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Tutorial - Create a Web Site Using Dotnetnuke - Page 2
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Create a DotNetNuke (DNN) Web Site

This section provides step-by-step instructions for creating a new DNN host portal using the web host Arvixe.com—including making necessary changes to your DNS nameservers at your registrar. By the end of this section you will have created an MS SQL 2008 database, an FTP account (to upload your DNN site files), a mail account (so your DNN site can send emails), and the website itself. The instructions will be demonstrated using a Windows XP desktop workstation and Internet Explorer 8.


Step

Directions

1

Change Registrar DNS Nameservers


  • Open your browser and navigate to your registrar. For this tutorial GoDaddy.com will be demonstrated.
  • Login to GoDaddy.com account
  • Hover your mouse over My Account (top right of screen) >> select My Products.
  • Click on the link for your domain name (a new window opens).
  • In the Nameservers section click on the link Set Nameservers
  • Click on the radio button next to I have specific nameservers for my domains
  • Type in the following for Nameserver 1:ns1.parsley.arvixe.com
  • Type in the following for Nameserver 2: ns2.parsley.arvixe.com
  • Click the OK button.
  • Read the details in the second window and click the OK button.
  • Logout of GoDaddy.
       2     

Get Latest DNN Install Package


  • In your browser, go to the following URL:  www.dotnetnuke.com
  • Create an account (this is required to download the free DNN package) >> at the top of the screen click the Register button and follow instructions to get logged in to their site.
  • Login to the DNN web site.
  • At the top of the screen click on the Download link.
  • In the middle of the page, click on the Install Package heading (a new window opens).
  • Click on the I Agree button.
  • Click the Save button.
  • Select a location on your computer hard drive to store this file that you can easily find again. The example for this tutorial is a file name: DotNetNuke_Community_05_06_02
  • Click the Close button when the file has completed downloading.
  • Close the new window that lists all the version of the latest DNN package.
  • Logout of website. Close window.
       3     

Unzip the DNN Install File


  • Open Windows Explorer by right clicking on the Start menu >> select Explore .
Note: There are a number of ways to complete this install process and the described process works best with Arvixe.
  • Create a folder on your computer’s C: drive and name it _Website >> then create another within that folder called whatever your domain name is (i.e., KrisThayer.com in this example) >> and finally a folder within that called wwwroot.
  • Find the downloaded file and right click >> select Properties >> click the Unblock button >> click the Apply button>> click the OK button.
  • Then unzip it to the C:\_Website\TestDNN\wwwroot folder. To unzip, right click on the file >> select Extract All .
  • In the Extraction Wizard click the Browse button and find the folder (listed in previous bullet) >> click the Next button >> once it’s completed extracting (will take a bit of time) click the Finish button.
Note: This will open a new window showing all the folders and files that were extracted. This is the entire DNN website you’re looking at. It will soon be uploaded to your Web Host to get the site launched.
       4     

Create New Domain in Arvixe CP


  • Go to the URL from the email you received that started with cp. In this example it is http://cp.elearnitall.com 
  • Login with the credentials you provided when you setup the account (your username is included in this email).
  • Click on the Domains icon.
  • Click the Add Domain button.
  • Click the Domain link.
  • Type in your domain in the empty field next to the www. and keep all other checkboxes checked.
  • Click the Add Domain button to complete the domain creation.
  • You should see the name listed in the listing that displays.

Note: It will take a bit of time for the domain creation process to complete. An overall host domain elearnitall.com was set up (which has the applied Morpheus SkinLab modified skin applied to it) and then a second top level domain that will be used for the skin purchase implementation of this tutorial. In general, this hosting solution sees them both as top level domains but elearnitall.com is the one with the control panel attached to it.
       5     

Test Domain in Browser


Now that you’ve created the new domain, open another browser window or tab and navigate to your domain (in this example we’ll navigate to www.kristhayer.com) You should see a gray box on the screen that says “This domain is being hosted on Arvixe…”
       6     

Create Mail Account for the Domain


Note: In order for the DNN system having the capability of sending emails, there needs to be at least one email acccount connected to the DNN host domain.
  • In the left navigation menu, hover your mouse over Mail >> select Accounts .
  • Click the Create Mail Account button.
  • In the Email Address: fields select the domain in the dropdown and type in whatever you want the email address to be that is administrative for this domain. In this example support has been typed (so support@kristhayer.com will be the administrative email address used by the DNN portal).
  • Fill in the password you want to use for this administrative email account (be sure to write this down)
  • You must enter some positive number into the Mailbox SizeLimit. For this example 100 was entered.
  • If you want to have this email forwarded to another email address, type that in as well. For this example I will be setting it to forward to my home email address.
  • Click the Save button (once all fields are entered that you want to use).
  • Test the email address to verify this email address works.
       7     

Create the SQL DB for DNN


  • In the left menu hover your mouse over Databases >> select SQL Server 2008 .
  • First create a Database by clicking the Create Database button under the SQL Server 2008 Databases section.
  • In the new window SQL Database Properties , type in the name of the database (can be anything you want). For this example KTDNN has been entered >> click Save button.
  • Then create a user that will be used to connect to the database within the DNN application. Click on the Create User button under the SQL Server 2008 Logins section.
  • Type the username of your choice into the Username: field, create a password (suggest a stronger password with at least 1 upper case, 1 lower case, number, and special character, no less than 9 characters) >> click the dropdown field next to Default database: and select the database you just created. Check the box for the same database under the Databases section.
  • Click the Save button.
       8     

Create FTP Account


  • In the Arvixe control panel, click on the left menu item FTP Accounts
  • Click the Create FTP Account button.
  • Type in a username of your choice and password (write these down).
  • Then click the field next to Home folder: and browse to the root  folder of your domain (click for on the arrow next to Root Folder, then click on the domain name itself).
  • Make sure Read and Write are both checked >> click Save button.
       9     

FTP DNN Web Site Files to Server


Open your FTP application--for this tutorial we’ll be using Filezilla (if you don’t have one see note at bottom of this step).
Note If you don’t have an FTP application installed on your computer, download Filezilla from http://filezilla-project.org/ >> click the icon in the top section of the page to download Filezilla for all platforms.

  • Select File menu >> Site Manager .
  • Click the New Site button.
  • Type the name of the Domain in the text box that opens in the left pane (defaults to ‘New site’).
  • In the General tab fill in the following fields (at minimum)
  • Host:   Whatever was sent to you in the email (in this example it was ftp.elearnitall.com )
  • Login type : Normal
  • User & Password : whatever you set in Step 7 in the control panel at Arvixe.
  • Click the Advanced tab
  • Browse to you local directory that has the extracted DNN site files (for this example C:\_Websites\KrisThayer.com\wwwroot)
  • Type in default remote directory as: /wwwroot
  • Click the Connect button.

You should see the local computer folder of DNN files in the left bottom pane and the remote server in the right pane (there is a cgi-bin and 2 files—default.aspx and web.config)  
  • In the left pane, select all files (click the top file, hold down the [SHIFT] key and click the bottom file.
  • Right click anywhere in the selected files >> select Upload .
  • When a window pops up to warn of a file that already exists, select radio button Overwrite and click on checkbox Always use this action .
Note:
It will take a few minutes to upload the entire site. The size of the 5.6.2 install is approx. 51 MBs for this install. On the test install for this tutorial it took approx. 15 minutes w/ broadband internet connection.
    10     

Launch the DNN Site


Once all files have been uploaded to your domain you will next run the final installation of the DNN web site from a browser.
  • In a new browser window, type the full URL of your website domain (i.e., in this example it is: http://www.kristhayer.com).
  • In the first DNN Installation Wizard screen that appears, leave the default selections and click Next.
  • In the next screen it should read Your site passed the permissions check >> click the Next button.
  • In the next screen, change the radio button selection to SQL Server 2005/2008.
  • In the Server: field, enter the IP address provided by Arvixe in the email you received (the SQL Server is the same as the web server).
  • Database : enter the name you gave the database on Arvixe.
  • Integrated Security : Uncheck the box.
  • User ID : is username you set up at Arvixe.
  • Run as db Owner : Checked
  • Click the Next button.
    11      You should see the screen that shows Installing Database Scripts… Once it’s successfully completed all you’ll see a Next button appear. Click the Next button.
    12      Note: This is the highest level account that will give you the most control of the entire DNN system. You can keep the SuperUser Account for First and Last Name if you want but change the host to something specific to your site name (including Host in the name). You can leave the host as username but it’s a bit better so if someone tries to hack the site they can’t immediately figure out the host account username.
    13     

Configure Portal Administrator Account


  • Fill in all the fields and be sure to write down the password you type in.
  • Click the Next button to finalize the build of your new DNN web portal.
  • The final screen has a link to take you to the newly built site. Click the link Start building your new site!
Note You might want to change the admin username to something else too for improved security measures. It will take a few seconds for your home page to display on the screen.
14 Note: Refer to Section 2.3 Portal Login step-by-step to login to your new website.

You should soon receive an email with subject line “SMTP Configuration Test” (if all went well with setting up your email account and the DNN installation SMTP test).


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