I wouldn't be terribly worried about something that's a few years away. But, if I were building a new skin, I'd use nvQuickTheme (https://github.com/nvisionative/nvQuickTheme) to do it. (With a great shout out to David Poindexter and the team at nvisionative.)

I understand but we still prefer to go with the least common denominator at the expense of more features if it can avoid a large rewrite. A few years from now is not nearly long enough if you think about how busy people get very quickly. 

I think it would benefit everyone if DNN could publish a list of current recommended development standards (it's OK to be vaguely right than precisely wrong). The development is getting fragmented (not DNN's fault), but it would benefit to stay on a few sure paths to keep development efficient, simplify training/hiring of developers, and stability for long term support.

Bootstrap HTML + Objects

...the same for module development. What are current standard?

Well, short of "DNN" publishing standards, I think that dnndocs.com, community.dnn.com, and a number of examples such as nvQuickSite and Christoc's module templates, Will Strohl's sample extensions, etc. are a decent replacement. And you'll find blog posts and other things regarding best practices are around and about. DNN is an open-source project and depends entirely on the the work of volunteers who contribute to the project. These forums help to fill in the blanks, too. And, to the extent that each of us learn things, documenting them in forum posts, blog posts, or even additions to the dnndocs project (again another open-source thing) we move the process along.

Posted By Stephen on 24 Apr 2020 11:50 AM

Hi

We're looking to a create a new skin. In order to avoid redoing the work when DNN goes .NET Core, is it recommended to build the skin in pure HTML and use only Object tags instead of creating in full ASCX ?  

Thank you

TBH I don't think it makes a big difference. I'm guessing the new Theme format will probably be Razor based and if that's true none of the existing Theme formats would help you much. But converting should not be very difficult either (unless you use a lot of custom code in your ASCX). I don't see much value in the HTML format TBH. For most Themes  95% of the your work is in the CSS, not the ascx. The CSS needed will probably not change much even if the skinning engine changes. I would try to use generic CSS classes as much as possible contrary to the current DNN classes as some of them will probably disappear or change. If you use Less of SCSS, that makes it way easier to adapt to a new skinning engine int a later stage.

HTH Timo

 

Posted By Stephen on 24 Apr 2020 02:28 PM

I understand but we still prefer to go with the least common denominator at the expense of more features if it can avoid a large rewrite. A few years from now is not nearly long enough if you think about how busy people get very quickly. 

I think it would benefit everyone if DNN could publish a list of current recommended development standards (it's OK to be vaguely right than precisely wrong). The development is getting fragmented (not DNN's fault), but it would benefit to stay on a few sure paths to keep development efficient, simplify training/hiring of developers, and stability for long term support.

Bootstrap HTML + Objects

...the same for module development. What are current standard?

Actually DNN has never really limited you to use any CSS Framework you wanted apart for some styling in default.css that could interfear. (whichs are quite easy to reset). Personally I beleive that DNN should not focus on a specific CSS framework for Themes and I even think there als is no need to do that. I built most Themes in BS4 but for some clients I do all CSS from scratch or use another framework because it's a better fit. I think it's important that's still possible in future versions of DNN.

 

In a perfect world, it's nice to have a life full of choices. In practice, however, too many choices makes it hard for development to work together. For example, Bootstrap is a great CSS framework and has dependency on jQuery. The skin may specify the CSS, but the jQuery version comes from the platform. Module developers program their code based on the agreed upon CSS and JS that will appear on the page. If we are all choosing different frameworks as we please, it would be incredibly difficult to have any stable development.

Razor is a great use for future skin development. But for now, does anyone know if HTML + Objects for skin development will still be supported when DNN move to .NET Core?