When beginning your first template, there are a few requirements that we’ll need to get out of the way. If you’re a developer level Arena client, then the first thing you’ll need is the Arena SDK from the Arena Community site. While this is not a requirement in the sense that you “can’t build a template without it”, you should use the SDK as it allows you to make mistakes without the whole world seeing it on your production server. I doubt your tech folks are going to let you go “commando” on a live server anyway, but I’ll save you an awkward conversation. Use the SDK.
If you’re not a developer level client, you can still modify the .ascx and .ascx.cs files in Notepad (if you’re using Windows) or TextEdit (if you’re a Mac enthusiast) or any other text editor. Since you’ll NOT be using the SDK, you’ll be having your fun on the production server (or a staging environment if you’re IT folks are wise) so be sure to create a test page to apply your template to later.
The next thing you’ll need to do is download the free version of Visual Studio 2008 from Microsoft’s site. Arena is written on the .Net framework and Visual Studio is the companion environment for development in .Net. Again, you can do this without using Visual Studio and opt instead for something as simple as Notepad, but the tools are there for a reason. They simplify a good bit of the process by the addition of features such as Intellisense (which will guide you along the way as you peck out the code) and also “proofreads” your code and points out bad syntax or incorrect code structure.
RIght now, at least half of the people reading that are ready to bail out of the process. “I’m not a developer! Yikes! I can’t do this!” No, you may not be a developer but that’s why we’re here now. The purpose of this exercise is to show you the process from start to finish and help you decide if this is or is not above the core competency your organization possesses. Hang in a bit longer, you might be surprised.
Once we have Visual Studio installed, let’s turn our attention to the Arena SDK. Arena does a phenomenal job of including very detailed instructions on how to install the SDK. They even include an installer that takes all of the guesswork out of the process. Follow the instructions and you’ll have your first Arena SDK installed in less than 15 minutes. For the Arena SDK, you’ll need to slide over to Arena’s Community to sign up.
Now at this point, you should be looking at Visual Studio with the Arena SDK open. The whole point of the SDK is to facilitate new module development for programmers. There’s a LOT of stuff here that should immediately make you feel in over your head. It’s natural. The good news is that for our first template building exercise, we’re going to ignore MOST everything you see and only focus in one area.
Under “Solution Explorer” on the top right of Visual Studio, you’ll see about fifteen folders and thirty files. The folders include “Applications”, “Content”, “Custom”. Basically, a lot of folders that sound very intimidating. Those are just a few of the folders that we’re going to ignore. We’re going to focus on one folder, “Templates”. Open this folder. Inside here, you’ll see numerous files ending in “.ascx”. This is the file type for .Net called a “control”. For our purposes, think of this file as being a traditional HTML file on steroids. Let’s open the SampleThree.ascx file by double clicking it.
You should now be breathing a bit easier. It’s mostly just harmless HTML and if you’re reading this then you’ve probably already got experience working in HTML. At the very top of this file, there’s a little line in there with an “inherits” declaration. That’s where the magic is occurring that takes our standard HTML and allows it to tie into Arena as a template. In turn, it allows us to pull in Arena functionality that would otherwise be impossible in flat HTML.
Let’s take a moment to recap what we’ve done to this point. You’re now the proud owner of a fresh Arena SDK installation that you are looking at in your freshly installed copy of VIsual Studio. In fifteen minutes, you’ve now crossed over from utterly intimidated to cautiously optimistic. I told you it wasn’t that bad.
Related posts:
- Creating Your First Arena Template – Part 3
- Creating Your First Arena Template – Part 4
- Creating Your First Arena Template – Part 2
- Want to Add Video to Your Website? 4 Things You Need to Know
- How to Build a Web Site Using Arena – Video
