Intranets and Extranets

Background

An intranet is a private computer network that uses Internet Protocol technologies to securely share any part of an organization's information within that organization. The term is used in contrast to internet, a network between organizations, and instead refers to a network within an organization. Sometimes the term refers only to the organization's internal website, but may be a more extensive part of the organization's information technology infrastructure. It may host multiple private websites and constitute an important component and focal point of internal communication and collaboration.

An intranet can be understood as a private analog of the Internet, or as a private extension of the Internet confined to an organization.

Intranets are also contrasted with extranets. While intranets are generally restricted to employees of the organization, extranets may also be accessed by customers, suppliers, or other approved parties. Extranets extend a private network onto the Internet with special provisions for access, authorization, and authentication

Some of the more frequent uses of Intranets/Extranets are:

· File sharing

· Document distribution

· Capturing information from employees

· Communicating with staff, contractors, partners

· Sending newsletters

· Accessing company handbook

· Health & Safety information

· Policies & procedures

Platform

There are many different software platforms from which you can build your Intranet/Extranet, we have invested the time and training in DotNetNuke (DNN) which is the worlds most widely adopted framework for building web solutions based on the Microsoft Windows System. DotNetNuke powers over 500,000 portals, intranets, extranets, and public web sites world wide.

DotNetNuke is a Content Management System (CMS). With CMS enabled sites the site administrator can add and remove pages, add content and generally maintain the site with very little training.

There are two main parts to DNN intranets, these are skins and modules.

Skins

A skin determines the visual appearance of the site including colours, layout and the positioning of text, images and other elements. There are over 6000 skins available and we are able to offer a customisation service if the precise design cannot be found.

Modules

A module provides functionality within the site. For example if you needed a contact form so that site users can send a message from within the site you simply drag and drop the Feedback module into the desired position of the page. There is no coding or programming required, all functionality is provided through modules and all of the main functions that are generally needed are included in the core product.

Extensibility

The DotNetNuke core product contains all of the primary functionality required to build powerful and robust Intranets. There is a very large developer community providing additional modules to deliver rich functionality. The list below shows some of the core modules included, this list is not exhaustive.

Some of the core modules:

Announcements	This module displays a list of announcements. Each announcement includes title, text and a "read more" link. This is ideal for a home page where you want to have the latest available for your visitors. Announcements can have an expiry date to keep them current.
Documents	This module displays a list of documents, including links to browse or download the document. Documents include an edit page, which allows authorized users to edit the information about the Documents for example, a friendly title.
FAQ’s	FAQ’s allow you to manage a list of Frequently Asked Questions and their corresponding answers. This can be used to educate your visitors on how to use the site or any other topic or product relevant to your business
Text	This module is used to display text, or any other HTML content. The Text module allows authorized users to edit the content either inline or in a separate administration page. All versions of content are stored in the database including the ability to rollback to an older version.
Newsletters	Administrators can send bulk email to all users belonging to a particular Role.
Repository	The repository module is a flexible module that allows you to store a variety of items such as documents, files and images and a host of other items. Access to upload and download from here can be controlled through roles and people can comment and rate the content.
Search	The Search module allows searches to be submitted by users, a list of all pages that contain the words or phrases that were searched on is displayed.
Site Log	Administrators can view the details of visitors using their portal. There are a variety of reports available to display information regarding site usage, membership, and volumes.
Survey	Survey allows you to create custom surveys to obtain public feedback
Users and Roles	Administrators can manage the security roles defined for their portal. The module allows you to add, edit and delete security roles. This module controls access to the information within the site and determines who can view, upload, download or edit information within the site.
Wiki	The Wiki module is a complete Wiki within a single module. A Wiki allows site visitors to edit / update the content for collaboration.