DNN Platform 7.2.1 Released

I am pleased to announce the immediate availability of the DNN Platform 7.2.1 release. With only 6 weeks since the last major release, the team has been busy stabilizing the platform and this latest iteration provides significant value in the areas of security, performance, and user experience. In particular, a comprehensive review of the access control system was performed to ensure that all of the use cases involving page, module, and folder permissions behaved consistently and in accordance with our policies. Summary release notes are included below and full technical details of the items included in this release are available through our public issue tracker. DNN Platform 7.2.1 can be downloaded from the Community Downloads page.

Major Highlights

* fixed issue where .dnn7 manifest was not being utilized in module installation process
* fixed issue where restored user could not change his profile avatar
* added .ashx to regex filter for Do Not Redirect rule in advanced url management
* added various SQL database optimizations contributed by Sebastian Leupold
* fixed issue with rich text editor in Newsletters in Firefox
* fixed copy page so that all properties are copied
* fixed UI issue when managing Authentication providers
* fixed browser compatibility issue when managing Available Modules in Site Settings
* fixed defaults of billing and trial values when adding security roles
* added a 404 page to the blank site template
* fixed issue where config element in module manifest throws errors when XML Merge script is in separate file
* fixed terminology when changing password as Administrator
* fixed Console module so that it ignores pages that are not intended to be included in the menu
* fixed access control so that Deny permissions always ovveride Grant permissions
* fixed access control so that Navigate permission can be denied
* enhanced permissions grid so that full control specification can not be overridden for specific permissions
* enhanced control panel so that Stay In Edit Mode option is always available
* make application FIPS compliant
* fixed issue preventing DAM from being used in Group mode
* fixed javascript issue in DNNMenuProvider
* fixed access control so that module level permissions are observed for all individualpermission types
* disabled field validation when changing countries during registration
* ModuleSettingsPresenterBased now instantiates ModuleSettings and TabModuleSettings
* fixed exception when composing new message to user
* GetUserRoles will now return an empty list if the user is not valid
* made Group pending notification URLs absolute
* allow a user using the Windows Live authentication provider to be a member of multiple portals
* removed inline style in Logo skin object
* fixed Member Directory issue where the same user is displayed multiple times
* added stored procedure to prevent error when uninstalling dashboard extension
* improved Newsletters so you can send to Social Groups as well as Security Roles
* fixed issue where page with a future publish date can not be edited
* allow a user to specify both a date and time for publishing in module settings
* fixed issue where UserInfo object did not contain LastIPAddress
* fixed Site Group behavior so that Site Settings are populated with current portal properties
* improved performance of loading folders that contain a large volume of files
* fixed scheduler so that Application_Start is recognized when using Request mode
* fixed search by tag functionality
* fixed Users Online so that it is thread-safe
* enhancement so that Google Analytics does not track admin or host user activity
* enhanced Test SMTP options so that it tells you who the email was sent from and to
* fixed issue preventing the closing of the "Welcome to Your Installation" pop up
* search crawler enhanced to include host pages
* fixed issue causing SendMail to crash when sending blank value for to, cc or bcc
* fixed user profile so that users can view their friends profile info if security is set to Friends
* fixed Splash page behavior
* fixed issues where updating a journal item was creating a new record instead of updating existing one
* fixed issue where upgrading from an older version was not cleaning up auth systems, providers and optional modules
* enhanced uploading new extension experience to show progress indicator
* fixed issue where User could not reply to Message
* added new host setting to optionally disable critical error reports displayed in page
* fixed upgrade issue if previous version of module creator was installed
* fixed an issue where user folders were not deleted when a user was deleted

Comments

Nice. I'll be upgrading to it tonight. Here are a couple issues that I am still having with 7.2, that I don't see listed above:
1. My thumbnails profile images don't work, and I've tried just about everything to fix it. I keep hoping for rewrite of the pic handler code. Perhaps including some of Scott McCullough's work.
2. The social modules still need a lot of work. Some kind of installer for all of the various modules would be good. There is a helpful tutorial out there (http://www.ifinity.com.au/2012/07/31/Turn_your_DotNetNuke_site_into_a_Social_Network_in_10_minutes), but an installer would be better.
3. I've had problems with the facebook authentication, giving me error that a person with that user name has already registered / logged-in, and the only way to clear the error and log in, is to clear the browser's cache.
4. Editing the HTML module is buggy in IE11, so I have to use Chrome to administer the site.
5. Would still like instant page loads, haha. Performance is much improved over years past.
6. Installing a module causes the website to be down for about 20 minutes. Probably something wrong with my particular install.
7. Bootstrap 3 default skin. Chris Hammond's HammerFlex skin would be a good place to start.
Great work guys. Thanks you.

Mark Garcia Wednesday, January 22, 2014 5:34 PM (link)

Regarding BootStrap, I agree wholeheartedly. However, to take full advantage, it would be really great if DNN adopted BootStrap as the base framework for the platform.

As is, the 'default.css' is so cluttered with global CSS rules and bloated styling that the first thing anything decent skin designer has to do is unwind all the CSS stylings that DNN thinks should be there. Seriously, take a look at default.css sometime and notice all the really strange global CSS rules that are in there. It's puzzling. All of my custom skins have a large block of rules at the top of the CSS file called 'FIX STUPID DNN STYLES'. To make matters worse, the list keeps changing because the 'default.css' keeps getting more and more global rules added.

I would like to see DNN drop default.css completely. CSS stylings should be left to the skin to control. Period. DNN shold never assume anything about how I want my site styled. Anything specific to DNN control should be moved to CSS file that is only loaded when that respective DNN control is loaded and appropriately specific using targeted CSS rules like '#dnnControlPanel H1' instead of just 'H1' which obviously affects all H1 elements.

I would really like to see DNN adopt BootStrap as the base framework for the entire platform. There is so much goodness in there that it would make life a lot easier on us DNN developers and allow DNN site to stay visually competitive with the other CMS systems that are moving to it. Plus, it allows the people that are focused on CSS framework do what they are good at instead of asking DNN to do something they really aren't good at. Yes, it would be a major overhaul, but sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.

Jay Mathis Thursday, January 23, 2014 11:18 AM (link)

@Jay: I agree with your comments. I can't understand the heavy reliance on default.css. I think that every other CMS I've used pushed that stuff to themes/skins to make it so they go away when you don't want them. Of course, if I want to use those styles, there's no reason I can't copy them from the skin of the default template or something. Making matters worse, I think that many of the styles in default.css are marked as !important.

Also, I've definitely had it happen where DNN changed something in default.css that broke design elements in our site on an upgrade. I just don't really understand why those things are there in the first place. The only css that's loading should be things that either I put there, or some module used on that page put there. If the admin settings module needs some css from default.css, let that module load those styles. Lastly, and this is a little unrelated, but I'm not sure why the popup windows don't get the skin's css applied to them.

I understand that there might be random things that need something like a default.css - including popup windows. But, each of those cases should be designed so that the styles only impact their specific item and are easily override-able. So, if they need some styles to make popup windows work, then that's fine, but make sure they only apply to the specific popup windows and that I can override them in my skin if I want the popups to look differently.

Mike Ryckman Thursday, January 23, 2014 12:55 PM (link)

@Mike
Agreed. I've submitted a number of bug tickets related to CSS in default.css and I see that Shaun has been assigned to them so I am hopeful the right people are now aware of the problem and will come up with a better way. I also remember there being some rumblings about a near future version making it easier to incorporate frameworks like BootStrap or YUI, or whatever you want, so perhaps they are working on a solution.

Jay Mathis Thursday, January 23, 2014 1:44 PM (link)

Great work guys. I have upgraded couple of websites already and have not run into any issues. I would like to commend everyone at DNN, for addressing quite a comprehensive list of issues in this short space of time. I know that the community often complains when their issues have not yet been addressed, but I still think you guys are doing a fantastic job, and that coming from someone who uses your product almost exclusively every day.

Bruce de Beer Sunday, January 26, 2014 5:35 AM (link)

Thanks for the update guys. one thing when I upgraded from 7.1.1 to 7.2.1 The new advanced URL feature does not display in page settings. Am I missing something?

Steve Cowling Wednesday, February 26, 2014 1:24 AM (link)

It displays for me. Make sure you have it enabled in web.config

Jay Mathis Wednesday, February 26, 2014 9:55 AM (link)

Thanks Jay Mathis figured it out this morning!

Steve Cowling Wednesday, February 26, 2014 10:20 AM (link)

Products

Solutions

Resources

Partners

Community

About

New Community Website

DNN Platform 7.2.1 Released

Comments

Comment Form

NewsArchives

ESW Operations, LLC