A significant update for the Events module is put into the DNN release tracker to follow the formal DNN module release process. This Events version is also available as Release Candidate download on CodePlex.

For this version, more than 50 issues were covered. A detailed list of these issues involved can be found on CodePlex. The For the record, I will note a some major enhancements here.

Major enhancement: templated list view

A long term request: please enable the list view to be templateable. We finally did! This required the complete code for the Events list view to be rewritten. Roger has implemented a repeater control for which (of course), several templated elements are defined. Documentation for this enhancement can be found on CodePlex in the Wiki documentation pages of Events.

Major enhancement: SEO optimalisation

We have extended the options for the Events module for Search Engine Optimization. This includes:

• The possibility to set page title, description and keywords on Event detail display. The complete layout for this is templated with tokens, so you can complete set the content for these elements yourself
• Dynamic input to the search engine sitemap that is generated by a DNN site (sitemap.aspx). I think that Events is the first DNN core module to implement this feature. A new handler is created and added to the core sitemap setting in web.config to process the URL's of all Event detail pages for Event modules that you have enabled for this option. The result: your Events will be better indexed by search engines like Google or Bing (if you have enabled sitemasp.aspx to be your dynamic sitemap xml file generator in the search engine webmaster tools)

Major enhancement: extended iCal support

The option to export iCal calendar has been improved and enhanced. Most important improvement is that the iCal connection can export a whole selection of Events, e.g. to import those automatically into a Facebook calendar.

There is more

The above list is far from complete. There are many more enhancements. There is also a change in the minimal required DNN version: the new enhancements will need at least DNN 5.5.0 if you want to run Events 5.2.0, but we assume that you might even want to step forward to DNN 5.6.1 or 5.6.2. Not a bad idea BTW, seeing the security bulletins related to issues fixed in DNN 5.6.1.

Documentation

The Events module is becoming more and more powerful. There are a lot of settings available to set the things as you want it to be. There is documentation on the Event Wiki  pages on CodePlex available. I want to list one of those pages here: Event settings. Have a look and see what is possible!

Please note

This is a not a formal Release of DNN Events 05.02.00. This is a Release Candidate, which is not formally tested. Please be aware that this version is based upon a lot of code and database changes. The version represents the latest compiled version of the DotNetNuke Events Module. This is a build that has not passed through the DotNetNuke Module Release Process. The build has received testing and is made available 'as-is', therefore any usage is at your on risk. Like any beta software it is not recommended to install on production systems. Upgradeability from a RC version to a later RC or production version cannot be guaranteed.