Because DNN allows users to manage content online, there are no real software requirements for managing your website. That said, the following steps will avoid some common and annoying problems.

The Connection

We highly recommend a broadband connection for any sort of content management. While a dialup connection will also allow you to manage your website, it will be less reliable, and far more time-consuming. Broadband prices have fallen recently, and should continue to do so. For parishes or groups with low-average connection needs, a $29.95 plan from IHUG offers 200MB of high speed bandwidth.

The most common browser in use at the moment is Internet Explorer (IE). While Microsoft would tell you this is because it's the most "popular" browser, it's more likely because it's the default browser included with Windows.

Internet Explorer, however, does not follow many standards of internet coding, and is therefore not well suited to content management. For example, if you use IE with the DNN platform, you will encounter "scripting errors" when updating some pages. These are not actually errors in the code of the platform, but in the way IE reads the code.

The solution? Install a more robust browser. We recommend Mozilla Firefox, now the second most common browser, and certainly the most popular. As well as providing more stability for content management, Firefox is highly customisable and a more secure choice than IE.

Firefox is free to download from http://www.mozilla.com/firefox.

Update!
We have recently upgraded and optimised our version of DNN, with a focus on cross browser compatibility. IE should now work for editing, without throwing any script errors. To keep support simple, we still recommend Firefox for administrative purposes.

There is no required operating system to use DNN, but be aware that older versions of Windows will include older, limited versions of IE. While we advise you to use Firefox (as above), it also pays to check the results of your website changes in IE as you work, since that is how most of your visitors will access the site.

It is a good idea, then, to have access to an older version of Windows for testing, and 2000/XP for the actual management if possible. Firefox will run its latest version in Windows 98 onwards.

Most new systems these days come with a 17" monitor. This is perfectly adequate for content management, but the resolution must be correct. Many users continue to use a resolution on 800 x 600 pixels, even on their 17" monitor. While this is not a problem for normal use, it pays to increase the resolution to at least 1024 x 768 for content management. This allows you to fit more information on your screen, and makes accessing the longer administrative menus and pop up boxes easier.

To change your resolution:

1. right-click on the desktop of your computer.
   
2. Choose "properties"  to show the "display properties" box.
   
3. Click on the "settings" tab, and you will see a sliding control for "screen resolution".
   
4. Drag this slider until you reach your desired setting, then click "apply". If your screen turns blank, just wait for 15 seconds, and it will reset to the old resolution.
   
5. Click "ok" to keep the new setting.