Product Description

• Community Server is one of the hottest Web site packages available today and runs many popular sites, including Microsoft's Channel 9, Xbox.com, Xbox's Major Nelson, and The Hive
• This hands-on guide teaches readers how to extend their implementation with themes, modules and add-ons through the use of helpful examples
• Explains how to troubleshoot installation issues, understand Community Server ASP.NET config files, implement kinds, modify custom controls, and work with master pages
• Explores ways to manage the point system, extend the database, write custom modules, and modify Community Server code
• Foreword by Rob Howard, Microsoft ASP.NET MVP and CEO of Telligent Systems

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #886459 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 311 pages

From the Back Cover
Built on the .NET 2.0 platform, Telligent's Community Server allows web developers to implement a robust community site where users can share, discuss, and interact in very powerful ways. With its open API and available source code, Community Server is customizable using available 3rd party modules, or you can write your own code to extend Community Server's functionality.

Inside this book, our Community Server experts guide you through the product's implementation and customization and will get you started with your first community site quickly. You'll learn methods for UI modification and enhancement, how to add new functionality through modules, and how to write your own custom module code. You'll also get tried-and-true advice for administering your Community Server site, creating reports, implementing security, building localized installations, and more.

What you will learn from this book

• Techniques for troubleshooting installation issues

• How to understand and customize Community Server's ASP.NET config files

• Tips for installing and configuring modules on your site

• Methods for enhancing your implementation with themes, modules, and add-ons

• How to write modules and modify Community Server code

• All about implementing skins, changing the look of custom controls, working with master pages, and more

Who this book is for

This book is for both experienced developers and general enthusiasts who are interested in building their site using Community Server. You should have prior experience in web server management and configuration.

Readers who wish to extend and customize Community Server should have previous experience with ASP.NET and related .NET technologies.

Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

About the Author
Wyatt Preul works as a software test engineer for Telligent Systems. At age 23 he holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and is completing his certification as a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist. Wyatt has been working with and admiring Community Server since shortly after version 1.1 was released. Since that time he has become a respected member of the community and active participant in the product itself. Wyatt now spends his days happily testing Community Server and trying to locate bugs in the product, about which he reports there aren’t many. His thoughts on development, testing, and Community Server can all be found at www.wyattpreul.com. Wyatt currently lives in Philadelphia with his beautiful fiancé Dusti Lyon.

Keyvan Nayyeri is a software architect and developer and an active .NET community member with a bachelor of science degree in Applied Mathematics. He began his programming life with over eight years of system programming and much experience with practices. In the development world, Keyvan is a middle-tier developer and an expert in markup languages and their related technologies. Recently he has switched to Service Oriented design and building distributed systems. He is a young community member who has written several articles for .NET communities. Beside this, he’s running some open source projects. Keyvan has been a Community Server MVP since April 2006 and primarily focuses on codes and APIs and has written several modules and custom controls for Community Server. He joined the Community Server folks in the early days and actively has helped many Community Server users to find their way in this world. His thoughts on .NET, Community Server, and Technology can be found on www.nayyeri.net.

José Lema, the product unit manager for Community Server, has been developing browser-based applications for the past 10 years. Previous to joining Telligent Systems, he was the lead developer for Microsoft’s Hive.net online community. His unique experience with ASP.NET, SQL Server, and Community Server ultimately led him to join Telligent as a senior engineer focused on the forums system. Since that time, his responsibilities have grown to include the entire Community Server product and team. In his free time, José enjoys reading, juggling, playing, and watching/quoting movies with his wife and four boys.

Jim Martin is a software engineer for Telligent. Telligent is a software and solutions company with unique expertise and knowledge of the Microsoft .NET platform. Jim focuses primarily on the services side at Telligent but has also contributed in the development of Community Server, as well as customizing Community Server to fit specific client needs. Jim joined Telligent shortly after the company’s birth and has now been there two years. Jim has over eight years of software development experience. He began his career as an information analyst, focusing on custom applications to support company initiatives for Fujitsu Network Communications in Richardson, Texas. After almost five years at Fujitsu he moved to Brink’s Inc. where he worked for almost two years as a programmer analyst on a custom solution used to manage the Brink’s armored fleet and cash movement.
Jim likes to spend his off time playing in the .NET community. Jim is the treasurer for the North Dallas .NET Users Group in Dallas, Texas. Jim is also a musician and enjoys playing the piano whenever he can find the time. Jim also enjoys the little things in life, such as spending nights reading, drinking coffee, going to the gym, and listening to music.

Customer Reviews

Good, but for an older version
This book deals almost entirely with an older 2.x version of Community Server. The current version, CS 2007 is massively different.

Although the authors seem to have made a few last-minute additions to cover some of the many changes made to CS 2007, the book is a poor introduction to the current version.

Telligent offers poor documentation for Community Server, so a book is necessary for anyone who wants to do more than make UI-supported changes to the app. This one isn't it for CS 2007. I'm hoping that 'Professional CS Themes' (which I have on order) will better serve the purpose.

Skims Over Everything. Nothing in Depth.
The book doesn't cover anything in depth. Just gives a very brief overview of everything. If you have been on the net for a while, and did a couple of any other admin work, you can easily figure it all. Also, you have great resource in the Community Server forum etc.. make use of that. Nothin special in this book to make it a "MUST BUY". Have a look at it in the book store, before you buy it.

Not really as good as I expected
[also posted on http://msmvps.com/blogs/luisabreu/archive/2008/07/03/book-review-professional-community-server.aspx]

In the last week I've finished reading the Professional Community Server book. Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy it. Even though the book had several details, they were about older versions 2.X of CS and I got the impression that the authors were pressed to add one or two things about the latest release of the product (that probably was launched right before the book hit the streets).

Being in the Programmer to Programmer series and since it seems like the Professional ASP.NET 2.0 and Beginning ASP.NET 2.0 books were considered prerequisites, I was really expecting more in depth coverage of CS internals. In fact, I think that this book should have been called Beginning Community Server (instead of Professional Community Server) since the books will only introduce you to the main CS features.

Having said this, I can't really give it more that 5/10.