Posted By Senyors on 1/18/2024 5:34 PM

As a contributor to this thread back in 2020 (and whose needs and concerns are just as relevant today) I find these past few comments quite intriguing, as I've been gearing-up to migrate my online role-playing game system (built totally in DNN at https://browserquests.com) away from DNN to, well, something else (ABP Commercial, Oqtane, WordPress, Unity, GameMaker Pro, RPG Maker MZ, a custom solution in .NET 8... anything but DNN). My impression was that DNN had been dying a slow death for years and I've since migrated dozens of original DNN sites to WordPress (which, for me, made so much more sense, given their small, static, brochure-like nature). Now all I have left is my custom BrowserQuests game in DNN and I've been trying to figure out how best to migrate that, too.

These latest comments, however--coupled with the sheer magnitude of a rebuild (my system consists of hundreds of custom stored procedures, tens of thousands of lines of VB.NET code and a hacked Bootstrap 4 theme that serves my purposes nicely)--is making me rethink whether I truly need to migrate away from DNN. Indeed, I'd like to be convinced to stay!

Personally, I believe I've taken the technical aspects of the game as far as I can on my own--perhaps it's time for me to reach out and ask for help. At the same time, I just learned of the upcoming DNN Virtual Conference coming up in a few weeks, which actually looks quite interesting--I may attend that as well. I think that if I could be reasonably assured that there's little reason to migrate away from DNN for the next few years at least, I'd prefer to stay.

Curious to what others think...

DNN is alive and well.  The community is thriving.  As a matter of fact, we are approaching the release of DNN 10!  If you are interested, please come and join our Southern Fried DNN meetup in just a few minutes where we will be previewing DNN 10 and some of the amazing work that is going into it.  If you can't catch it live, you can watch the replay on the Southern Fried DNN YouTube channel.

I have yet to see any need to migrate away from DNN.  DNN is rock solid and the framework on which it is built is not going away any time soon.

References:

• https://learn.microsoft.c...rosoft-net-framework
• https://learn.microsoft.c...faq/dotnet-framework

As you can see, later versions of .NET Framework follow the life cycles of the operating systems on which they are included.  So, bottom line, DNN will be alive for many years to come!

Posted By David Poindexter on 1/18/2024 2:52 PM

DNN is alive and well.  The community is thriving.  As a matter of fact, we are approaching the release of DNN 10!  

[...]

DNN is rock solid and the framework on which it is built is not going away any time soon.

[...]

So, bottom line, DNN will be alive for many years to come!

Heck yeah! 🌴😎🤙🏽

IMO the DNN community has been increasingly active for the last years. Since we are now in control of the code base instead of being tied to the commercial product, there is more room to move forward.

Having said that, your questions are valid. It is always a good thing to evaluate your situation periodically. For me, there are several things to consider when it comes to larger applications.

• New kids on the block: these are the most difficult to evaluate. All have great marketing websites but you don't know the maturity of the product. In reality you need to work with a platform for at least a year full time before you master something new. Of course, with the risk that you need to pull back at one point. It is an investment for years to come which should not be taken lightly. This regards not just the development tools but certainly the features for content management as well.  
• For any new platform: to get to a level where you can be really productive, this also takes time. I can read and write with DNN and the extensions within the ecosystem. I know my way around to get things done and if I stumble upon something, 9 out of 10 times I know what is going on and how to solve this.
• DNN takes security very seriously. This is something people take for granted but it is a foundation we all rely on. For small display websites, you might want to consider Wordpress but there is no way I would ever recommend that to anyone when it comes to more complex applications
• The DNN community is very active and accessible. If you look at other open source initiatives, it happens quite often that it is driven by 1 or 2 people. Many times questions are not understood or not answered at all. Not blaming anyone because it is all volunteers working. But the DNN community has never let me down.  

What has caused the impression of DNN going downwards is the amount of extensions being available. What in fact happened is that we are past the time when everyone who was able to put a Bootstrap snippet into an extension boiler plate, tried to make a buck in the DNN store. That's when you had extensions like a timeline, a caroussel or accordions. Nowadays, these are widely available within more mature and generic extensions. So, in fact the extension that are still around are better, more mature and versatile.

Personally, when it comes to my own business, I prefer evolution above revolution. Evolution gives me the opportunity to move forward in a controlled manner. Revolution by definition, shakes things up and includes a number of uncertainties. 

My way to move forward is by using 2SXC or Plant an App or the Mandeeps extensions which all run on DNN and allow for me to create pretty much everything I want.

I recommend attending DNN Summit to get more opinions and the latest news. Because you are not the only one with these questions. Feel free to engage as much as you want in this forum because we're happy to share :-)