Real World ASP.NET: Building a Content Management System (Paperback)

by Stephen R.G. Fraser (Author)
Key Phrases: getting content, web form designer, click method, Visual Studio, User Control, Search Favorites (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Aimed at aspiring .NET developers who want to work with content management (CM) applications, Real-World ASP.NET: Building a Content Management System provides a fine overview of what's involved in managing Web site content and also delivers working code for a free, proprietary CMS using the latest in .NET technology and C#.

With commercial CM systems costing proverbial big bucks, this book shows you that for a small to midsize site, you can beat licensing fees with a proprietary system built using the powerful .NET framework and ASP.NET. One of this text's most valuable features is its thorough tutorial on what goes into today's commercial CMS applications, from basic content types, version control, and workflow. These early chapters will be indispensable for anyone working with CM, whether as Webmaster, content creator, or developer. (The author provides everything you wanted to know about CM but were afraid to ask. You might well read this book to bone up for a job interview having anything to do with CM in any capacity.)

After describing what goes into an effective CM application, this title turns to .NET and the recommended three-tiered architecture for .NET applications, the basics of .NET, ADO.NET (for database programming with dynamic content), and a quick overview of XML support in .NET. The rest of the book delves into the author's own CMS .NET application, which is used to discuss issues in administering (and programming) a site.

After first setting up and getting the site up and running, the author looks at basic operations like viewing, posting, and updating stories, along with sample ASPX Web pages and the code-behind forms written in C# that bring these pages to life. Besides basic CM, the author shows how to provide simple role-based personalization and security (including protecting pages from certain users).

While CMS .NET may not be a complete substitute for an expensive CM solution, it can no doubt be adapted to meet the needs of a small to medium-sized Web site. As both a way to get a handle on CM and a practical tutorial to getting started with .NET development, Real-World ASP.NET will serve as a useful resource for a good range of readers. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Introduction to content management systems (CMS); elements of a CMS system explained: the Content Management Application (CMA), the Metacontent Management Application (MMA), and the Content Display Application (CDA); types of content; benefits of CMS; commercial vs. proprietary systems; simple and complex version control; rollback support; CMS and workflow (including the Workflow Definition Application, WDA, and workflow engines); personalization basics (including types of personalization, from using cookies to push content to rule-based personalization, the law of diminishing returns, and privacy issues); building customer relationships; Web architecture explained: the presentation, application, and database layers; Web scripting languages compared; introduction to ASP.NET and the .NET Framework; using Visual Studio .NET to build a CMS (using basic control types); tutorial to ADO.NET for database programming (basic objects and database basics including stored procedures for SQL Server); using the DataGrid control; introduction to XML and .NET classes for XML (manipulating XML nodes); overview of CMS .NET (the author's case study for a content management system built with .NET); installing and configuration of the sample code; tour of CMS .NET features; an XML-driven navigation bar (NavBar); administering content (adding, editing, updating, and removing stories); security issues in .NET (including role-based authentication in CMS. NET); displaying dynamic content (including precanned zones for home pages, headlines, and stories); workflow support in CMS .NET (including authoring, editing, approval, and deployment phases); and protecting content (privacy issues and gathering user information for profiles).

Product Description
<p> <i>Real World ASP.NET: Building a Content Management System</i> provides web developers with a cost-effective way to develop a content management system within Microsoft's .NET Framework. Unlike other .NET books on ASP.NET that teach technologies on a piecemeal basis, this book explains the underlying technologies and also shows how they are integrated into a complete ASP.NET application suitable for many organizations. Complete source code written in C# and ASP.NET is included, which will enable web developers to create a dynamic content site at a fraction of the cost of a commercial solution. You will learn about the following:</p>

<p><ul> <li>Content management system: This system used to manage the content of a website consists of the content management, metacontent management, and content delivery applications. <li> C# and ASP.NET: These underlying technologies are introduced and then applied extensively. <li> ADO.NET: All aspects relevant to dynamic content management are covered. <li> XML: Extensible Markup Language (XML) is introduced and then applied in the programmatic updating of the config.web file. <li> Authentication, authorization, and encryption: These topics are discussed in the book, especially with regard to protected content and system administration. <li> Personalization: Many key technologies are used to make the CMS solution truly user-friendly. </p>

<p><i>Real-World ASP.NET: Building a Content Management System</i> is the complete hands-on guide to mastering the art of CMSs and website development using the .NET Framework.</p>

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Product Details

• Paperback: 522 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590590244
• ISBN-13: 978-1590590249
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #634,998 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not too sure about "real world"..., October 27, 2003

By	Colin Young "colin" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First off, the source code that accompanies the book is very useful (I use it to run an intranet) and it can be extended to display the content in a manner very different than the original author envisioned.

That said, I think this book could be used as a classic example of how not to write extensible, maintainable code. Rather than demonstrate the power and ease of ASP.Net using datagrids and user controls, the content lists are constructed using loops and tables, and the form to edit content is repeated no fewer than 3 times. In order to filter the content before displaying it to the user we run a test on every row to determine if it meets the criteria rather than using a DataView and a filter. I am currently converting the code to a cleaner implementation and I find I am deleting an average of 2 pages of code per page, with no loss of functionality.

When talking about content management I would have expected some sort of elegant promotion system, instead we are offered a custom page complete with custom code for each promotion, in spite of the fact that the only thing that changes between pages is who is allowed to perform the promotion and which state it is being promoted from/to.

This book will not teach you to create flexible software that can be easily adapted to changing requirements. It will teach you to create brittle software that requires an inordinate amount of effort to make the simplest changes (replacing the editor textbox with a WYSIWYG control shouldn't require modifying 3 separate pages -- and I have the code to prove it).

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, July 27, 2003

By	Matt Brown (Twin Cities, MN) - See all my reviews

Before you allow the other eternal pessimists who wrote reviews on this book to sway you away from the purchase, think twice.

Yes, this book steps you through the concepts and coding techniques to build a "smaller scaled" CMS with C#. The author comes right out and admits that. It would take a 4,000+ page book to outline the creation of a larger scaled $60,000 CMS with all of the bells and whistles. The author is well aware of that. What this book does give, is well rounded lessons on CMS concepts as well as the code and strategies behind building a C# CMS. It's meant to get you going and in almost all cases you're going to have to customize it to your needs.

Even though I found that the author repeated come concepts when I pretty much got the point, I would rather have him over explain things than under explain. I did favor his writing AND coding style.

In conclusion, I feel the knowledge I gained along with the code supplied with the book, will give me a nice kick-start to building my own custom CMS. I'm the Webmaster for a large college that just saved themselves $60,000 by investing in this book.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lazy Critics, Fine Book, September 22, 2003

By	dannomite "Dan Maltes" (Cornwall, NY USA) - See all my reviews

I have to laugh at the lazy critics of this book who wanted a full blown CMS application in C# done for them. This book makes it clear that it's the "start" of a CMS application explained in an educational style. It has a great foundation for expansion, so role up your sleeves and do it. You can join some of us who are doing exactly that at http://sourceforge.net/projects/cmsnet