Knowledgebase » Knowledgebase » ASP.NET plugins » DotNetNuke

Why do I get "Application Shutting Down / Application Started" in my DNN?

Mark — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:38:18 GMT

You may receive the following error in dnn admin account -> admin -> event viewer (for DNN4.0 or above) or log viewer (for earlier version of DNN):

Application Shutting Down Shutdown Details: The AppDomain shut down because of the hosting environment

The reason for this error is that, when your dnn site is idle for about 20 minutes, IIS would shutdown the application pool your site located in order to maintain a healthy server environment.

The DNN will then logged it as Application Shutting Down. But once another visitor visit your site, IIS will start the application and your dnn site will be recompiled to serve the visitor.

How to reset dnn password?

Mark — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:32:48 GMT

1)Open SQL Query Analyzer - Connect to your DotNetNuke database

2)Paste the following Stored Procedure code into the window, this will create a stored procedure for later use called uap_ResetPassword. This should survive DNN upgrades because we are predicating the stored procedure name with uap_

create procedure [dbo].[uap_ResetPassword]
@UserName NVarChar(255),
@NewPassword NVarChar(255)
as
begin
Declare @PasswordSalt NVarChar(128)
Declare @ApplicationID NVarChar(255)
Declare @ApplicationName NVarChar(255)
Set @ApplicationID = (SELECT [ApplicationID] FROM aspnet_Users WHERE UserName=@UserName)
Set @ApplicationName = (SELECT [ApplicationName] FROM aspnet_Applications WHERE ApplicationID=@ApplicationID)
Set @PasswordSalt = (SELECT PasswordSalt FROM aspnet_Membership WHERE UserID IN (SELECT UserID FROM aspnet_Users WHERE UserName=@UserName))
select @ApplicationID, @ApplicationName
declare @RetVal as int
Exec @RetVal = dbo.aspnet_Membership_ResetPassword @ApplicationName, @UserName, @NewPassword, 10, 10, @PasswordSalt, -5
return @RetVal
end

3)Now you can reset your DotNetNuke passwords by simply opening up SQL Query Analyzer, connecting to your dotNetNuke database, then typing
uap_ResetPassword 'username', 'newpassword'

How to reset my DNN3 host password?

Mark — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:50:33 GMT

*This tips works on DNN3.x only.

To reset the host password for your DNN site, you can do this:

1) Register a new user on your dnn site
2) connect to your database
3) open the table users
4) find the new user you created just now and update the field "IsSuperUser" from false to true.
5) This new user have the same right as the host account now
6) Login to your DNN site with this new user
7) Change the password of the original host account in host >> Superuser Account >> Edit >> Manage Password

How do I migrate/move my DNN site to your hosting?

Mark — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:53:16 GMT

To transfer and migrate your exisitng DNN site, you need to:

1. moving your files

2. moving your database

3. configuring your web site.

1. moving your files

- Get a copy of your DNN files. If you were hosting your DNN from other hosting company, you can consult with the company and download them from FTP.

- Next upload your DNN files to your hosting account folder using FTP. Your FTP information can be found from your hosting control panel. The location of the files you should upload to depends on the path your domain point to. eg. If your site is http://mydnn.domain.com and you have created this subdomain from your hosting control panel and pointed to path c:\....\member\yourmemberID\DNN, then you should upload to DNN folder from FTP. This is because your ftp root is pointing to c:\....\member\yourmemberID. For help on using ftp, please refer to this article.

2. moving your database

- make a database backup of your database. Note, this is backup file generated from the database server, not a raw database file and log file ending with mdf and ldf

- create a database with the same name and same login id from your hosting control panel

- from the mssql database menu in hosting control panel, click on "restore db" next to the new database you recreated. You will find a "Click here to create FTP access to the Database server, if you haven't do this already." link to create your ftp account to upload your database backup file. Follow the instruction to create the ftp account

- Now upload your database file through the new ftp account. When it is done, go back to the mssql admin page in hosting control panel. Click on "restore db", enter the information and click restore.

- Now you have your database migrated.

3. configuring your web site

- you need to configure file permission, edit your connection string, and configure your asp.net application to fit your DNN

- go to hosting control panel -> security -> file permission. Find the folder that contain your DNN files. Click the the "EDIT" button, give "NETWORK SERVICE" "Full Permissions".

- control panel -> File Manager, go into the folder that contains your DNN files. Find within the folder there's a file named "web.config". Your connection string is located in this file. You can edit the file from the file manager. Update the connection string to use your new database. Note, DNN 3.22 and later has two connection strings, please make sure you update both.

- If your DNN site is in a folder under your domain, eg. http://domain.com/mydnn, go to hosting control panel -> site admin -> .NET Application. Click "GO" next to your domain, click on "set application' icon next to the folder your DNN site is at. Now you have the folder set to a seperated asp.net applicatoin and it is displayed on top of the screen.

- If you are using DNN 4 and later version, you also need to click on "change .net version" to asp.net 2.0 from the same screen.

- If your DNN site is at the domain root, eg. http://mydnn.domain.com or http://domain.com, and, is DNN 4 or later, go to hosting control panel -> site admin. Click on "change root's .net version" next to the domain for your DNN, change it to asp.net 2.0.

After steps 1, 2, 3 you should be good to go with your DNN at our hosting server.

How To: Manually install DotNetNuke (DNN)

Mark — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:48:03 GMT

Create MS SQL DB via control panel for your installation. In Hosting Control Panel -> Databases -> MSSQL Admin -> CreateDB to create one. Remember the DB IP, name, user and password
Download DNN zip-file from DNN website(http://www.dotnetnuke.com/) You need to register an account to access the download section
Unzip all file and upload it
In Hosting Control Panel -> Security -> File permission, select your DNN installation folder and grant read, write and execute permission for user "Network Service", remember to remove write permission after DNN has been installed
For DNN version 4 or after, you need to set your application run with ASP.NET 2.0. You can do it via Hosting Control Panel -> Site Admin-> .net application. If you are installing on a subfolder, you need to change this subfolder as .net application folder as well.
Browse your site URL and follow the instruction to install it, remember to select sql database instead of sqlexpress and use sql authentication (use database user and password to login).
After installation complete, just browse it. You will see the default DNN login/password show up in home page. You can now login and start work with your DNN

How to remove register link from DNN

Mark — Mon, 18 May 2009 12:07:59 GMT

To remove register link from dnn site, you can login as admin, then select:
admin -> site settings -> advanced settings -> security settings, set user registration to "none"

How to synchronize file in dnn site

Mark — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:13:18 GMT

File manager for user admin and super admin host has different root folder.

For admin account, the default root folder is /portals/0

For host account (or dnnhost in later version), the default root folder is /portals/_default

To check the path of root folder, you can simply click Upload and you will be able to see a path besides Portal Root.

If you upload files to the correct folder using ftp, but could not find those files under the file manager in dnn, you can check the recursive option and then click on synchronize files in the file manager and the files should be shown after synchronization.

My DNN login page does not work!

Mark — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:12:37 GMT

** Following procedure involve change of your database. We suggest you backup your database and files before process.

If you find your DNN login page does not work, or the login page keep refreshing, you can try to do this.

Connect to your DNN database and run the following query:

Update Portals Set LoginTabId=null Where PortalId=0
(Change the PortalID to the one that you find problems)

After running the query, reload your site and the problem should be fixed.
　

How to add new Portal and PortalAlias?

Mark — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:11:40 GMT

Portal:
To create another complete new DNN website using the portal URL, you can use a new domain name which pointed to the same folder of your existing DNN.
To add a new portal, please login as host account >> go to host >> portals >> add new portal.

Portal Alias:
To use another domain to browse your existing DNN website, you can do this.
Login as admin account >> go to Admin >> Site Settings >> Advance Settings >> Portal Alias >> Add New Alias

How to enable Captcha for DNN registration?

Mark — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:12:34 GMT

Captcha is a server Control that requires the "user" to enter a randomly generated "Human Readable Security Code" during registration.
Following is an example.

To enable captcha for dnn registration page for dnn 4.8.1 or later version, you need to do the following:

1) Login as Host/Admin accounts
2) Go to admin >> User accounts
3) Click "User Settings"
4) Find the option "Use CAPTCHA For Registration", check this option
5) Click "Update" in the bottom of the setting page.

Reload your site and the setting will be updated.

DNN Site Log Viewer Feature Disabled

Mark — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:22:18 GMT

When login to the DNN Log Viewer, you got the following error messages:

Your Hosting Provider Has Disabled the Site Log Viewer Feature For Your Portal. The Logs can be viewed offline and are available in the \Logs\ subfolder of your Portal's Home Directory.

To fix this issue, please login as the host user, Go to:

Admin menu -> site settings -> advanced settings -> host settings -> Site Log History in Days

You can enter the number of days you wish to log.

There may have another possibilities that it is setup to store the site logs in the file system rather than the database that would show this message.

To check your settings, please go to Host menu -> HostSettings -> advanced settings -> other settings -> SiteLog storage -> select database

Why is my dotnetnuke application slow?

Mark — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:53:32 GMT

There can be lots of reason why your DNN application is running slow. The first thing you can check is to check the size of your DNN eventlog. Often in time, DNN logs a lot of activities in its eventlog and the site owner never bother to clear them. This would create severe performance problem to the DNN application. You should login as the DNN host and clear those logs. The loading speed should improve a lot.

To do so, login to your DNN site as HOST or ADMIN. Then go to "Admin" > "Log Viewer". You can review and remove your log there.

Moreover, DNN schedule tasks could consume heavy system resource on Web and DBserver. You may log in as host to check if any DNN schedule tasks arenot necessary and remove them.

To do so, login to your DNN site as HOST. Then go to "HOST" > "Schedule". You can review and edit your DNN scheduling task there.

How can I remove Line Spacing in text/html editor in DNN 4.9 ?

Mark — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:01:10 GMT

Try "Edit Text" in your DNN site. You can find "Basic Text Box" and "Rich Text Editor". By default it uses "rich text editor".
If you want to skip to next line, normally you will press "enter". But the line spacing becomes double.
Expected Result:
line1
line2

But DNN shows:
line1

line2

If you check the source, you will find this
<p> line1 </p> <p> line2 </p>

If you don't want double spacing, please press "shift + enter" instead of "enter"

How to resolve collation conflict in ASPNETForum?

Mark — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:57:17 GMT

You could mostly be solved by follow steps:

1) change database collation to SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS via the control panel -> databases -> MSSQL admin
2) connect the database, find stored procedure "Statistics_ResetTopPosters"
3) find and change the code from:

CREATE Table #Top500Users (
Rank int IDENTITY (1, 1) NOT NULL,
UserName nvarchar(50)
)

to:

CREATE Table #Top500Users (
Rank int IDENTITY (1, 1) NOT NULL,
UserName nvarchar(50) collate database_default
)

reference link:

http://forums.asp.net/535822/ShowPost.aspx

What to do when my DNN site issues "directory '/App_ANYTHING/' is not allowed" error?

Mark — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:54:46 GMT

Please check if file PrecompiledApp.config exists in the application folder. This file tells the compiler the application is precompiled and not supported to run APP folder. Just remove this folder and the site will work. Also remember to force recompilation by editing web.config (just open and save the file).

What to do when my DNN 'forget password function' fail and email log shows authentication fail?

Mark — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:07:31 GMT

Normally the email address of site admin user is that of user account "admin".
DNN uses that email address to send the "Forget Password" email. If the admin account is using different email address, email authentication will fail.
Therefore you have to use the email address in SMTP authentication as the email address of site admin user.

How to solve [DNN Error: Edit Text/HTML is currently unavailable]?

Mark — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:05:36 GMT

Please find the file controls/texteditor.ascx and edit the follow: change quote from : <td id=”celTextEditor” Runat=”server”> to <td id="celTextEditor" Runat="server">

what to do when my dnn site shows "Object reference not set to an instance of an object." error?

Mark — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:54:57 GMT

There could be many different reasons for this error. The most common cause is the application tries to do some initialization from files such as database, xml, text files etc. Usually there are diagnostic messages follow after the error message above, such as sql error if it is database related. Usually it is caused by missing configuration files. Please double check if there are config files that have not yet been uploaded to the site folder.

What to do when my dnn site has this error: 『parser error message: the entry 'localsqlserver' has already been added.』?

Mark — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:50:53 GMT

Since the name "localsqlserver" is already defined in "machine.config' at the server level by default. "web.config" needs to remove this name first by adding the tag < remove name="LocalSqlServer" / > before the same name is redinfed in the web.config file.

How to share files in my dnn site?

Mark — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:41:50 GMT

If you want to share file, you can use the "Document" module, it renders a list of documents, including links to browse ordownload the document. You can share file which inside your DNN or add external link to it.

How to configure my dnn site to send mail?

Mark — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:25:17 GMT

Please make sure you configure the email settings properly within your DNN. Our mail server requires smtp authentication, if it's not configured properly, then it won't send out the email messages.
Go to DNN with host login >> host settings >> advanced settings >> smtp server settings >> SMTP Server
The information required are :
smtp server/host : mail.yourdomainname.com
Type: BASIC (not anonymous or NTLM)
valid email account from yourdomainname.com
and password for the email account.
Make sure the HOST email should be same as the AUTH address. (Depends on which DNN module you are using, some module will use the "admin" user email as from address.)

How to use Domain Name with DNN Child Portal?

Mark — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:24:16 GMT

Log into your DNN site as the Host.

From the Host menu, choose Portals.

Select the portal you need to change. At the bottom of the page you should see "portal aliases" section.

Configure a new alias for that portal to use that URL. In your hosting control panel, point the domain name to the path DNN installation. It will redirect it to the proper child portal after you have setup the portal alias as described above.

How to remove Webhost4life DNN footer in my dnn site?

Mark — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:22:20 GMT

Our development team has made great efforts to simplify the whole DNN installation process and now DNN can be installed by just a "few" clicks. The "webhost4life" banner at the bottom of the page is a sign of appreciation to the efforts made by our development team. Our development team welcomes any inquiry you have in the DNN setup and administration.

What to do when my dnn site has nothing to show but says "Nothing To Install At This Time" after upgrading from DNN3 to DNN4?

Mark — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:19:24 GMT

Please add the tag <add key="InstallationDate" value="11/18/2005" /> in web.config under "<appSettings>" section.

What to do when editing DNN blog module it returns: Error: Edit Entry is currently unavailable?

Mark — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:09:31 GMT

The reason for this error is because there is an invalid character located in the file EditEntry.ascs. You can fix the issue with the steps below:

1) Open DesktopModules\Blog\EditEntry.ascx
2) Look for the string "ResourcêKey" around Line 21
3) Replace the "ê" with "e"
4) Save and replace the original file