The module installation is just like installing any other module under DotNetNuke 4.x by using the ‘Install New Module’ function of the Module Definitions page.

 

Results of Module Installation

Then by clicking on return you will be ready for the module setup.

Setting Up The Family Tree Module

 

Step 1: The first step in setting up the module is adding the required pages to your DotNetNuke installation. Of course the design is left totally up to your tastes so this is the way I have set it up on my intranet.

 

The first page I add is the parent page (ex. ‘Kist Family Tree’) and set its disabled property to true. Under this page we will build our module page network.

 

Next, under the parent page add a new page called something like ‘Individual Profiles’. The view on this page will be of all of a specific individual’s personal information (it doesn’t really have to be said but make sure these pages are restricted to family members only).

 

The next 3 pages will be set up for addresses, birthdays and anniversaries. Add all of these under the parent page also unless you have different ideas about the setup.

 

The last set of pages will be add/edit grid pages for individual family branches. The starting point for our intranet is my grandfather and grandmother. They had 11 surviving sons and daughters so each one and their descendents have been set up on an individual family page. Each page’s tabid is set up as that family branch’s ID. I named them something like ‘Uncle Bill’s Family’, ‘Aunt Martha’s Family’, etc.

 

 

My personal idea about the module pages setup

 

Step 2: The next step is, of course, adding the module to the newly created pages. The module is built with 8 different view panels and uses the module settings to determine which panel should be visible on which page. Because of this it is very important to add only one instance of the module to the project. All other pages will have the original module copied to it using the ‘Add existing module’ function of the control panel.

 

Adding a new instance to the ‘Individual Profiles’ page – Like mentioned earlier this will be the only instance of the module added to the project. In the control panel click ‘Add new module’, select module ‘Family Tree’, add a title like ‘Family Tree’ and set up its location. I found that this particular view should be added to the top pane as it is a very wide view containing a lot of information.

 

 

A message reminds you to use the module menu settings

 

 

Insert the appropriate TABID for the Individual Profiles page and update

 

The pictures above show the process after adding the module and then updating the setting menu. Below is a picture of the profile view without any members added to the database as yet. There is a message in this view to remind you not to add any of your family members to the database until you add the ‘Add/Edit’ pages as this will assign an unwanted family ID equal to the current TABID to the individual. To prevent this from ever happening by others in your family I have set the display container attribute to false which removes the ‘Add family member’ ACTIONMENU from view.

 

 

The Individual Profiles view

 

Next we will add the same module instance to the remaining pages using the ‘Add existing module’ radio button in the control panel and place it somewhere on the page. I always use the top pane for more viewing space.

 

 

Add the same module instance to the remaining pages in this manner

 

At this time you can use the module on any page to update the settings menu options since there is only one set of menu settings to update.

 

 

Enter the page numbers for the rest of the pages except the Announcements view which

will be done later

 

The last part of the Family Tree module setup is optional. I have a view that I put on the Home page to immediately alert family members to birthdays and anniversaries coming up without having to enter the website. Just add the same module instance to the right panel (or anywhere you like) on the Home page and include that page number in the Family Tree menu settings option.

 

 

This concludes the setup portion of the Family Tree for DotNetNuke module.

Add/Edit Your Family

 

You add your family members to the database through the ‘Family Add/Edit’ grid pages. By clicking on the ‘Add New Family Member’ link on top of the page you will see the ‘Add/Edit page’. You fill in the information like you would any other form and click update when done. As indicated on the form there are 3 required fields: First Name , Last Name and Male/Female. The father, mother and spouse dropdown boxes will populate once members are added to the database and you may need to reedit the individual when those members have been added selecting them from the dropdown box. Invalid entries will show up under messages.

 Adding family member via add page

A view of the family grid with entries – use the edit pencil to reedit as indicated

 

Grid codes: I – Individual ID #, F – Father ID #, M – Mother ID #, S – Spouse ID #

X1 – First ExSpouse ID #, X2 – Second ExSpouse ID #

Individual Profiles Page

The Individual Profiles page is the main view of the module containing all information about any specific individual in your family. When it is first selected a random generator will display someone in your family automatically. It is left up to you to select the individual you wish to view through the dropdown box. Also a 200x250 px picture can be displayed if introduced into the picture directory under the Family Tree DesktopModules directory. The picture can be introduced by either uploading to the directory or using the ‘Upload your picture’ link on the page. As indicated within the link the pictures must be renamed to the Individual ID # with an extension of .jpg (ex. 23.jpg).

 

 Individual Profiles page view

Each of the family immediate members when entered into the database will show up in the ‘Family Members’ section of the page. These names will be hyperlinks to that individual.

Each name is a hyperlink to a different family members view

There is also a link under the dropdown box taking you to a family trees type of view.

 Family Trees view – works OK but still needs a lot of polish

Also needs better print function

Addresses, Birthdays and Anniversaries

Views of each page are included below. When addresses, birthday dates and anniversary dates are added to the database they will show up on their respective pages. The anniversary page also requires a spouse to be included. To advance the page to the next set of months or addresses you must click on the page number. This was done so when printing the page there will be no extraneous buttons, links, etc. showing up.

 Note: Deceased family members are not included on any of these pages but they are still included on the Individual Profiles page.

Address List view – clicking the page number advances to the next page

Birthday List view

Anniversary List View

Security Roles Setup

I’m sure everyone has their own idea about how to set up security roles. I just wanted to explain how I set up the security roles for this module as a starting point in setting them up yourself. All security roles mentioned are for the “View Module” except where otherwise stated.

First of all this module contains a lot of sensitive information which should not be made available to unregistered users therefore all pages should have some kind of security attached.

General Security Role Setup

The security roles I have set up revolve around the family and friends roles. The family role allows those users access to all web pages while the friends role allows access to only non-sensitive pages (ex. Birthdays and Anniversaries) (Working on ability to remove just sensitive data on the Individual Profiles page making that available to friends also).

 
Each user with a family role also has another role representing the branch of the family they belong like the family add/edit page names (ex. Aunt Martha’s family, etc.).

 
Page Security

Parent Page – The parent page is disabled and has security roles of ‘family’ and ‘friends’ making it available to all registered users (could also use ‘registered users’ role instead but this way gives you more flexibility if you come up with another type of registered user).

 
Individual Profiles Page - The assigned security role is ‘family’ to allow only family members access. In future versions I plan to allow all registered users access but hiding the sensitive information.

 
Address List Page – This page also has the ‘family’ security role assigned because of the addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses and other sensitive information.

 
Birthday & Anniversary Pages – Assigned both ‘family’ and ‘friends’ roles as I determined that the information contained is not sensitive.

 
Family Add/Edit Pages – Assigned the security role of the family branch the page represents making it visible only to that particular family and the administrator, of course.

Module Security

Family Tree Module – Because we are letting the page security take care of the visibility of the module we want to assign the “View Module” and “Edit Module” to each of the family branch roles enabling them to view and edit the family information on the family add/edit grid pages. However to prevent the control panel from showing up due to the editable module you want to go to Admin -> Site Settings -> Advanced Settings -> Usability Settings -> Control Panel Security and ensure that the radio button for “Page Editors” has been selected.