DotNetNuke 6 Beta 1 was released on June 22nd, 2011. For those of use who like to live on the edge, it was a day we all looked forward to. I had tested all the previous CTP's and had great expectations for the first beta. DNN 6 B1 didn't disappoint. Even after all the hype coming from the DotNetNuke Core Team, this release is a huge step forward for DotNetNuke.

Installation was flawless and took but a moment to complete. Upon completion I browsed the new install and of course logged in as host to begin my inspection. The first thing I noticed was the changes made to the UI (user interface). Some where subtle, others are just plain "Wow!." The login interface has changed again and for the better. You can now resize it, event to full screen. Moreover, the release notes say that DNN developers will have the ability to control the size of all pop-up windows within their modules.

The control panels (for Admin, Host, Modules, Pages and Tools) have also been re-worked. The new DDRMenu layout is clean and easy to navigate. My only complaints here is some of the icons on this slick layout are very "pedestrian." The Module control panel also has an item that puzzles me. Modules have been broken down into categories to make them easier to navigate and choose (Admin, Host and Uncategorised). I would suggest different verbiage for "Uncategorised", perhaps Standard or Common.

Another dnnWerks provider added was the Page Admin. It is a great tool to manage your pages and gives you a full set of tools for tuning your pages including such things as SEO, metatags, etc. One thing that has changed is the UI. It was a very nice "tab" layout, the layout in the beta is now vertical. It is consistent with the other layouts, but it does cause a huge amount of scrolling. I would like to see the tabbed layout return here.

One of the "wow" items is the new Module Action Menu. Very slick and easy to get used to! Gone is the old module action menu. To quote Joe Brinkman on his DNN Blog " The new menu is hidden by default, but as the user hovers their mouse over a module, a “manage” button will appear and provide access to the module action menu. As the user moves their mouse around the page, the manage button will appear as a ghosted image which only becomes fully visible when the user stops moving their mouse."

So far the only UI issue I have found is related to the dnnWerks RadEditor provided that DNN has folded in. I'm a big fan of this provider and have used it for sometime now. The HTML Configuration Manager give you the ability to customize the HTML module based on security role. However there is no visible Save or Update button to complete the task (Forum Post.)

Also a concern is the Page Weight of the new DNN. Because it relies on so much Javascript, jQuery and CSS, the pages are a bit heavy. I had a forum discussion (Forum Post) with Chris Paterra and he assured me this is on the roadmap to be addressed.

All in all, this is a solid beta showing from DNN. If you'd like to see what's certainly a new way of thinking at DotNetNuke, I suggest taking the beta for a spin and providing them with your feedback.

This article is cross-posted from my personal blog.