cross sites sharing – Users and content can now be shared between sites/portals. If you are responsible for more than one site you will have a single signon that wont log out when you go between sites.
6. Performance - DNN 6 has major speed improvements. It reduces client requests by 70% by grouping CSS and JavaScript to reduce page download times. This is not enabled by default.

Looking into 2012 these are the features that DNN will be working on:

• SnowCovered will become "DotNetNuke Store" with enhancements
• Cloud – demos and hosting
• Professional Edition –
  • Content approval
  • Granular permissions
  • Document management
  • Page Caching
• Enterprise Edition –
  • Staging environment
  • SharePoint 2010 connector
• Focusing on business sections – They want to have installs that focus on certain types of web sites like Intranets, Ecommerce, etc. These will contain the templates and modules needed for these types of sites.
• Social media – They will be integrating social media right in the base code.
• URL management
• SEO management

The enhancements in v6 take DNN to a new level in content management systems. The future plans for DNN are very exciting and I look forward to implementing these new functions.