Hello Lee,

Thanks for taking the time to actually read and understand these messages.  You had replied to an earlier forum message to me and I'm replying to your message.

I am new to everything and want to build a website.  In the process of searching for the right vehicle I spent quite some time trying to learn and build one with Joomla and got very frustrated with it.  

Now I'm back to square one, again, searching which way to go, I just found DNN and right away subscribed to your DNN Creative magazine.  Now I have to learn about all the ins and outs - and find your tutorials very helpful.  However, I have a Macintosh computer (just got it for Christmas because my 3 year “old” Dell was letting me down completely).  So I am not able to download DNN on it and do the things that you are describing.  

I signed with a DNN hosting company that downloaded DNN 3.4.4 for me.  I don’t know why they weren’t able to download the latest version but I’m happy they did it – like I said I’m a newby at all this.  I was also trying to download and follow the tutorials about how to setup for skinning and got stuck there and then for the FCK editor but there again I wasn’t able to continue because I couldn’t find that bin that you were talking about.  Do I go in my control panel?

I hope you know what I’m saying here.  Basically I’m somewhat stuck because I can’t continue with those tutorials since I don’t know where certain things are, where exactly to go and how to do it.  I think you sometimes assume that people know where things are, but I don’t.  Also, since I don’t have DNN downloaded on my computer makes probably a difference, too.  

I have been searching the forum but can’t find anybody with the same problems.  I wanted to build the skin on my own but it looks like I have to spend money and buy one.  I’m spending a lot of time spinning my wheels which is very unproductive and frustrating.  I came across companies, like All DNN Skins and Solora, that seem to have reasonable prices for their skins with customization.  Maybe that’s the way to go.  I hope you can give me some advise or even help me with the tutorial, that would be fantastic and very kind of you.

Thanks again for your time and hopefully you can tell me which way to go.

Sincerely,

Heidi

Hello Heidi,

I will try my best to help.  Even though you have a Macintosh computer you should be able to get DotNetNuke up and running on your Mac.  if you have just purchased a recent mac I know it's possible to run Windows on a Mac so it may be worth considering installing a separate Windows installation if it makes working in DotNetNuke easier.

There was a post in this forum regarding running DotNetNuke on a mac which you can read here -  it may be worth asking a question with those Mac users.
http://www.dnncreative.com/Forum/ta...fault.aspx

for the FCK editor you will need to access your DotNetNuke installation files within your hosting provider.  You'll need to get the details from your hosting provider to get FTP access.  You should be to download a free FTP program for a Mac and all you have to do is enter the FTP details that your hosting provider gives you for logging in.

Once you have your FTP program running you will be able to view your DotNetNuke installation files.  From there you can view the files exactly as they are displayed in the video tutorials and you'll be able to upload the files that are required for the FCK editor.

In the FCK editor make sure that you read the README file that comes with the FCK editor as the installation has slightly changed since I created the video ( it is now easier).

For the skinning it will make it much easier if you can install DotNetNuke on your local computer as you will able to quickly test your skins and make any changes required. However, even if you can't install DotNetNuke to your local computer you will still be able to edit the files and upload a skin zip file to your live DotNetNuke website.

The WYSIWYG editor, if you have a search on Google I'm sure you will be able to find a free WYSIWYG editor for the mac. Once you have done this you'll need to read some of the instructions for the WYSIWYG editor in order to learn how to open a group of files as a website.  This is where you got stuck on video four, basically it loads the skin files from the skin folder and makes them easily accessible from your WYSIWYG editor.

If you still find this bit confusing you can simply just open each individual skin file in your WYSIWYG editor and follow the tutorial through.

If you have still got your old Dell Computer and you don't fancy installing Windows to your Mac, it might be worth loading a fresh installation of Windows to the Dell Computer and installing visual Web developer express which is the WYSIWYG editor that I use in the tutorials, so that you can follow the tutorial through and get to grips with the basic concepts without getting stuck with variations in different WYSIWYG editors on the mac.

 I hope this provides some pointers for you,

Thanks,