Mininterview with Will Strohl

Just to know some of the DNN Experts on this site, we introduce a mininterview. A short list with questions and answers about the Expert and his DNN. This interview is done with Will Strohl , you can find his profile here

Where are you from?
My family is from Guam.  We’re called Chamorros.  Originally, I was born in San Diego, CA but mostly grew up in Orlando, Florida and now I live in the beautiful San Francisco area.  I absolutely love it here and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.  (Except maybe Hawaii…)

What was the first DNN version you are working with?
I’ve been using DNN since day one, but didn’t get active in the community right away.  DNN is originally built off of the iBuySpy Workshop project that was released with version 1 of the .NET Framework and I also was maintaining my own CMS at the time based off of it.  It was primarily an intranet application though.

What is the DNN project (public url) where you are the most proud of?
Hotcakes Commerce (https://hotcakes.org).  While I didn’t build it from the ground up, I ran the company and its daily operations for 3 years and grew the solution and client base quite a bit while I was there.  It’s led to my newest company and us being the official provider of the Hotcakes Cloud and On Premise SLA-backed support.

Which module do you like the most?
I really love everything I’ve used from Mandeeps.com, but especially the Porto theme.  I know it’s not a “module,” but it’s amazingly flexible and can help you accelerate the launch of a site.  Nearly everything you need design-wise exists already in the theme, or the basis for it does.

What would be your wish for DNN (f.i. extension, function)?
We desperately need the open source product to include built-in, easy-to-use, yet robust structured content.  This is hands down the most important thing that DNN needs in order to compete with the other CMS’s out there.  A close second is to completely streamline the development and design patterns for everyone.  This is especially important for beginners.  New people don’t have any clue how to get started anymore.  We need updated standards and best practices as well.

Are you visiting DNN related events? If Yes, what was the last one and what did you remember of that event?
I plan on going to DNN Summit in 2018 and probably will attend DNN-Connect again next year as well.  Our DNN events are a fantastic way to get to know others in the community better, but they’re also one of the most important things you can do to grow your DNN knowledge and business.  There’s no better way to accelerate your ability to thrive in the DNN ecosystem and community.  The last event I went to was DNN-Connect 2017 in Girona, Spain.  It may have been the best DNN event I’ve been to, ever.  It was so much fun that some of us didn’t even bother going to sleep the last night!  😊