Core Community Server 2.0: Customizing and Extending Community Server

Below is the Powerpoint outline of my presentation at New England Code Camp 5, my last Community Server presentation as a civilian before joining Telligent (which explains pictures of my dogs and Lake Champlain on the Powerpoint slides located here.)  Notes to explain slides are added below in italics.  My thoughts and review of the presentation is at bottom.

Session Outline

Why Community Server?
An Introduction to Community Server 2.0
Customizing Community Server
ASP.NET Code Practices in Community Server 2.0

Why Community Server?

Year One Review
Break out the Shades
Community is Everything
To Webfinity and beyond
ScottW.  ‘Nuff said.

I reviewed how far Community Server has come in the year it has been released, how exciting the future is for the product with the talent of the Telligent Development Team and the plans for future releases as mentioned in the ScottW and RobH interview with WallyM (transcribed here).  "Community is Everything" refers to the basic often overlooked fact that Community Server is an Open Source application and has generated a vibrant and excited community for support and development.  "To Webfinity and beyond," a Buzz Lightyear tribute, was a reference to CS moving beyond being only a web application.  ScottW.  'Nuff said.  I'd say that requires no further explanation.

An Introduction to Community Server 2.0

Cozy on up to Community Server
Installing and Configuring CS 2.0
Community Server 2.0 Joy in VS2005
The VS2005 Solution, Projects and Patterns
Approaching the CS Mod
Pages, Master files, Views, Themes, Templates, Skins and CSS
CS File and Class naming conventions
CS Configuration and Resource Files

My main goal for the session was to provide a comfort level with Community Server that gave attendees the confidence to fire up CS 2.0 in VS2003 or VS2005 and start kicking the tires.  We walked through obtaining the SDK .ZIP from CommunityServer.org, how to setup CS in Visual Studio 2005 and convert the Web CS project from a Class Library project to a ASP.NET Web Application for step-through debugging.

We looked at the uniform logical structure of CS projects--Blogs, Galleries, Forums--and shared base objects like the Post object, the basis for WeblogPost, GalleryPost, etc., along with the "Action Classes" (my term) WeblogPosts, GalleryPosts, etc. which handle the pass-though of the data objects from the Presentation Layer to the Data Provider layer.  We went through the page - to - view - to - layoutTemplate via a master page and loading of skinned usercontrols.  This seemed an important concept that the attendees wanted to spend more time on.

Customizing Community Server

Adding a new content page
Adding a new “application module”
CSModules and CS 2.0 Events
Extending the FreeTextBox Editor
Adding a new skinned usercontrol
Modifying an existing skinned usercontrol

Dan Bartels had two separate awards in the "Customizing Community Server" section with his recent post on adding a new content page and the release of his FreeTextBox Wrapper for CS 2.0.  Everyone was impressed with the example of adding a CSModule.  Heck, I was impressed and I was demonstrating my own mod.  CSModules in CS ARE amazing.

ASP.NET Practices in Community Server 2.0

Membership and Profiles
Modal Windows
Providers
Keys
Ajax
CSContext
Component.Art.UI
Native CS Controls

These were just some of the aspects of CS 2.0 that remind me how smart the application is and why I enjoy working with it as a developer who wants to learn how to become a better developer.  This area was particularly focused on practices in CS 2.0 that people can study to apply to their own applications.


My review of the presentation is that I was both very pleased with it and dissappointed at the same time.  I was pleased because there was so much feedback and input during the presentation, dissappointed because using my tower PC for the presentation prevented me from practicing walking through the VS2005 demonstrations Friday and Saturday before the Sunday 9:00 AM talk, so they'll be sharper next time after I [finally] buy a laptop! 

I was also pleased with the presentation because the feedback clearly revealed to me that IT professionals looking at Community Server need a friendly Starting Point, a clear grasp of the Community Server application model to give them the feeling that they can begin working with Community Server, front end and back.  Community Server does not currently conjure up that warm and fuzzy feeling IT managers and developers may want to make a decision.  It's an enterprise application that requires some drive time to get a handle on, no question about that.  The good news is that the experience of the Code Camp presentation brought that home to me and I'll be keeping it on the front burner when I present Community Server in the future.


[tags: Community Server, Code Camp 5]