In this Southern Fried DNN User Group Meeting:

Speaker: SoFri Community Hangout Panel
Topic: End of Summer Hangout

Let's all hangout and have an exciting time catching up with each other and share cool projects we've been working on with DNN.

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Community Topics and Updates

• 🏖️ Summer catch up: informal end of summer hangout, personal updates, projects, and an open DNN roundtable.
• 📅 Upcoming dates: meetings resume on the 3rd Thursday each month; October moved to Friday, Oct 24 at Envisionative in Mooresville, NC to welcome Marco from Costa Rica; December will feature the annual Christmas Party & DNN Game Show.
• 📢 Announcements & comms: Meetup.com remains the primary event channel; Discord preferred for discussions, Slack still receives updates.
• 🛠️ DNN Platform updates with Daniel Valadas: v10.1.1 brings bug fixes, performance, and stability; obsolete APIs removed so older modules may break, but error messages are clear; new Workflow support similar to Evoq with a deeper session planned; security fixes in v9 are only addressed in v10 so upgrades are recommended; policy is to ship fixes then disclose after 30 days to reduce zero day risk.
• 📚 Community contributions: docs, forums, and repos are active; please submit documentation updates on GitHub, even small typos; example improvements include Office365 OAuth guidance from a community contributor.
• 🧱 Technology transition: Mitch Sellers published two blog posts on the direction of DNN and invites feedback, especially around the MVC pipeline and future migration planning.
• 🔄 MVC pipeline thoughts: supports a gradual move from Web Forms to a modern stack and allows hybrid development; maintainers plan only limited v9 fixes for extreme security issues, with an expectation that dual version maintenance will be temporary.
• 🧰 Dev & implementer insights: tools like TooSexy, XMod Pro, EasyDNN, and LiveForms are being evaluated for transition readiness; many teams inherit older sites with numerous custom modules and no source, so refactoring plans are encouraged.
• 🌐 Real projects: Jeremy demoed dark mode sites with progressive enhancements, randomized hero content, HTML5 disclosure elements, and a custom internal page management system; an architecture site showcased advanced photography handling and cropping; menu patterns explored include mobile first, traditional, and mega menus.
• ⚙️ Azure Data Lake discussion: Ryan previewed a client project comparing structured databases with a schema on read approach using AI; interest in how DNN can power ingestion for both structured and unstructured data into Azure.
• 🛍️ Marketing trends: Marco shared ongoing DNN work helping SMBs with e commerce and marketing, emphasizing CTA integration and post launch ad campaigns.

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End of Summer Hangout

This hangout brought the community back together after the summer break, with open discussion, project sharing, and forward looking conversation about DNN's roadmap and real world implementations.

Recommendations and Presentation Notes:

• 🗓️ Mark your calendar for the 3rd Thursday cadence; special October in person gathering on Fri, Oct 24 at Envisionative in Mooresville, NC.
• ⬆️ Upgrade guidance: move to DNN v10.1.1 for security and performance; obsolete APIs have been removed, so test older modules and plan refactors where needed.
• 🔐 Security: critical items in v9 are addressed in v10; disclosures follow release by 30 days for safety.
• 🧭 Architecture: use the MVC pipeline to stage a gradual transition away from Web Forms while maintaining hybrid sites during the journey.
• 🧩 Tools: evaluate TooSexy, XMod Pro, EasyDNN, LiveForms, and other extensions for readiness; create an inventory of custom modules that may require source recovery or replacement.
• 📝 Contribute: small documentation fixes are valuable, submit PRs to the docs and repos when you spot gaps.
• 🧱 Strategy: review Mitch Sellers' posts and add your perspective to help guide the platform direction.
• 🌐 Data: explore Azure Data Lake patterns where DNN orchestrates ingestion for both structured and unstructured data with schema on read.
• 📣 Call for speakers and topics: next meeting is September 18; propose sessions, modules to showcase, or lessons learned.

Watch the Southern Fried DNN User Group August 2025 Meeting: