Couple of things you need to consider
1. get youself a git account if you have not already done so.
2. register yourself on the dnn support tracker - https://dnntracker.atlassian.net/secu...
You need to raise a ticket on the support tracker for any changes you make using git - there are notes on the dnn git archive in the the CONTRIBUTING.md file that talk about some of the concepts.
3. log into git and head to the dnn repository - https://github.com/dnnsoftware/Dnn.Pl...
4. click on the FORK button to make your own personal fork of the repository for your own use.
5. make a note of the HTTPS: Clone URL - there is an option to copy to the clipboard - it will look something like
https://github.com/YOURGITUSERNAME/Dnn.Platform.git
6. I like using the built in Visual Explorer tools - but there are any number of other ways to access this tree and pull it onto your system - http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.micro.... If you are using visual studio 2012 - download and install this.
7. start visual studio - the next steps can be a little different depending on which version of VS you have but basically.
8. Open the Team Explorer tab - Select -> Local Git Repositories -> CLONE.
Copy in the url from your development fork
Select a local folder to clone the repository to
HIT the CLONE button - and wait for the repository to be downloaded to your local machine.
9. Alternatively - https://help.github.com/articles/set-... will talk you thru setting up git for windows.
Its a cmd line system - which does give access to some functions that are problematic using the inbuilt VS tools.
https://help.github.com/articles/fork... talks thru the basics of cloning using the command line.
You can also install install the cmdline tools from inside visual studio by following the link to Install 3rd-party Git command prompt tools.
10. anyway - back on visual studio ... ONCE the repository has finishing downloading - about 300meg later you can now get ready to checkout a branch to work with.
Firstly if you haven't done so before - go to the settings section and put in you github username and email details - for later reference.
11. the next step is important - at the moment all you have done is cloned the repository to your local machine - you have not yet actually checkout any files to work on - when working with DNN the current documentation says to work with the DEVELOPMENT branch only - only dnn core personnel should work with other versions.
Select the repository you previously downloaded - "click home on the Team Explorer - and double click on the repository you downloaded"
Click on the Branches link.
Select New Branch.
give the branch a name like "yourgithubname_development" and select the origin/development branch - and make sure the Checkout branch checkbox is selected -- and hit Create Branch.
12. you are now almost ready to open the DNN_Platform.sln project in the git repository folder and start working with it.
BUT a couple of things you should do firstly - to keep a consistent development platform.
As a part of the setup of a development compile - the system will try to install and configure a working website platform.
For this to work properly you need to make sure that IIS is configured on your system - basically browse to http://localhost/.
You should get the default a IIS web page. If you get any sort of error - make sure IIS is installed on your system and properly configured with a default website.
BASICALLY what is going to happen - is the source installer is going to create a website http://localhost/DNN_Platform/. You dont need to actually create the website it will happen as part of the first time you open the project in VS.
The other thing you should make sure is that you have installed MS SQL EXPRESS 2012 on the same system.
13. Now OPEN the DNN_Platform.sln ... If all goes well the project should open - with no errors
14. In Build - Configuration Manager - switch to RELEASE mode - and Build the project
15. again if everything went correctly - you should now be able to open a browser and go to http://localhost/DNN_Platform/ and after a couple of seconds you should see the dnn install page.
You now have a fully functional DNN system - ready for use as a working development platform - and also configured to manage checkin and checkout thru github --- just start to edit any element and VS will automatically start marking things at pending edits.
Make sure you read thru the current contributor notes - and also understand that its still a work on progress - and most especially - that for any changes you make - there should be a corresponding dnn support ticket - and the support ticket number should be noted in the corresponding COMMIT messages in a format like:
(DNN-####) Make the example in CONTRIBUTING imperative and concrete
- hope this gives you a way forward -
Westa