Earlier today we released the DNN 7.2.0 Beta on CodePlex. In 7.2.0 we have been focusing on just a few features and a large number of bug fixes. We have also been working closer than ever with community members to incorporate community contributions into the platform. Below is a list of some of the major features that are coming in this release. Take a few minutes to download the beta and give us your feedback. A few minutes of your time now can help us make the release that much better. Also, if you find an issue, consider submitting a pull request along with logging the issue. We’ll automatically enter you into the DNNCon Bug Bash. Who knows, you just might walk away with a brand new 64Gb Surface 2 tablet for your effort.
Application Features
DNN 7.2.0 includes a number of features which are targeted at the application users. All of these features are great enhancements to existing functionality that makes your job of administering your DNN site just a little easier. Give them a try and let us know what you think.
Responsive Design Skin (Community Feature)
The Gravity skin (and default website template) was redesigned to use the Bootstrap 2 framework. The new skin provides a fully responsive design out of the box which allows the skin to be used for a wide variety of device screen sizes. This skin provides a great example for other designers who are looking for examples of using Bootstrap or responsive design with DNN.
This feature enhancement was created by the awesome team at Arrow Designs. Special thanks to Ralph Williams and Henry Tavarez for their hard work on this enhancement.
SQL Module (Community Feature)
The SQL module has undergone a complete overhaul in DNN 7.2.0. Supe rUsers now have the ability to save frequently used queries to aid in performing common database tasks. The module incorporates the CodeMirror code editor which provides syntax highlighting and other advanced editing features. In addition, the results grid was completely rewritten to provide sorting, pagination and data copy and data export capabilities.
This feature is still under development to add in some CSS styling to give it a clean, modern look in keeping with the rest of the admin UI. Even though it can still use a little love from our designers, please give this feature a good workout as all of the functionality is working.
This feature enhancement was contributed by longtime community members and DNN MVPs Vicenç Masanas and Peter Donker.
Module Creator
The DNN Module Creator makes it easy to create and edit modules within your DNN installation. The module adds a syntax highlighting code editor, and easy to use predefined templates that make it simple to create custom extensions in just a few minutes.
This module was previously available on CodePlex but has been fully incorporated into DNN and enhanced with even better capability than before.
User Search
DNN 7.1 introduced a completely overhauled search engine. DNN 7.2 enhances the search engine to include a new user search feature. Now you can easily search for users by their name or their user profile settings – just like the major social networks. As always, users are in complete control of how much or how little of their profile to make public.
With the Search Results module it is easy to determine exactly which types of search results will be displayed. If user search doesn’t make sense for your site then it is easily disabled.
Developer Features
If you are a DNN developer we have a lot of feature enhancements in the beta to help make your life easier, and we have a few more that will be showing up after the beta so make sure you are keeping up with the Nightly Builds to see all the latest changes. As we get closer to release we’ll work on getting the developer documentation updated to show you how you can take advantage of these features in your development.
JavaScript Library Management
Module and skin developers often use third party JavaScript frameworks to simplify common client side development tasks. DNN 7.2 makes JavaScript libraries into a first class extension type for DNN. With this new API, developers have a common way of loading most JavaScript libraries. This allows modules to share libraries thus relieving developers from the task of re-distributing common libraries. DNN 7.2 will ship with a half dozen pre-installed libraries and more will be made available through the forge.
Code Editor
DNN has a long history of providing users the ability to edit various application files. DNN 7.2 includes the CodeMirror code editor component to provide a full syntax highlighting code editing capability. Module developers can incorporate this capability into their own modules with just a few lines of JavaScript. With support for syntax highlighting, custom themes, tab completion, code folding and many more advanced features, you can create your own mini development experience that makes the most sense in your module. With support for over 70 languages and dozens of advanced features, I am sure you will find just what you need for your own development needs.
Summary
These are but a few of the many enhancements and bug fixes that make up DNN 7.2.0. I urge you to take a look and see what will be coming when we launch DNN 7.2.0 in November. Also, if you have a minute, please thank the awesome members of our community who have contributed to make this a really special release. Community contributors include: Peter Donker, Vicenc Masanas, Henry Tavarez, Ralph Williams, Brian Dukes, Brandon Haynes, Stefan Cullman and Sebastian Leupold.
It’s not too late to get involved and add your name to the list.