What started as an idea in December 2024 is now—less than 1.5 months later—a reality: DNN Tokens is ready with its first release!
What problem did we want to solve?
One of the most important aspects of content management: reliability. Your content needs to be 100% correct. But especially for larger or more complex websites, that can be a challenge. For example, if the gas price changes from 1.20 to 1.40, you want that update to be applied everywhere—without missing a forgotten landing page.
Features
Simple text tokens
You assign a token a name (e.g., highTax), a value (e.g., 21%), and then use the token in content like this: [{highTax}]. If the high VAT rate changes to 21.5%, you only need to update it in one place: the token.
One or multiple sites
DNN is particularly suited for running multiple websites within a single installation. With DNN Tokens, you can choose whether a token is active only in the site where it was created or across all websites in the installation.
More complex text tokens
Beyond simple words or phrases (e.g., if you want to create a glossary), you can also include HTML in a text token. This allows you to manage elements like cards or carousels from one central location. To take it a step further, you can even include <script> and/or <style> tags. Essentially, this means you can reuse almost anything from CodePen in a way that doesn’t interfere with editors.
Nested tokens
You can use tokens within other tokens. For example, you can place a core DNN token like [users:firstname] inside a card and create a combined token like [{personalizedCard}].
Categories
As the number of tokens grows, organization becomes key. You can create categories to structure your tokens. For instance, if you have multiple tax rates, you could create a Tax category. Your tokens would then be [{tax:high}] and [{tax:low}].
SQL
Tokens can also be populated from a database. If you have a database of books, you could create a token like [{book:name}], which executes an SQL query:
Since tokens can be nested, you can create a card or even an entire page where multiple tokens work together, displaying the book's name, cover, author, and intro.
Razor
If you can build a detail page using SQL, you'll also want a list view that links to those details.
1 more thing...
Several DNN ecosystem modules already use tokens—such as DNN core tokens, Live Tokens by Mandeeps, Plant an App tokens, 2SXC, and Easy DNN Solutions.
DNN Tokens is fully compatible with all of them. You can place DNN Tokens within 2SXC content, Easy DNN, and even DNN Go skins that support token placement.
Credits
- Tjep's digital agency conceived the concept, functionality, and funded the project.
- 40Fingers designed the architecture to ensure compatibility with other modules.
- Easy DNN Solutions handled development and donated countless hours.
Costs
Free. Just like DNN itself, this module is released under the generous MIT license.
Demo
Where to get it
You can download the module here:
🔗 https://github.com/EasyDNNsolutions/DNNTokens/releases/
Support & suggestions
At https://github.com/EasyDNNsolutions/DNNTokens you can fork the repository, modify the code, and submit a pull request.
Not a developer? No problem! You can report bugs or feature requests at:
🔗 https://github.com/EasyDNNsolutions/DNNTokens/issues
(Some requests may require compensation.)
Final words
Have fun with DNN Tokens & Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️