Since DNN was first introduced in 2003, modules have been the primary method for building DNN extensions. While we have made many advancements in module development over the years, fundamentally, all modules have been based on the Web Forms framework. In DNN 8 we are introducing the MVC and SPA module types. These module types enable developers to break out of the web forms development paradigm and instead use modern web development practices and frameworks within the DNN platform. These new module types follow many of the standard conventions for MVC and AJAX based development, while still providing full integration with the DNN platform. These new modules types are designed to give developers more choice in how they build DNN modules.
The DNN 8 Module Challenge aims to engage the DNN developer community in pushing the boundaries of these exciting new frameworks. This contest will generate great open source modules which will become the foundation for teaching a whole new generation of DNN module developers. In addition, the developer community will provide valuable feedback to the DNN team to help us improve the MVC and SPA module frameworks in time for the DNN 8 launch in January.
You have from now until the end of the year to design and build the greatest DNN 8 module ever. To help you in the process, the DNN team will be offering extensive training and documentation throughout the contest. We’ll be answering questions in the forums and Q&A areas, creating new blog posts (in addition to the many posts already created by Charles), updating the Wiki with even more DNN 8 content, holding special Community Hangouts, offering a monthly DNN 8 Developer Newsletter and creating new module templates to be included in Chris Hammond’s template pack.
What contest would be complete without a great set of prizes? We thought long and hard about all of the great prizes we could offer. We thought the iPad Pro, the Surface Pro 4, a DJI Quadcopter or even a high-end 3D printer would be great prizes that are highly motivating. But like any good product team, we thought about how we could make this even better. We ultimately realized that the best prize is to leave the decision up to the winner. So rather than pick prizes for you, we decided to keep things simple. And what could be more simple than handing out piles of cold, hard cash. Build a great module and you could win $1500, $5000 or even $10000. With that kind of prize money, you could probably afford to buy your whole family a new iPad Pro, and still have a couple dollars left to buy a couple of pencils and smart keyboard or two.
I am really excited to see all of the great modules that you will produce leading up to the DNN 8 launch in January. While our developer community is working on building some awesome open source modules, we’ll be hard at work finalizing DNN 8 and prepping an all new documentation center where we will consolidate all of our developer, designer and user documentation. You can check out all of the rules and details on the DNN 8 Module Challenge page. Don’t forget to scroll down to the bottom and fill out the form to let us know you are interested in participating and to ensure you are on the mailing list for the DNN 8 Developer newsletter.
PS: Today we released DNN 8 CTP 6 which fixes some upgrade bugs in CTP 5 and adds support for reference types in the Dynamic Content Creator. This is a great place to start when building modules for DNN 8.