Hi,

I have been having problems synchronizing the live website with the setup in the local server. This is what I want to achieve. I want all developers to be able to work in their local machines, or maybe on the setup that is in the server machine in our network. At the end of the day I want them to be able to upload their work to SVN, and also to the live server if there is no error. What would be the best way to achieve this? Say the developers update their files from SVN each morning and work on the setup in their individual machines. If they want to commit their files to SVN, should they upload their entire project folder? Isn't that also going to upload some additional files like their local settings? Also, shouldn't the database be updated as well since dnn loads its pages from the database? I just want to have the latest developments in the SVN, in the server in our network, and also be able to update the bug-free latest development to the live server at the end of the day. What would be the best way to achieve this? Any suggestion will be highly appreciated. Thank  you in advance.

There is not an easy solution as a DotNetNuke installation is both files and database content. It will be easier to control files than database content.

There are two items here. One is the site's code and the other is the site's content. It is important to distinquish between the two. When you refer to developer, are you referring to code (modules), to content, or to both?

For code (module) development, I would suggest that you develop modules as WAP projects. Then, you could treat each module as a separate project and control the code using SVN separately for each project. I would maintain the code separately, and require that updated modules be installed using the standard module installation procedures. You can treat skins the same way.

For content, and assuming that ALL of your modules Export and Import correctly you could similarly control pages or module contents that way. Export each page and treat the exported files as being under "source control." This also assumes that there is no "user contributed content" on the site.

Any files that are uploaded to the server directly, anything in the File Manager though is different and will be more difficult to control.

Perhaps a better approach is to have a "development" environment to which all developer contributions are added on a regular basis. Then, you periodically migrate the entire development site to the live site, again assuming no user contributed content.

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I'd be happy to hear how others do this.