Posted By Will Strohl on 8/15/2025 12:12 PM Hey there, Dutch Customs! 👋🏽😎 As someone who’s long been embedded in the DNN trenches—from dev to evangelist and MVP—I’ve lived through the glory days, the Evoq era, the open‑source renaissance, and the current community-powered momentum. So a quick gut-check: yes, I think you’re in great shape. 1. DNN can be headless—but it doesn’t wear that label out of the box Straight up: DNN isn’t a headless CMS in the traditional sense. But it absolutely can act like one. With APIs like 2sxc Web API and the core DNN APIs, plus custom modules or OpenContent Razor templates (example: my May 2025 release of OpenContent Templates – Razor‑Powered & Ready for You), you can build headless-capable content pipelines—and do it with control, flexibility, and security. What really matters here is that you expose the API endpoints you want/need to build and support other apps. This is something I've seen and done several times over the years. The first time I saw someone do this was at Orlando Code Camp way back in 2007! The tooling wasn't even in DNN yet! 2. Legacy & familiarity = enormous value You’ve got experience on DNN. Instead of rebuilding, you can leverage that know-how to stand up APIs, tailor workflows, and reuse modules. Many off-the-shelf headless systems force you into their model and lock you down. With DNN, your possibilities are wide open. You're not limited to just one app, app type, dev pattern, proprietary standards/syntax, etc. Just ASP.NET! 💪🏽 3. Community-driven and evolving DNN may have gone through organizational ups and downs—but it’s the community that’s kept it thriving. Compared to other CMS options, DNN stands out with a passionate, active community and a platform that continues to adapt. My only concern here is that the people running the technology group are literally refusing to progress us to .NET Core with all kinds of excuses, despite there being a clear path forward. It's clear that it has something to do with the personal views of a select few, though. See the links below to see how exciting this future is! A True MVC Pipeline for DNN Supporting Video DNNCore.org (normally has some great content...) 🤔 4. Resources you’ll find useful You’ll want to check out the 2sxc Web API and the DNN API as starting points—others in the thread have already mentioned them. From there, consider pairing with Razor-based OpenContent templates or building custom Web APIs for full headless flexibility. You're literally only limited by your creativity and imagination! 🙌🏽 5. My two cents If you need content delivered to varied front ends (web, mobile, or external apps), go headless—but don’t abandon your DNN investment. Keep DNN as the content engine under the hood. That way, you're not starting from scratch—you're evolving smartly (and saving budget)!
Hey there, Dutch Customs! 👋🏽😎
As someone who’s long been embedded in the DNN trenches—from dev to evangelist and MVP—I’ve lived through the glory days, the Evoq era, the open‑source renaissance, and the current community-powered momentum. So a quick gut-check: yes, I think you’re in great shape.
1. DNN can be headless—but it doesn’t wear that label out of the box Straight up: DNN isn’t a headless CMS in the traditional sense. But it absolutely can act like one. With APIs like 2sxc Web API and the core DNN APIs, plus custom modules or OpenContent Razor templates (example: my May 2025 release of OpenContent Templates – Razor‑Powered & Ready for You), you can build headless-capable content pipelines—and do it with control, flexibility, and security.
What really matters here is that you expose the API endpoints you want/need to build and support other apps. This is something I've seen and done several times over the years. The first time I saw someone do this was at Orlando Code Camp way back in 2007! The tooling wasn't even in DNN yet!
2. Legacy & familiarity = enormous value You’ve got experience on DNN. Instead of rebuilding, you can leverage that know-how to stand up APIs, tailor workflows, and reuse modules. Many off-the-shelf headless systems force you into their model and lock you down. With DNN, your possibilities are wide open.
You're not limited to just one app, app type, dev pattern, proprietary standards/syntax, etc. Just ASP.NET! 💪🏽
3. Community-driven and evolving DNN may have gone through organizational ups and downs—but it’s the community that’s kept it thriving. Compared to other CMS options, DNN stands out with a passionate, active community and a platform that continues to adapt.
My only concern here is that the people running the technology group are literally refusing to progress us to .NET Core with all kinds of excuses, despite there being a clear path forward. It's clear that it has something to do with the personal views of a select few, though. See the links below to see how exciting this future is!
4. Resources you’ll find useful You’ll want to check out the 2sxc Web API and the DNN API as starting points—others in the thread have already mentioned them. From there, consider pairing with Razor-based OpenContent templates or building custom Web APIs for full headless flexibility.
You're literally only limited by your creativity and imagination! 🙌🏽
5. My two cents If you need content delivered to varied front ends (web, mobile, or external apps), go headless—but don’t abandon your DNN investment. Keep DNN as the content engine under the hood. That way, you're not starting from scratch—you're evolving smartly (and saving budget)!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Will. I just want to clarify a few points so readers understand the current direction from the Technology group. The decision to not move to .NET Core right now in a rush is not a lack of vision or willingness to modernize, but rather to ensure we smoothly support: - The thousands of existing sites already running DNN with a mix of custom solutions. - The extension ecosystem and vendors that rely on DNN. - Smooth upgrade paths that don't require huge rewrites in a very short period of time. - Organizations that can't for many reasons move to .NET Core soon. We’ve discussed this at length in the Technology group over the past couple of years, balancing modernization with stability for our users. It’s important that community members, especially in leadership roles, share the community’s agreed direction when speaking publicly, so we don’t unintentionally create confusion. That said, DNN continues to evolve with less dependencies, more .Net Standard code, dependency injection, a lot of improvements for performance and security, etc. We more than welcome a new MVC pipepline which is another baby step into modernization that removes more dependencies on .NET Framework (and webforms) but we can't just rush into .NET Core leaving everyone who can't do it quickly behind.
Hey Daniel... My pleasure! I'm doing what the technology group should be doing - talking about this in front of and with the entire community.
Though, this statement:
Posted By Daniel Valadas on 8/15/2025 10:53 AM The decision to not move to .NET Core right now in a rush is not a lack of vision or willingness to modernize, but rather to ensure we smoothly support:
Conflicts with this statement in the same response:
Posted By Daniel Valadas on 8/15/2025 10:53 AM We’ve discussed this at length in the Technology group over the past couple of years
I agree with this statement 1,000%! But, to date, this has not really happened. Everything is happening and being discussed in private and technical channels, not allowing the public to actually have a voice.
Posted By Daniel Valadas on 8/15/2025 10:53 AM It’s important that community members, especially in leadership roles, share the community’s agreed direction when speaking publicly, so we don’t unintentionally create confusion.
From an outsiders perspective, this is NOT true at all. All one needs to do is try to "sell DNN." True evolution needs to be seen and have benefits for all stakeholders. Not only the technology group members. If you want further proof, just spend one minute looking on Google and Reddit.
Posted By Daniel Valadas on 8/15/2025 10:53 AM That said, DNN continues to evolve
I really hope this actually happens... but, how many years must go by before it's not a "rush job"?
Posted By Daniel Valadas on 8/15/2025 10:53 AM We more than welcome a new MVC pipepline which is another baby step into modernization that removes more dependencies on .NET Framework (and webforms) but we can't just rush into .NET Core leaving everyone who can't do it quickly behind.
Folks, I'm opening up this as a separate thread. I copied Will's initial response to the previous thread, so as to provide the context for Daniel's reply to Will.
I’ve been using DNN since its beginning in 2003. Over the past few years, I’ve become more involved, becoming one of the primary contributors to the Community Forums extension. While I’m not a member of the ecosystem, per se, I'm still a contributing member of this community. Hopefully my voice carries some weight here.
I think this is frustration boiling over a bit, which is indicative of an organizational structure problem. And no one in this conversation is 100% right or wrong. I want to make the following observations.
First, however, I offer an apology to the original poster, as we have totally hijacked his original question. He's probably thinking, "gosh, why would anyone use this DNN thing anyway, they can't even agree amongst themselves".
I've split off this part of the conversation, as this is an absolutely vital discussion. It’s long overdue, it needs to be frank and out in the open; we’re all adults. And what better way to have a discussion than using the Community Forums module running on the DNN platform!!
When I started getting more involved in the Forums module, I realized how much work it needed, but decided it was a worthwhile project since I run a separate community that uses DNN and the Forums module. I've used this free software, and I saw an opportunity to give back. I knew I could help make DNN--and Forums in particular--better, and just not only for myself. As I got to know others in the DNN community, their passion fed mine and gave me even more enthusiasm about pushing the Forums module forward. It's a challenge, but I took it on expecting great strides to continue to be made in the DNN community. I really thought DNN was well designed and would go forward. But I’m just not seeing that. There’s nothing compelling in DNN10 for me as a “consumer of DNN” to get excited about. I don't see a clear roadmap. We all know about .NET Core. What about other stuff, like a new editor? CKEditor 4 has been out of support since 2023. Say what you will about Shawn Walker, but he worked hard to create a vision and deliver a cohesive message.
Daniel, your sarcasm regarding the mvc pipeline project is itself disrespectful. There has been a tremendous amount of effort put into it. There was obviously an enthusiastic response at DNN Connect. For the technology group to not get involved and/or reject it as a pet project is a shame. The entire community should be behind it and pushing it forward.
Tech meetings should not be closed--particularly to other board members who have an interest. And I believe they should largely be open to anyone in the community. I'm not a member of any of the groups, but I'd still like to be part of the conversations. And if there are security issues to discuss, the meeting can easily be structured to accomodate that.
My last observation is on the organizational structure. It isn't working well. I also don't think the four groups are evenly--or properly--divided. And the overall governing body (the "Leadership Team"). Who is that? How does it function? How do they align the different groups and resolve competing ideas? Is there a mechanism in place to evaluate how the board is or isn’t accomplishing its goals? There needs to be a way to remove members of the board with a formal proposal and vote.
That's all from me. Now back to your regular programming... (get it??)
I'm not a member of the leadership team, but I am part of the git approvers group, so I have a fair amount of insight into the daily inner workings of DNN, but I'm sure there are conversations that I'm not privy to. I'm hopeful that this conversation can be productive, since it seems like there is a lot of misunderstanding and miscommunication, with folks talking past each other.
John, you brought up the need to replace the usage of CKEditor within DNN Platform. I think this is a good scenario to think through in relation to what we're working with when we consider contributions to DNN. There has been a general awareness that moving on from CKEditor was important, but there have been no commitments to do the required work. Since DNN has no financial backing and is run by a community of volunteers, there is little that we can do other than add the item to a wishlist and hope that a contributor will find funding to complete the contribution. There has been some movement towards finding funding for that particular contribution, but it's not the first time that's happened, and only time will tell when a contribution actually comes through.
Regarding the new MVC Pipeline and DNN on ASP.NET Core explorations, I think that it's great work and hope that we can integrate it in with DNN Platform. To date, there have been no attempts at submitting pull requests to include any of those contributions, so there has been nothing for the approvers to review, approve, or reject. There has been some conversations that I've been aware of regarding the best way to structure the work so that it can be included in DNN. There may be some disagreements to work through regarding the timing and scope of certain changes, but I'm not aware of anyone trying to prevent an agreement from being reached. The most pushback that I'm aware of stems from a request to change the branding of https://dnncommunity.org/...ity/Leadership-Team. While it's easy to say that things could be better, I'm not aware of anyone seriously working on specific proposals to change or improve the current structure. I am certainly open to any specific proposals, whether that's around leadership/organizational changes, or around technical contributions, or around communication approaches.
Brian, thanks for your thoughtful response. I certainly appreciate it and hope we can all continue to have a positive discussion about the future.
I’m sorry about your experience with cloudflare. I’ve certainly experienced that, and was discussing it with another community member today who experienced exactly the same loss of content. I will start another thread to see what improvements can be made.
Posted By Mariette Knap (SU) on 8/18/2025 2:31 PM Yes, I am looking into this Cloudflare issue and propose a fix soon.
These Forums are for the discussion of the open source CMS DNN platform and ecosystem.
For the benefit of the community and to protect the integrity of the ecosystem, please observe the following posting guidelines:
Awesome! Simply post in the forums using the link below and we'll get you started.