The shoe makers family has no shoes...

There is an old saying "The cobblers family has no shoes" which means the "experts" usually take care of their own family last. I originally got involved with DotNetNuke when I made my Wife's site 3 years ago. Since then I haven't done a single DotNetNuke site for my own immediate family.

I think the reason is that I figure I'm such an "expert in DotNetNuke" that when I knew I needed to make a site for my Son I wanted to "make it perfect". The problem was, any idea I came up with was challenged in my mind by a better one. Trying to make it perfect meant that I couldn't actually make a move.

I had to decide what I really wanted out of the site and live with it:

• Easy to maintain so I would update it more often than the existing FrontPage site
• Photo Gallery that was easy to maintain
• A place for recent events that was easy to maintain

If I just stuck to these 3 things I could actually make a move. The other great ideas I had for the site would just have to wait. Here is how I was able to get the site up in 2 hours:

• DotNetNuke - Simply using DotNetNuke means the site is easy to maintain. I can be at my parents house and take a digital picture and upload it to the site. I don't need to wait until I get home to use Microsoft FrontPage. I simply use my favorite skin from Nina for a great look.
• BizModules - Ultra Photo Gallery 2.0.7 - Probably the single biggest reason I was able to get off my butt and get this thing done. You have to take your hat off when someone delivers a module that just simply "gets the job done". I was able to take 400 photos. Drop them in a directory, hit "synchronize" and the album was done. You can zoom in on pictures, watch a slide show, the darn thing is great.
• New Blog - Yes I know Hans-Peter Schelian has the newer blog that is is an official Core project, but the old version works great so I haven't updated it, and I don't think I have ever created a DotNetNuke site without it. Again, this is another example of a module that "just does what you need it to do and does it right".

Experiences like this remind me of the true power of DotNetNuke to perform a powerful and useful function in your life. My Son's site is important to me and now it's up and working and I can now slowly expand on it.

Perhaps next I will install my own DefMatchGame... but I am waiting until the high scores module is completed...