Hello everyone and welcome to this glorious day, one that marks the beginning of a new DNN era!  I don’t mean to be all dramatic here, but it is indeed an epic day.  We are making the DNN Platform 9.11.0 Release Candidate available for immediate testing.

Over the years, we have heard of several steps being taken in the core DNN Platform code base to remove bits and pieces of Telerik, but did you ever think we would actually arrive on a day where we could confidently say (okay, shout from the rooftops) that Telerik is really gone (no, I mean REALLY GONE) from the base install of DNN?  Better yet, there is a shiny new, easy-to-use, and automated process for upgrading DNN from older versions with the optional removal of Telerik (yes, really removing it).  That said, I will stop right there and save some of the more technical details of this great 9.11.0 release of DNN Platform for Mitchel Sellers, who will be posting a more in-depth technical blog once we are ending the Release Candidate phase.  For now, we need to talk TESTING.

If there was ever a better time for you to get involved in testing, it is now!  You may be saying to yourself, “but this is a minor release – what’s the big deal?”  To that I would say, let’s not let the semantics get in the way of the true epicness (coined word) of this release.  This release holds the keys to a much cleaner, more improved, and more secure DNN.  So, upgrades (although always recommended in the past) will become paramount for all users of DNN in the coming days, weeks, and months ahead.  Everyone should make every effort possible to get their instances upgraded to the latest and greatest release of DNN, and without Telerik!  And to help ensure success in this upgrade endeavor, thorough testing and feedback reporting will be a key component to everyone’s success therein.

I blogged a while back on Simple 10-Step Testing for DNN Platform Release Candidates, and these steps are still useful for testing any RC (including this one).  However, for the 9.11.0 RC, I would like to go into a bit more detail on the specific areas of most change and focus.

Resource Manager
Don’t let the same name fool you.  This is a completely new and improved Resource Manager, built from the ground up.  This solution was developed based on valuable DNN community feedback after the release of the first stop-gap Resource Manager solution.  Make sure all the features work as expected.  Beyond basic usage, think of more complex use cases as well (e.g., within social groups).

Digital Asset Manager
This module is no longer present in DNN 9.11.0.  This is true for clean installs as well as upgrades.  This module was one of the key consumers of Telerik within DNN Platform and it needed to go!

Clean Install
A clean install of DNN should have no Telerik presence in any shape, form, or fashion.

Install Wizard
During a clean install, the user will be prompted for their desired SSL configuration.  If accessing the install wizard via HTTPS, the checkbox will be automatically checked.

Secure Pages
When an instance is configured for SSL to be enabled and enforced, the Pages module within the Persona Bar will set the page default value for “Secure” to true.

Default & Blank Templates
Upon clean install of DNN:

• User Registration will now be “None” by default.
• Activity Feed, My Profile, Friends, and Messages pages will be visible only to Registered Users.

Upgrade Wizard
During upgrades, there are three scenarios that may be encountered:

• Telerik Present and Used
  In this scenario, manual removal of Telerik will be required and instructions will be displayed accordingly.
  
  
   
• Telerik Present and Not Used
  In this scenario, there will be an option to improve security and remove Telerik now.
  
  
   
• Telerik Not Present
  This will follow the normal upgrade flow upon clicking “Upgrade Now”.
  
  

Make sure the UI/UX makes sense to you in the above three scenarios.  For the Telerik Present and Used scenario, you may want to use the DNN FAQ and/or the DNN Events open source modules.
 

Updated CK Editor

• Be sure to check any CK Editor plugins to ensure they are working as expected.
• You can now resize images upon upload, so testing around this feature would be much appreciated.

Removal of SharpZipLib
DNN no longer depends on SharpZipLib.  However, third-party modules may have been depending on SharpZipLib within the DNN distribution.  Therefore, you will want to test any modules that you know of, or suspect, that is using this library to ensure it is still working properly.  If you find an issue, we highly recommend you inform the developers of the extension so they can plan a release that is compatible with DNN 9.11.0.

Upgrade of Newtonsoft.Json
Newtonsoft.Json has been updated to version 13.0.1.  You’ll want to test any 3rd party extensions relying on this library to ensure they are working as expected.  Report any findings with these extensions to the developers so they can plan a release that is compatible with DNN 9.11.0.

Security Analyzer
Improvements have been made here to:

• FAIL if Telerik Installed & Used (shows warning about 10.x upgrade issue)
• FAIL if Telerik Installed & Not Used (shows a message about removal)
• PASS if Telerik Not Installed

From the entire DNN leadership team, the GitHub approvers group, and the extended DNN Technology Advisory Group, we thank you in advance for your thorough testing of this release!  Please take the time to kick the tires on the above.  The more we test and catch issues now, the more successful the official release of DNN Platform 9.11.0 will be for everyone!  Let us know if you have any questions – we’ll be happy to assist!

If you discover a bug, please create an issue on GitHub.  The clearer and more concise you can be in the reporting of issues, the quicker someone will be able to investigate them and hopefully squash them.  Let’s come together as a DNN Community and really do a great job at testing this release.  This is one of the most exciting releases ever, so let’s make it awesome!

P.S. – Thank you to the 18 contributors that made this release possible.  That’s 168 contributions total.  Way to go DNN Community!