These two structured content solutions tend to be the most popular two options I see discussed in the various DNN community channels I pay attention to. As for which one to use/choose, that seems to largely be a preference, as they both have similar feature sets. You'll want to consider all project requirements when choosing between these (and any other extension).

My 2 cents:
2SXC: very rich regarding functionality and also more innovative like optimized SEO. Drawback is that if something does not work, it can be hard to pinpont what is going on. As 2SIC relies on 2SXC for everything, it is not tested in setups where Action Form or EasyDNN also exists.

OpenContent:
More light weight and only focusing on structured content. As it has a smaller scope, the amount of issues is fewer. Biggest drawback for me is that it looks dated. If you offer that to customers, it makes you look dated as well.

One more I forgot: Live visualizer (or Appbuilder) from Mandeeps. Not Open source like 2SXC or Opencontent but maybe the sweet spot you need.

https://www.mandeeps.com/...ive-visualizer 
https://www.mandeeps.com/...ideo-series-tutorial

It looks good and the UX is also very nice for editors. It is not as full blown as 2SXC but has more features than Opencontent. Mandeeps has a track record of being very solid and plays nicely with other DNN modules. That said: because it has more features, than OpenContent, there is always the matter of: will it play nicely as well with 2SXC and/or Plant an App? All three vendors have their own take on innovation but never test in coexistance with each others work. 

Added bonus for Live visualizer: Live tokens. If you want to step up your game in structured content, you can combine this one as well. So, the source can be a SQL statement for instance.

 

 

I noticed all solutions use different HTML editor (Versions) DNN is still on an older version Of CKEditor that had migration with the File Manager (image uload, internal links etc). Which solution has the best editor option? Is there a way to replace the Editor for DNN it self and the custom modules so you can use 1 editor for the entire website?

Posted By Willem on 1/18/2024 1:13 AM
I noticed all solutions use different HTML editor (Versions) DNN is still on an older version Of CKEditor that had migration with the File Manager (image uload, internal links etc). Which solution has the best editor option? Is there a way to replace the Editor for DNN it self and the custom modules so you can use 1 editor for the entire website?

That's a bit of a question of preference.  I've used all, and the HTML editor experience didn't get in the way of any of them as far as I can remember.  🤔 

 

 

I have a lot of experience "making custom things" with 2sxc and very little with the other options mentioned. From repeated experience, 2sxc has proven to have great ROI. The investment is learning, and the rewards and payback are many times over. From time to time it has some rough edges and their can be a lot to learn and re-learn from year to year. But the progress has been amazing. 

To get the most out of 2sxc you need two things:

1. An intermediate knowledge of data.
2. An intermediate knowledge of coding in both JS (or TS) and C# (front end vs. backend of course).

Beyond that 2sxc makes everything easy, well structured, and very discoverable. Simply put, 2sxc is dense with quick-easy ways to do complex and time-intensive things. And behind the scenes it handles performance and caching. The effort they put in to documentation is also worth noting as well as the error handling; IMHO its rare to have meaningful errors surface when something is wrong (in your code or otherwise) and 2sxc does a great job at this with well-detailed errors that often point you on to relevant docs!

Posted By Willem on 1/18/2024 4:13 AM
I noticed all solutions use different HTML editor (Versions) DNN is still on an older version Of CKEditor that had migration with the File Manager (image uload, internal links etc). Which solution has the best editor option? Is there a way to replace the Editor for DNN it self and the custom modules so you can use 1 editor for the entire website?

Those are great questions!  All of the rich text editors are great in and of themselves.  Each has pros and cons.  Their implementations (especially in the case of CKE within the HTML provider in DNN) are where it gets tricky.  With CKE, we have a dilemma because we can't upgrade to the latest version of CKE due to licensing issues.

So, to better answer your question, you can ultimately use whatever rich text editor you desire within DNN.  However, if you want integration with files/folders/permissions etc., you would need to implement it via a custom HTML provider.  This is a pretty daunting area honestly, that few people have taken the time to jump in a grasp.  😉