My Question: Our webhost provider wont make it so we can upload .html files to our DNN site trhough the DNN File Manager page. Is that normal, should I push them to allow me to do this?

We have recently transferred our website to a Dot Net Nuke run website. We originally had our website on a Linux server with Python scripts handling the backend. Obviously we now have a Windows server running .NET with ASP .NET code on the backend.

Our webhost is a local Australian company. And they are saying we cant upload any .html files to the main part of the server, ie, www.ourdomain.com/Portals/0/. They are saying that the only place I can upload .html files is via FTP to this folder *www.ourdomain.com/Portals/0/html_content*

This is a major problem for me because I am trying to upload my own skin which means I need to upload a main.html file to www.ourdomain.com/Portals/0/skins/myskin/ but they wont let me?!

I guess what I am asking is, is this normal practice, why would they not allow this? As an experienced web admin for Linux servers and as someone who is used to being able to do whatever I want on my OWN server this is someing that really pis$%s me off!

  • Are the directory they are telling you to use and the document root the same place? (We can store files in domain.net/var/www which is over FTP, but publicly it is served as domain.net/ >> /var/www/[files]). Is the www.ourdomain.com/Portals/0/html_content the path of your FTP or your website? If so, does that directory serve from the root of your domain? – ionFish Nov 29 '12 at 1:58
  • @ionFish no our root is /Portals/0 and I need to upload the skin html file to /Portals/0/Skins. The FTP only allows /Portals/0/html_content/. Is this normal for the webhosts to not allow uploads of simple html files, how do I upload my own bloody skins?! – sazr Nov 29 '12 at 3:38

I realize this thread is a bit old, but for the sake of other Googlers:

Before you complain that you HTML cannot be uploaded, understand there are about 2 main reasons you cannot upload HTML directly

  1. Direct uploading of HTML is forbidden because the DNN CMS strips the tags when viewed in the Article Editor, therefore you lose all formatting if you do manage to upload the file.
  2. The Page you built manually bypasses the sanity check in the Default.aspx code-behind. By bypassing the sanity check, you open the CMS to breakage, including: SQL Script Injection, Broken Theming/Menuus, and mostly detachment from navigation control offered by DNN.

In order to upload a skin, it must be done in the DNN infrastructure. The skin must be packaged and uploaded via the native skin installer. If you've never built a skin before see the following series of articles on Skinning in DNN. I have no idea why the navigation is missing inside the articles. Of particular interest to the OP's question is Part 4: Packaging. In short, packaging a skin puts the skin in a Zip Compressed file, and allows the DNN CMS to unzip the Zip when uploaded via the Skin Installer. The skin installer then puts all the right pieces in all the right places, which happen to be where the OP was trying to upload his HTML file.

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