I've recently entered the world of DNN and have done some reading (the latest Wrox book - DNN 4.0) and some material on this site but I'm finding it tough finding material on how to adapt others source code and I'm looking for some assistance. We've purchased a number of modules (with the source) but I need to be able to adapt them for certain needs. I have VS2005 and I'm working with DNN 4.4.1 Source on a localhost environment.

Can anyone advise on some reading materials to enable me to alter these modules? I specifically need to know how they should be opened (ideally where they should be opened...as I know I should work on the solutions file); do I need to add the source code to a directory within my DNN site or do I work on it seperately; how we should repackage the module (if we need to do this if we're only using it for our own needs)?

As you'll see I'm quite new to this so please bear with me. Any advise appreciated as always.

I've also found the tutorials at DNN Creative Magazine to be very helpful.  They are, IMHO, quite good, and will help you get oriented to DNN quite well.  Michael Washington's materials are also first rate.  I think that DNN Creative's stuff is more suited to DNN newbies, so I'd probably recommend that first.

Also, the chapter in the  Professional DNN book about module creating is a good, if somewhat sketchy outline. 

To get started with modifying modules, I'd recommend that you get the DNN "starter" kit and install it in VS2005.  Build the DNN application, then the module that you'll want to modify.  You can then make your modifications and rebuild the entire application. 

You might want to start by playing with the Events module.  If you do that, you can work through the several chapters in the Professional DNN book.  Spend some time enhancing the Event's module, then you can move on to modifying other modules.

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Joe Craig
Patapsco Research Group, Ellicott City, MD
DotNetNuke Development and Services (http://patapscorg.com)