Good Content Management System, for CODING? Need some replies ASAP.

[ThePentiumGuy]

Its time to update the looks of my site. I now have a server with PHP, ASP.NET, MySql, you name it.

I think I should start using CMSs... so the layout will be "Easy" and stuff. Im not that much of a web designer, but what I DO want is some suggestions on how to make webpages for tutorials.

You can check my old page on my sig.

So I went and tried a bunch of PHP CMSs such as PHP Nuke and E107. Theyre GREAT - but unfortunately, the pages must be created in a forum-style manner (it has some built-in editor), and this is generally not good for putting out tutorial content...

I mean, e107/phpnuke - you cant even TAB the code. Even if you wrap in CODE tags.

What Im looking for is a content management system (free) where I can upload files.....say, from dreamweaver/front page....

Am I looking at this whole thing wrong? Should I even be USING a CMS? Sorry if I seem confused, Im sort of new to web development (besides basic, crappy HTML as you can see from my site). Id like to step away from that and move to something more advanced.

Any tips?

-The Pentium Guy

 

[mutant]

Depends on what you want to do with your site other than just posting tutorials. CMS for just posting tutorials is a bit of an overkill, and will probably take some time to customize it the way you want it (I speak from previous experience here ). What I went with for the resurrection of my old website is a collection of simple PHP pages, that all include the basic layout file and then the page specific information. For example appropriate tutorial is chosen based on the value of a query string, and the file with the same name is included in the page. All of this required about 10 lines of PHP .
In the end you have to decide what else you would want to do with your website. RainbowPortal is a nice ASP.NET CMS.

 

[Shazbots]

Hands down i think its DotNetNuke. Open Source. Thousands of community members for help. Highly upgradable.
www.dotnetnuke.com

 

[ThePentiumGuy]

I dont know PHP, but Id be willing to learn it . Thanks for the help. Ill give a look into DotNetNuke, in fact Im downloading it right now. ill give it a shot and see if its good.. as long as it indents and doesnt screw up my *CODE* (by not indenting....etc) then its fine.

 

[mutant]

Im not talking about using PHP in specific. Im just trying to point out that you can build a simple system for a website like that very easily without investing plenty of time.

 

[ThePentiumGuy]

Im not talking about using PHP in specific. Im just trying to point out that you can build a simple system for a website like that very easily without investing plenty of time.

Yeah I know what you meant . But it is time for me to learn something besides .NET and Java.

Man, my connection must suck (768K) its STILL uploading DotNetNuke (50MB).
Look at the time difference:
07:42 PM
09:20 PM

Nearly 1.5 hours uploading 50 MB.. wow

 

[ThePentiumGuy]

Yay. Done uploading. I read the instructions thoroughly, I created a database called dotnetnuke and a username/password. I made sure I could connect to the database

<?php

if ( mysql_connect(localhost, MYUSER, MYPASS, dotnetnuke) )
{
echo Yay!;
}
else
{
echo Crap..;
}

?>

And it echoes back "Yay". So the database is working fine. I cant get the ASP.NET thing working though

<add key="SiteSqlServer" value="Server=(local);Database=dotnetnuke;uid=MYUSER;pwd=MYPASSWORD;" />

That itself doesnt work. Not too sure what to put for the Server=(local); value.. Putting in

<add key="SiteSqlServer" value="Server=localhost;Database=dotnetnuke;uid=MYUSER;pwd=MYPASSWORD;" /> doesnt work either.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

-The Pentium Guy

 

[mutant]

What is the error you are getting?

 

[kejpa]

Hey Pentiumguy!
Im not too sure but it looks like

<add key="SiteSqlServer" value="Server=(local);Database=dotnetnuke;uid=MYUSER;pwd=MYPASSWORD;" />

is for connecting to a SQLServer....

HTH
/Kejpa

 

[ThePentiumGuy]

Yeah, but the instructions ask me to fill those fields out .

Mutant:

Server Error in / Application.
Runtime Error
Description: An application error occurred on the server. The current custom error settings for this application prevent the details of the application error from being viewed remotely (for security reasons). It could, however, be viewed by browsers running on the local server machine.

Details: To enable the details of this specific error message to be viewable on remote machines, please create a <customErrors> tag within a "web.config" configuration file located in the root directory of the current web application. This <customErrors> tag should then have its "mode" attribute set to "Off".




<!-- Web.Config Configuration File -->

<configuration>
<system.web>
<customErrors mode="Off"/>
</system.web>
</configuration>

Notes: The current error page you are seeing can be replaced by a custom error page by modifying the "defaultRedirect" attribute of the applications <customErrors> configuration tag to point to a custom error page URL.




<!-- Web.Config Configuration File -->

<configuration>
<system.web>
<customErrors mode="RemoteOnly" defaultRedirect="mycustompage.htm"/>
</system.web>
</configuration>

I turned this on:
<!-- Web.Config Configuration File -->

<configuration>
<system.web>
<customErrors mode="Off"/>
</system.web>
</configuration>

At the very end of my file. Not too sure whats going on here.

-The Pentium Guy

 

[Shazbots]

I dont know what kind of hosting your with(since you said you were uploading) but dnn requires a few special permissions to work. Such as db_owner in SQL-server on the dotnetnuke database. Depending on the Operating System of the server, the users ASP_WP (XP, 2000) or NT_Authority(2003) needs db_owner.

The connection string will most likely not be local host as the server, your web hoster should provide you with details for its connection string requirements.

Yeah, but the instructions ask me to fill those fields out .

customerErrors mode="Off" - just makes sure that helpful errors are shown.

 

[ThePentiumGuy]

Thanks, Yeah I got my hosting from somebody else . Its windows 2000 hosting though...

 

[Shazbots]

I think it would be best if you ask the Web Hoster that they will allow thoose permissions or not. Some Hosters advertise free DNN setup. The ASP NET account needs db_owner permissions on a 2000 server as stated above.

 

[ThePentiumGuy]

I just talked to my hoster, he said hell set this up later today. Thanks

 

[Shazbots]

Glad to be of help

 

[ThePentiumGuy]

Hmm. Apparently I have to use SQL 2000 instead of mySQL. I talked with the guy. I learned that the best thing to do is simply use CSS instead of going for a CMS. I"m learning it right now - pretty neat. Thanks for all your help guys. Ill notify you when my new website unveils itself.

-The Pentium Guy

 

[mutant]

How is CSS going to substitute for a CMS? Am I missing something ?

 

[Shazbots]

How is CSS going to substitute for a CMS? Am I missing something ?

The whole idea of a CMS is so that you dont have to touch the code. This means you will have to manually update the pages html everytime you update the page.

I second that, how does css replace a cms system?