
Evoq Content (DNN as its known by for its open-source counterpart that it is based off of) is a very powerful open sourced CMS solution for anyone that is familiar with the .NET stack. Extending the framework through modules is straight forward, skin creation is relatively easy and aided through the use of skin objects, and a healthy user community base to reach out to for guidance or support. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Evoq has been becoming slightly more bloated over the years, and uses a lot of system resources on the server side even when idle. It can also be very chatty with the database. The development team has been working as of late to improve the performance and hogging of resources though. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I like how easy it is to use. The interface looks good. Building skins is very easy. We are able to host an unlimited amount of portals. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Lots of bugs are constantly discovered and added to the product through upgrades. We have used it for many years and have never had a bug free experience. Features are often broken or not working correctly in every update. Their tech support is very responsive though. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The support that the online community and Microsoft offers is good. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Getting the site up and running, and then learning the back end interface is not as easy as other CMS systems such as Wordpress. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Other than the fact that it is a CMS, there isn't much to like. It is just better than hand-coding.
I suppose because you can add and edit content using their rich-text window, that's something to like. But when you compare it to other CMSs on the market vs the price, that rich-text entry and edit is just a barrier to entry in this segment. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
It is very hard to use, and features and capability are always behind the CMS pack, let alone the user interface. It is hard so say what I dislike the most because I dislike almost all of it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The user interface and UX as a whole is easy to use, even from a beginner's level Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Some features have long loading times and require a lot of clicks to get to, but overall does not affect the experience much Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I like the simplicity the best because it makes it incredibly easy to upgrade content. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I dislike the simplicity just as much if not more than I dislike it. The way it is set up does not allow for the use of certain modules that are not approved by their network. It also does not like to always save your work when you finish. Also, when copying and pasting from a word document into the website, it completely messes up the formatting making one go back and spend more time reformatting the text. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
1. Very modularized. Easy to build modules and deploy.
2. Most of enterprise CMS features are already built in.
3. Good for Dotnet based companies Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
1. Very hardware intensive.. does not work on most of the SHared hosting. Requires VPS hosting. Minimum startup RAM is 1500MB.
2. Steep learning curve
3. Would have been great if the text editor was more powerful Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Easy to switch to source code editor. Editor UI makes sense and is easy to understand. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Templates and modules can be cumbersome to work with, compared to other CMS. WYSIWYG editor is finicky. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
1) The ease with which I can make a custom type. I was previously making modules using Christoc, which was fine, but now I specify a content type and make it instantly in the cloud.
2) This is a truly headless CMS, though using it as such takes a bit of setup. By making API calls, I will be able to skip making visualizers and keep my content completely separate from having to make pages.
3) For when I do need to make pages, the visualizers are a nifty way of showing this content - they are using the Shopify Liquid Content templating system which is a fully featured (if at times slightly odd) templating engine.
4) The DNN support is amazing, so different from other CMS' I have used in the past. I have bothered these poor people with so many questions and they have always been great.
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These dislikes are temporary, solved by the product maturing to the stage where they allow unwashed peasants like myself into their content by direct API call.
1) Cost of being bleeding edge, I do not have an API key so I cannot use the EVOQ content without a visualizer right now. That ability drops with the 9.1.1 release, due out this week.
2) No inherent way to import content out of the gate. They have an import export tool coming but because of timing I will have to whip up something myself. When I get the key they have an example made with excel that I can use.
3) Minor gripe. I want objects to be able to reference themselves. As an example, if I was building a menu, I do not want a content type for level 1 another for level 2 etc - I want a content type menu-item which can have children of itself. Then I can easily build a menu. As I say, minor gripe but it has made me use the old DDRMenu module instead because I don't want a splattering of Content types for different menu levels. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
note: the likelihood of recommendation is dependent upon the size of the environment in question. I have a "leaning" towards DNN being more applicable to smaller, one node(web head), environments. A very capable content management system for smaller environments, for sure.
It's quite easy to manage modules and specific page content. I have to admit, from a systems administrative perspective, I do not manage the content as other departments do, however. I deploy code through DNN and perform basic operations through the DNN portal, in conjunction with deployments, but our marketing team is much more involved in day-to-day management of the DNN content. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
From my perspective and past experience, DNN management of a web farm of IIS servers is, to put it simply, a bit buggy. We have had, and still do have, consistent issues with having massive syncing between web heads after making small changes on the DNN portal. These result in negative customer experiences. To DNN supports credit, we have worked quite extensively on this issue, and I need to pick that case up again, as I set it aside some time ago to move onto other "fires". Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Our editors range from seasoned programmers to people editing a web page for the first time. Evoq Content gives the editors a straight-forward, simple approach to managing content. The learning curve for the CMS is relatively low. Ease-of-use for the average editor does not come with a trade-off of being weak for the IT team. In short, it is the CMS sweet spot of capabilities and ease of use. When a customization is needed, our IT team is able to implement changes easily to meet our business needs. Our marketing team continues to leverage the built-in tools that are continually expanding.
Finally, our IT team, which is small and kept busy, leverages the Enterprise service to get results as efficiently as possible. The DNN team has been very responsive to suggestions, debugging, and advice. When you are a solo administrator, you will benefit from their expert knowledge. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
In DNN Evoq Content 8, the Page Settings URL Management tool is not as resilient as it should be. On several occasions, editors have accidentally created redirect loops. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
As a developer the feature that I like best is the ability to extend the core functionality through the development of custom modules. I have always thought of DNN as much more than a CMS but rather a full web application framework. I also have to mention that I have had nothing but excellent support provided by DNN support - they go above and beyond on a regular basis. And of course, you can't speak about DNN without mentioning the DNN community. The DNN community has traditionally been an incredibly valuable resource regardless if you are just starting out or are a seasoned developer - there's always support to be had from the general community. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
There isn't much I dislike about the platform. Since this is a required answer I would say it is always a struggle to optimize site performance so I would like to see some improvements in eliminating render blocking core javascript and css files. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Evoq is a great one stop CMS for education. The interface is user friendly and even the technical novice can add content quickly. Should an issue arise, Evoq's support team is one of the best in the industry. They are quick, courteous, and responsive. I would highly recommend Evoq if you entity is looking for a efficient and affordable CMS. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The one feature I do not like of the Evoq Content is the Content Manager flyout. If you want to give a user permission to add a new page to the website, you have to give the user full Content Manager rights. This issue is being resolved in version 9.0. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The support staff is what I like best. They are very knowledgeable and helpful. They respond very quickly. Not once have I had an issue that was DNN related that they couldn't fix.
I administrate our site. For the most part everything is very smooth and I don't have to do much. I spend a lot of time working on the server itself, very little time is spent on DNN. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Once you get upgraded the product is stable. However, the process of upgrading can be problematic at times. There have been times during an upgrade where things break. The good thing is the DNN support staff can usually figure out the problem quickly and fix the issue.
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DotNetNuke's Evoq Content 9.0 is a major upgrade from previous DNN verisions, bringing life to an aging CMS. A combination of excellent customer support, extensive yet adaptable module marketplace and user friendly solution interface enables users of various personas/roles to easily visualize, adapt and implement content. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Cost Basis, "Liquid" content needs to be streamlined a little more, More base skins would be nice. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
1- The method of module development for customizing cms modules and create new modules for add new features to cms.
2- The user experience of management ui and simplicity in working with it.
3- The open source of core platform.
4- Support of develop customizable themes.
5- The module development through great Visual Studio IDE Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
1- Lack of training materials for module development provided by dnn or third party communities.
2- Need heavy physical resources. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
A large amount of support from the community and company. The built in tools sets for authentication, workflow, and change management, were easily integrated with our existing systems. Providing our business units with the ability to make changes in an intuitive web interface increases the speed to market or our new DME products. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
We we're initially limited to SPA module development and we're unable to leverage our in house MVC .NET programmers. Then the DNN 8.4.1 update allowed us to integrate our MVC Modules for our National Location finder and custom reorder forms. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Complete customization, adaptable module integrations, datadriven solutions.
I've never found a kind of problem that I cannot implement in DNN. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Few "beautyfull" marketing-ready themes. And quite expensive themes in the marketplace. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I like the built in ability to extend the DNN core. It makes integrating custom development pieces much easier. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
There are some pieces that could use some improvement. The standard search is not the greatest, but the ability to integrate 3rd party search options really helps fill in the voids that the core lacks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The DNN Evoq platform has empowered our marketing team to provide agile, real-time, content rich information through our website. This gives us the enviable ability to quickly identify a market need, build, and go live - all without the need for any additional technical support. This flexibility is a complete game-changer! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
We've not yet had the chance to install the latest update, so it would be unfair to some note some smaller details around the user interface. From what I've seen in the demo many of those items are addressed, as well as providing a significant leap into a more elegant build environment. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I've been using DNN since version 3 and Evoq since about version 5. I've not yet found a an area where I could say, "I wish DNN would do this." I've had to get creative in some instances to provide a solution to a particular problem, but it's never been about what the platform can do, only about how it's used. Out of the box, the core modules are great, but when you add in some from the store or free modules like OpenWebStudio the possibilities are endless in what you can do and it only seems to be getting better with each new version. The community and support network surrounding this product is outstanding. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The price tag for the editions above community can be a bit steep, in my opinion, for the feature set that each version brings. However, for Evoq Content, it seems fair for the outstanding support, access to manuals, and first access to latest stable versions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I like how easy it is to get going with a bunch of templates and modules for every use case you could need. You can also get mobile responsive skins too. We found it very easy to export a template and load into another site, therefore making it easy to make a quick portfolio of websites for the company. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
As well as liking the modules, you don't find many that have a great UI on the backend for the admin users who update the content. The licence was a bit of an issue for us because to be able to achieve high availability in the Cloud, you sometimes need to have two instances of your site available and then load balance. However, the licence was per IP address, so if you had two instances of your site, you had to pay for two licences. I am not sure if DNN has fixed this now though. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
For me the best thing about DNN is the ease and speed at which I can implement a fully functional web portal that is complete with user/role based security. Also that I can see immediately see what my changes to the site and it's content look like after editing right from the same UI. No need to log out of the back end.
The other OUTSTANDING aspect of DNN is the amazing community of users in the ecosystem. I have been able to go from knowing nothing about the platform to being VERY comfortable in all aspects of it's use, largely due to the willingness of other community members to help and their extensive contributions in the way of documentation and tutorials. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
When I first started using DNN back in 2009 there were some security and performance problems that have since been resolved. At this point, I honestly can't think of anything significant I could say in the negative about DNN. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I have been using DNN since 2007 to create and manage multiple websites. It is a powerful and comprehensive tool which enables non-developers to build highly functional web sites. It has limitations and frustrations but it has remained my "go to" platform for the past seven years. I appear to be in good company as there are
Using DNN, I can produce a modern, subscription, website in a weekend. My site will contain an elegant skin, a graphic rotator, the ability for people to register, basic social media functions, a menu that changes as different users log in, a newsletter broadcasting ability, lots of content, pop-up windows, blogs and articles. That's a lot of functionality for free and for someone who is not a professional web developer. You can see an example of such a site at agilethinking.com. This site is built on the free edition of DNN Community supplemented by both free and purchased modules.
In considering DNN, it is important to realize that there is a large community of module developers. There are many free modules available (http://dotnetnuke.codeplex.com/) and a large number of paid ones as well (http://store.dnnsoftware.com/). A bit of web research will enable you to identify the reliable and creative developers whose modules make this platform especially flexible and powerful.
In short, DNN enables you to create a professional, highly interactive site without the need to write code. You can control the look and feel through the skin you use and enhance the functionality through purchased modules.
If you are more technical there are several rapid development tools available that will allow you to create your own custom modules (for example XMod Pro ) and if you are a developer (or hire one) you can code custom modules in C# or Visual Basic.
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DNN started out as an open source project but like other open source products now has commercial versions. While the company has made good on its promise to continue developing the Community edition, the support often feels haphazard and spotty. Some bugs persist for a long time.
Some open source products seem to have a more active and welcoming user community than you will find at DNN. Within the DNN community, there is a bias toward developers. If you know how to code and are comfortable with .NET and Microsoft servers you'll be fine. If you, like me, are less technical you may find that some aspects of DNN are frustrating. This is not to suggest that the hurdles are insurmountable but some things you may want to do require you to change files on the server rather than being able to manage them from within DNN.
There is help available. If you are on your own, you can subscribe to DNN Creative or DNN Hero both of which produce instructional videos on a regular basis. A company like Managed.com will install, host and provide excellent service for your DNN site, And there are many consulting companies that will help you as well for a fee.
If you are comfortable managing your own server, you will have few problems. If not, you may need to seek help if you want to do more than the basics. However, even the basics will provide you with excellent functionality, Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.