Yes. DNN Platform is a free, open-source CMS under the MIT License.

What is the tech stack for DNN?

DNN runs on ASP.NET (.NET Framework 4.8+) with Microsoft SQL Server (2017+ or Azure SQL).

DNN Platform is community-led and a member project of the .NET Foundation.

What’s the difference between DNN and Evoq?

DNN Platform is the open-source core that's been wildly popular and adopted for over 20 years. Evoq is a commercial offering maintained by DNN Software (IgniteTech) that builds on DNN.

DNN Forums

Ask questions about your website to get help learning DNN and help resolve issues.

Question re: site assets - using the admin interface versus loading content on the backend - pros and cons

5 Replies

3 Subscribed to this topic

40 Subscribed to this forum

Sort:

Author

Messages

alexismaria

Growing Member

Posts: 35

New Poster

1/13/2026 3:47 PM

Can someone tell me the advantages and disadvantages of using site assets to upload documents versus uploading content on the backend using File Explorer?

The content editors prefer using the backend. They only have access to certain folders with permissions applied. I'd like to respond with a comparison.

I'll need to respond to a team meeting in a few weeks and I'd like to explain best practices and why.

Thanks.

Alexis

Daniel Valadas

Veteran Member

Posts: 349

Helpful Replier

MVP

Engaged Reader

Avid Reader

1/13/2026 4:44 PM

Using DNN upload will provided some additional checks on file types and contents.

Marco Alvarado

Veteran Member

Posts: 363

Helpful Replier

New Poster

Engaged Reader

Avid Reader

Most Liked

1/13/2026 8:33 PM

The site assets gives you the exact URL for your assets so you can easily get this information and continue working on the content creation task; also, this feature reduces to pretty much 0% the chances of using a bad URL to call your assets.

Tycho de Waard (SU)

Veteran Member

Posts: 838

Helpful Replier

New Poster

1/14/2026 6:31 AM

File explorer....you mean like filezilla?

In that case:

Points made by Marco :-)
If you use Site assets, you can create a folder type database. Links to documents in that folder are not direct urls but Linkclicks. This means you canrename a document or move it to another folder without breaking the link. Important for content hygiene / integrety.
If you use Site assets, you can create a folder type secure. That way you can store documents in a way only people with a certain role can have access. For instance project teams, HR files etc.

alexismaria

Growing Member

Posts: 35

New Poster

1/14/2026 9:02 AM

Thanks your input everyone. Maybe I should clarify, that some staff prefer copying and pasting their PDFs directly into the \Portals\0\PDFs. They go to the html page and then link their text to their PDFs. If there isn't a pressing issue with this, is it safe to say that it is a reasonable practice? I personally prefer using SITE ASSETS and upload. I assume one can upload multiple documents at once and / or upload a zipped file in the SITE ASSETS interface. Some staff have found it tedious, especially if they are renaming their PDFS.
I understand the folder types can be customized using site assets.

Daniel Valadas

Veteran Member

Posts: 349

Helpful Replier

MVP

Engaged Reader

Avid Reader

1/14/2026 3:32 PM

Reasonable I guess depends on the trust you have in those users and the source of the files. DNN will do some sanity checks on uploads for various known file based exploits that windows will just ignore.

For instance an html file could not be allowed to upload using DNN and IIS might be configure to serve static html (often the case). So using DNN you could prevent that but if the file is just put there using windows, you can't.

There are some file based hacks where serving the file could run code, DNN would prevent uploading such files with commonly known embedded hacks but windows will just let it go. You might trust the user but if the user got the file somewhere else, can you trust the file to be clean...

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:

If you have (suspected) security issues, please DO NOT post them in the forums but instead follow the official DNN security policy.
No Advertising. This includes the promotion of commercial and non-commercial products or services which are not directly related to DNN.
No vendor trolling / poaching. If someone posts about a vendor issue, allow the vendor or other customers to respond. Any post that looks like trolling / poaching will be removed.
Discussion or promotion of DNN Platform product releases under a different brand name are strictly prohibited.
No Flaming or Trolling.
No Profanity, Racism, or Prejudice.
Site Moderators have the final word on approving / removing a thread or post or comment.
English language posting only, please.

Would you like to help us?

Awesome! Simply post in the forums using the link below and we'll get you started.

Get Involved