It’s about time I wrote a little bit about my experience at my very first MVP Summit, so here I am. First of, so much went on, and so much was learned, that I could not possibly cram everything into one single blog post… well I could, but then it would be too tedious for me to write and for you to read. So what I plan on doing is to write a series of blog posts, each about a specific event that I felt was worthy of a post. The first in the series is about the VB-Insiders Party. The VB-Insiders party (oh, and everyone was welcome to attend, by the way, not just VB’ers... [More]

At last month’s Capital DotNetNuke User Group (CDUG) meeting we had the pleasure of having Tom Kraak give us a great presentation on Search Engine Optimization with DotNetNuke. Tom took the train down from his home town in Connecticut just to make the event – thank you Tom! Tom also accepted my invitation to spend the night at my home, but little did I know it would turn into an interview, and a long night! Tom and I share quite a few things in common, the most common one being our passion for DotNetNuke and Technology. The outcome of our conversation is a transc... [More]

I am very pleased to announce yet another exciting Capital DotNetNuke User Group (CDUG) event. Next week, on Wednesday February 18th, 2009, Seablick Consulting’s very own Tom Kraak will be driving down from Connecticut to give us an Intro to Search Engine Optimization with DotNetNuke. Here is a quick abstract and bio: Database-driven websites and content management systems such as DNN are traditionally labeled as "hard to optimize" or "outright bad" for search engines by many “SEO experts.” Don’t believe the hype! Explore how the basics of... [More]

I am pleased to announce the publication by Wrox Press of Wrox Blox Done in 60 Minutes:  Building a Custom DotNetNuke Membership Provider by yours truly. In this publication, I put down into more detail the topic which I presented at last year’s OpenForce08 / DevConnections conference. In this eBook (Wrox Blox) I demonstrate how to build and configure the DotNetNuke (DNN) Membership provider without modifying any core DotNetNuke (DNN) code.  By reading this publication you will soon see what a powerful tool this can be for gaining control over the DNN mem... [More]

I can’t think of a better way for me to start 2009 than by thanking everyone for their support and encouragement over the past year. I received word on January 1st that I have been selected as a 2009 Microsoft MVP, which is a great honor for me.  It seems like a long time since I first began work in this field, and while I grew to love my work and enjoy the community I entered because of it, I never dreamed I would get an honor like this! As you all know, sometimes times are tough and each year brings accomplishments and setbacks.  The last year has been no... [More]

It's finally here, version 03.50.00, chock full of new and exciting features and bug fixes. I wanted to take a moment to personally thank every member of the DotNetNuke team. Without their hard work and dedication, all this free software would not be possible. Well, what are you are waiting for? Go Download it here: http://www.dotnetnuke.com/tabid/125/default.aspx The Blog team has also made available some blog posts about the new features in version 03.05.00. I have compiled the list for your convenience, and here it is: Features and Enhancements: Upcoming Blog F... [More]

Sometimes, inspiration hits when you’re away from your desk. However, you don’t have to miss out on blogging about it! With the new DNN Blog Module (version 03.05.00) and it’s support for the metaweblog API, there are a variety of tools and technologies that make it easier to blog. One in particular is the ability to blog via email with a service like Blogmailr (www.blogmailr.com). Setting this service up is free and quick. Simply create an account at www.blogmailr.com. Once completed, log in and visit the “My blogmailr” section. Once there, click on “Add New Blog”... [More]

OpenForce '08 has finally come to an end :-( and I am now back home in Northern Virginia (Washington DC area). While at OpenForce, between the presentations, manning the DotNetNuke Community booth from time to time, and meeting a lot of great people, my work backlog begun to pile up. On my flight back home, I decided to make a list of things that I absolutely must accomplish today. The first thing on my long list of "to-do's" is to post the power point presentation and source code for my talk: Done in 60 Minutes: Building a Custom DotNetNuke Membership ... [More]

While attending OpenForce '08 in Las Vegas this past week I received a very unexpected email from INETA, one that left me shocked and honored and humbled all the same time. A weird feeling to say the least. In a nut-shell here is what they had to say: We would like to extend our thanks for your participation in the INETA Community Champion program and your commitment to the developer community.  You faced some challenging competition yet your accomplishments speak for themselves.  The Community Champion team is thrilled to inform you that you are one of... [More]

I just wanted to drop you all a quick note to let you know that I have figured out a great way to stream live videos from OpenForce '08. If you want to be notified of when the stream will be active, follow me on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/antoniochagoury I will be tweeting when the shows begin. Once they begin you can view the shows here: http://www.cto20.com/OpenForceLIVE.aspx I will be streaming my presentation today at 11:45 PST: Done In 60 Minutes: Building a Customer Membership Provider. Come on over an watch me live!

Last call! If you have not already registered, it's not too late! Seriously, if you work with DotNetNuke, or are even planning to use it for your enterprise then you cannot miss this opportunity. All the people that make DotNetNuke happen are going to be available to educate you, and support you with every question or concern that you may have on the platform. Great sessions will be given, great events are planned, great topics will be discussed, and need I even mention, it's Vegas Baby! If you are going to be there, make sure you hit me up... I'd love to meet you!

The latest release of DNN Blog, 03.05.00 includes MetaWebLog API support. This means that you can use any MetaWebLog capable client to post your entries directly to your blog without even going to the site itself. The most common clients that support MetaWebLog are MS Word, Windows Live Writer (WLW), MS OneNote and others. In this blog post I'll take you through the steps you need to take to setup Windows Live Writer. If you do not have Windows Live Writer, no worries, it's free and available for download here. Once you installed Windows Live Writer fire it up and fol... [More]

For quite a while now, some folks in the DotNetNuke community have been experiencing a peculiar issue with localization on the Core DotNetNuke Blog module. While we worked on version 03.05.00 of the module, I ran into a ticket that I thought I had already fixed in a previous version release and marked it as fixed. Somehow, just like the villain in bad horror movie, this ticket was back! I and the entire Blog team tried to replicate the issue to no avail, so what to do? – We closed the ticket, and this time marked it as “Cannot Reproduce”. A couple of days ago, the vill... [More]

My company, Inspector IT, Inc. is proud to support OpenForce ‘08 and the DotNetNuke Corp by offering free product licenses. The free licenses will be raffled off to OpenForce ‘08 attendees during an evening event (To be announced). 3 product license will be raffled off for DNN Site Map and 3 other for DNN Dock Menu. Are you coming to OpenForce ‘08? If so, you may be one of the lucky 6 to win one of the following modules: DNN Site Map™ (3 Licenses) Look again, this is not just another Site Map. DNN Site Map™ is more that just another menu, it is a DotNetNuke Tab ... [More]

Microsoft unveiled a brand new .net framework logo yesterday at the PDC '08 conference. Too bad, I just ordered 500 new business cards with the old logo on it! I am not sure what urged them to refresh the logo, but I like what they ended up with. Here are 2 variations of the new logo: Horizontal: Vertical:  

I was updating my professional profile on LinkedIn the other day, and I realized that there was a lot missing about what I do. In essence my profile contained a lot of the stuff I did for a living, but not was lacking all the work I do on volunteer basis. All the community contributions such as speaking, organizing, writing etc, was left out all together. I decided to start compiling a list of my community contribution and while I am sure I missed some things, here is what I came up with so far: Open Source Projects DotNetNuke Core Team Member DotNetNu... [More]

This is the first in a series of blog posts filed under the "Trimming the DNN Fat" category. I hope to add as many of these "tips and tricks" as I discover them. In this edition we'll take a look at how the Module's Settings are being stored, used, and how they end up orphaned and therefore unnecessarily cluttering your database and as a result, you application footprint (Because DNN caches this data). A lot of modules in the  DotNetNuke eco-system, commercial and non-commercial alike, provide configuration capabilities that allow its users t... [More]

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I had a great time speaking at the RockNUG (Maryland .net User Group) this past Wednesday, October 8th, 2008. RockNUG hosts their meetings at the Montgomery College Campus, and I have to admit, it felt really weird standing in front of a full classroom while "playing professor"; If you were in school with me you'd understand where I am coming from... trust me, I paid a couple of visit to the principle's office quite a few times. If only my teachers and professors could see me now, ha! The presentation was called &qu... [More]

Following my CodeCamp Presentation back in May of this year I was invited to do a repeat of my "DotNetNuke Module Development" talk for the Rockville (Maryland) .net User Group. Tomorrow night (10/8/2008) I will have the pleasure of spending the evening with .net and DotNetNuke enthusiast alike, and am privileged to share my knowledge on the topic. I am also happy to see that the RockNUG website is powered by DotNetNuke, as are many user group websites in the DC area. Event Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2008 6:30-9:00 PM Event Location: Montgomery College, ... [More]

Hello again everyone, First, a big "thank you" to all those who were able to attend tonight, watch me speak, and for helping me get through the nuaces of Sharepoint :-) As usual I enjoyed spending the evening with you and look forward to many more. Click here to download the presentation material and feel free to post any questions you may have on the forums! See you next month!

I will be doing a talk on Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 at the Capital DotNetNuke User Group. For those of you interested, here are the details: Title: Enabling SharePoint Authentication Against DotNetNuke Start: 9/17/2008 7:00:00 PM End: 9/17/2008 9:00:00 PM Description: You probably already know that you can setup SharePoint to authenticate via Forms Based Authentication and better yet using the AspNet Membership and Role providers as its bac... [More]

I am excited to join this great group of people in Las Vegas for this year OpenForce / DevConnections conference, and most of all honored for the opportunity to give the following talk. Done in 60 minutes: Build a Custom Membership Provider The Provider Model is a design pattern introduced in .net to provide a simple way to extend API functionality.  DotNetNuke uses this architecture to allow some of its core functionality to be  replaced without modifying core code.  In this session Antonio Chagoury will give you a high-level overview of the core... [More]

After much anticipation, hard work and dedication (from this extraordinary team of professionals) I am pleased to announce that we are "code-complete" and that the Blog module was submitted to the release tracker just moments ago. I would also like to take a few moments to thank each and every team member without whom this would not have been such a memorable release: Don Worthley Dario Rossa Rip Rowan Jim Bonnie Eoghan O'Neill It takes a smart group of people with talent, passion and dedication to develop open source software without finan... [More]

In a recent announcement this week, INETA outlined a new program designed to reward the very hard work of User Group community contributors. User Group contributors are encouranged to participate and submit their contributions regularly on the INETA website. Here is what INETA has to say about the awards programs: Community Champions Award Once a quarter, INETA will recognize leading contributors as Community Champions. In addition to claiming this prestigious title for twelve months, awardees also receive a letter of commendation, a certificate of achievement... [More]

The last time I spoke at a Code Camp I became aware of Community-Credit.com. In a nutshell Community-Credit was founded by David Silverlight, a Microsoft MVP and an active member of the development community, as a way to reward fellow IT Professionals who have contributed toward the development community. Currently, the rewards for these contributions are simply the satisfaction of helping colleagues in the development community. Obviusly I signed up in a jiffy and starting adding all the stuff that I have been doing for the community at-large, from founding the Capi... [More]