Modules are the true functional elements of DotNetNuke. The majority of the items that you and your users will be interacting with are modules. After you have added a page or are on an existing page you will have Pane elements. You can see your Panes by switching your DNN mode in the far upper left from Edit to Layout. You will then be able to see the available Panes. These are the areas on the website you can add modules.
Adding Modules
To add a module to a Pane, use the section in the center of the control panel. Select a module name such as the HTML module, give it a Title, and select where you want to put it on the page by selecting the appropriate Pane from the drop down list. Then click Add Module to Page. Once that is completed make sure you have your mode in the upper left switched back to Edit.
You have added a module to a page! In this case it is just an HTML module, but it could have been a Blog, a Forum, an account login component or one of many other features. You build up your site by adding pages, adding modules to the pages and then configuring those modules.
Module Settings
To access the module’s settings look for a ‘settings’ option near that module or a blue arrow you can roll over to access the Settings. Depending on the DNN skin you are using the Settings may be in a different area. All modules will have a certain amount of features and settings in common, then some modules will have features specific to that module only.
The module settings that are the same for all modules are as follows:
| Module Title | This is the text that will show above the module when users see it on your website. |
| Permissions | Configure your permissions if you want this module to only be seen or edited by certain user roles on your website. |
| Advanced Settings > Display Module on All Pages? | Select this option to show this module on every page of your DNN website. You can then go selectively delete it of individual pages if you want. |
| Advanced Settings > Header | Enter text or HTML here to display before the module |
| Advanced Settings > Footer | Enter text or HTML here to display after the module |
| Advanced Settings > Start Date / End Date | Control when this module will display on your website. Default is forever. |
| Page Settings > Icon | If you want to show an image next to your module, usually next to the Title you can select or upload one using this. Your design / container must support this feature. |
| Page Settings > Alignment | Specify how the module is aligned on the page (rarely used) |
| Page Settings > Color | You can set a background color for the module. #000000 would be black. |
| Page Settings > Border | Put a border around your module by entering a number such as 5 in this box |
| Page Settings > Collapse / Expand | Some module containers support expanding / minimizing a module. You can set the default state by using this feature. |
| Page Settings > Display Container | The container is the aesthetic look and feel that surrounds your modules functionality. If you don’t want to show that and also don’t want to show the title then uncheck this option. |
| Page Settings > Allow Print | Will show a print icon if your container supports it |
| Page Settings > Allow Syndicate | Will enable the RSS syndication of the content if the module supports it |
| Page Settings > Is a WebSlice | This is an Internet Explorer 8 only feature that allows you to look at certain web content directly through your IE favorite’s area. I wouldn’t recommend using it as it is not cross browser functional. |
| Page Settings > Module Container | You can set this module to use a different aesthetic look and feel around the module. Most skin designs come with multiple options for the containers. Changing this option will alter the modules surrounding design. |
| Page Settings > Cache | Setting the modules cache can help increase performance but is usually unnecessary. |
| Page Settings > Set As Default Setting | Select this checkbox will then use this current module settings options as the default for future modules. |
| Page Settings > Apply to all modules | Select this checkbox to apply the current module settings to all the existing modules on your website. |
| Page Settings > Move to Page | This allows you to easily move existing modules to another page on your website. |