Training Your Staff on DNN: A 2-Day Curriculum That Works

A well-planned DNN training programme gives staff the confidence to manage content, maintain page quality and follow governance rules without relying on developers for every update. For Australian organisations, the best curriculum combines practical publishing tasks with clear security, privacy and accessibility habits.

DNN, formerly known as DotNetNuke, supports websites, intranets and business portals used by teams with different responsibilities. Editors may update news and documents, while administrators manage users, modules, workflows and site settings. Training should reflect these distinct roles rather than treating every participant as a technical specialist.

A two-day course works well because it allows employees to learn a feature, practise it in a safe environment and apply it to a realistic business scenario. It also creates time to discuss approval processes, content ownership and the standards that apply to Australian websites.

The programme below suits marketing teams, communications staff, office administrators and portal managers. It can be adapted for a small business in Brisbane, a distributed team across Sydney and Melbourne, or a professional organisation working with partners throughout Australia.

Define Roles, Outcomes And Access

Before the first session, identify what each participant needs to do in DNN. A content editor may need to create pages, publish documents and manage images. A site administrator may require additional training in roles, permissions, modules, backups and audit information. Separating these learning paths prevents users from receiving access they do not need.

Set measurable outcomes for the two days. By the end of the course, participants should be able to create and format a page, submit content for approval, locate media, resolve common publishing errors and explain when an issue must be escalated. Administrators should also be able to review permissions and support a consistent content lifecycle.

Use a training site populated with realistic Australian examples, such as a council notice, a Melbourne event page, a Sydney office update or a downloadable policy document. Avoid demonstrating solely with placeholder text. Familiar scenarios help staff connect DNN functions with the work they perform every day.

Build Confidence During Day One

The first day should focus on the DNN interface and the complete publishing cycle. Begin with sign-in, navigation, the page hierarchy and the difference between editing, saving, approving and publishing. Demonstrate how permissions affect what users can see and change.

Move from simple tasks to connected exercises. Participants can create a page, add headings, insert a link, upload an image, place a document in the correct folder and preview the result on desktop and mobile screens. Include version history and rollback so staff understand how to correct an accidental change without recreating the page.

Keep demonstrations brief and give learners time to repeat each task. A trainer should watch for common problems such as broken links, inconsistent page titles, oversized images and content pasted from Word with unwanted formatting. These small errors often create a poor customer experience and increase support requests.

Practise Essential Publishing Skills

The core day-one activities should mirror the responsibilities users will have after training:

• Create, edit and schedule pages
• Add accessible links, images and documents
• Submit content through an approval workflow
• Find previous versions and restore approved content

Australian organisations should include privacy and accessibility in these exercises. The Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles affect how personal information is collected, displayed and stored. Staff should know that a public page, form or document may expose information that was intended for internal use.

Accessibility deserves equal attention. Show participants how to use meaningful link text, descriptive image alternatives, logical headings and readable contrast. These practices support people using assistive technology and help organisations work towards WCAG expectations relevant to the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.

Finish the day with a short assessment: each learner publishes a complete page in the training environment while following the organisation’s naming, approval and accessibility rules. The trainer can use the result to identify topics that need reinforcement on day two.

Turn Administration Into Practical Scenarios

Day two should extend the first day’s skills into administration, governance and problem solving. Explain user accounts, security roles, page permissions and module configuration with examples drawn from the organisation’s actual structure. Staff should understand the difference between a content issue, a permission issue and a platform issue.

Use scenario-based exercises instead of long technical demonstrations. One group might prepare a campaign landing page, another could restrict an internal policy area, and a third might investigate why a published document is unavailable. These tasks encourage collaboration while showing how DNN supports business processes.

Include a short module on content maintenance. Participants can review outdated pages, identify duplicate documents and create a simple ownership register. This is especially useful for teams spread across Australian offices, where content can become inconsistent when Sydney, Perth and regional staff update the same portal without shared rules.

End with a guided troubleshooting activity covering the issues users are most likely to report:

• A page is saved but not visible to visitors
• A document link returns an error
• A user cannot access an editing function
• A layout appears incorrect on a mobile device

The trainer should explain the first diagnostic step for each problem and define the escalation point. This builds independence without encouraging staff to change sensitive settings or bypass security controls.

Reinforce Skills After The Course

A two-day curriculum is most effective when learning continues after the classroom sessions. Provide a concise DNN user guide with screenshots, publishing standards, contact details and a list of approved modules. Record unfamiliar terms and procedures in plain English so occasional users can refresh their knowledge quickly.

Schedule a short review session two to four weeks later. Ask participants to bring real examples of pages they have created or issues they have encountered. The trainer can then address gaps while the experience is still fresh and update the internal knowledge base.

Measure outcomes through practical indicators rather than attendance alone. Useful measures include fewer avoidable support tickets, faster content approvals, improved accessibility checks and consistent use of page templates. Review these results after a quarter and adjust the curriculum for new modules, staff roles or compliance requirements.

Remember local operating conditions when scheduling support. Teams working across Melbourne, Sydney and Perth may need a shared service window that accounts for time differences, while public holidays and hybrid work patterns can affect attendance. DNN training should fit the way Australian staff actually work, including frequent mobile access and collaboration between office and remote teams.

Aricie can help organisations design role-based DotNetNuke training, prepare a realistic practice environment and connect the curriculum with broader portal governance. Contact Aricie to plan a focused two-day programme for your Australian team and give staff the skills to manage DNN confidently, securely and consistently.