Hi - thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts here - I hope my suggestions might save you some time and thoughts in your process of working out if DNN really is the one or not..

A couple of things ring some little alarm bells here - you've got the special blend that makes up the UhOh.. something's going to go a little skewed here..

• New to DNN -
• 10 day deadline
• Looking Professional - (I don't like what's on offer)
• Ecommerce -

That is a mix for some sleepless nights if you are thinking it will all go together smoothly and let me tell you I've been reading about some other CMS products and honestly - they're all the same - a learning curve - which is what you've not put into the equation here.

If you can outline some of the skills you're comfortable with- I'd be happy to share with you a few steps I think you should take and see if you can't get the miracle happening within 10 days.

DNN is no different to any other site builder - it requires some input and if we have an idea on your skills then you may get some suggestions on what you need to work on to get it happening.

This is just my opinion, others may say - Nina you're crazy - I did this fantabulous totally brilliant site in less than a week and the customers were happy and it went smoothly and no trouble, they loved it from day one, oh and the paid me pronto..     and I would love to read those stories too.  but somewhere along the line there will need to be a compromise.

So tell us what you can do, and I'll suggest what you might be able to look at because I love to see new DNN sites and new people getting the passion about DNN, just as much as I and hundreds of thousands of others have.

Hope I didn't put you off.

Nina Meiers

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Thanks so much for the responses.

I haven't messed with DNN more than a few hours so far. I've been doing strictly ASP/VB.NET development for just under a year now as an IT Consultant. On a scale of beginner, mid-level, senior developer, I would consider myself hot on the heels of a mid-level position, but not there yet.

What concerns me the most is the e-commerce portion. I've dealt with e-commerce at my job before, but we were using a purchased solution that we modified. I'd like to keep costs down and possibly use a DNN module to complete the requirement.  Either way I don't have time to code something myself.

What interests me about DNN is that it presents a great  opportunity for me to  learn and expand my .NET skills and provide flexibility for my customer. What concerns me most is the ability to fully customize the appearance so that it doesn't look like a blog with several different  modules hanging out in their own windows that look like they've been dragged and dropped.

I've got a good graphics designer that can do the graphics for me, but I'm not totally sure on how to get the site to a professional level. I'm fluent in CSS (which isn't something to brag about) but I haven't dealt with what looks like XML style rendering sheets. I've just noticed them and started playing around.

My goal is something like this: http://cdiradiology.com/  (from DNN showcase) only with a static header rather than flash.

Or this: http://buckeye.com/ (from DNN showcase)


Hosting-- I don't have a host setup yet. I'm leaning towards Jodohost.com. My other options that I've investigates are Fluid Hosting, Cartika, and discountASP.net all on shared systems. (this won't generate enough traffic to justify a stand alone server). These places all support DNN and MS SQL Server 2000 or greater. Any other suggestions (preferably near east coast)?

That's the update, i'll wait to hear back with your thoughts. Thanks again, I appreciate the responses.