Trying to capture the mass and weight of the figure in this pose.

Quick sketches of the same pose from different angles.

Multiple views of the same pose (nude male standing) for this weeks gestures.

I've been using DotNetNuke for about five years now and am very impressed with the overall quality of the product.  There have been a number of changes made to the software during that time and some of these changes have introduced major improvements to the usability and functionality of DotNetNuke. However, there is one particular area that I feel could use a little extra attention and that is the DotNetNuke Recycle Bin.

If you've administered your own DotNetNuke site or a DotNetNuke site for a client, you've probably found yourself face to face with the Recycle Bin.  At first glance, it appears to be quite innocent and straight forward.  

1. Find the page or module that you need to restore.
2. Select that page or module.
3. Click the Restore button.  

The above steps will result in the selected item being restored to your site.  However, what if the recycle bin contains 200 - 300 modules?  What if 60 of these modules were not given titles?  You would find that you have a needle in a haystack scenario on your hands.  If there were a way to sort these items your task would become much easier.  Perhaps you could sort by the date deleted or by the user who deleted the page or module.  Being able to preview the page or module before choosing to restore it back to the website would also be a helpful feature.  These enhancements are just a few of the ideas I've had for improving the DotNetNuke recycle bin.

I propose adding sortable columns of additional data to the Page/Module list in the Recycle Bin to greatly reduce the time necessary to find and restore the correct item(s).  The administrator would be able to sort the list by Page Name, Module Type, Module Title/Name, Date Created, Date Deleted, or even by the DotNetNuke user who deleted the item.  The administrator could also preview the page or module before restoring it to the website to ensure the correct item is selected.

Old Recycle Bin vs. New Recycle Bin
click to view larger

New Recycle Bin Module Preview Feature
click to view larger

If you think these changes would improve DotNetNuke and you would like to see them included in a new release, head over to support.dotnetnuke.com and vote for this enhancement request.  If you have additional ideas, I would enjoy hearing from you in the comments.

Cheers

Three quick gestures to start the month of May. Working on conveying the depth of the figure.

A 3-4 hour painting of a standing female. Working on shading and rendering skin tones with Photoshop and a Wacom.

One gesture/render for the last week of April. About 45 minutes to an hour.

A couple of weeks ago I conducted my first beer tasting with a couple of friends. There were four of us trying five different beers.

We used the Beer Party Tasting Sheet provided by Brewer's Friend. The sheet gives you the opportunity to score the beer on Appearance, Smell, Taste, After Taste, and Drinkability.

Here's how the beers scored for each category among the maximum points possible.

Beer	PP*	O'Fallon Hemp Hop Rye	Spoetzl Shiner Spring Ale Dortmunder	Firestone Union Jack India Pale Ale	Founders Dirty Bastard	Schlafly Quadrupel Ale
Appearance	10	7.6	5.75	6.5	8	8.75
Smell	10	5.5	3.87	8.25	6.5	6.5
Taste	30	20.10	13.5	24	24.75	23.5
After Taste	20	12.75	9	14.5	15.5	17.5
Drinkability	30	22.25	15.75	20.75	23.75	17.75
Total		68.25	47.84	74	78.5	74

*PP = Points Possible

Among the five beers we scored, Founders Dirty Bastard seemed to be the groups favorite with a total of 78.5 points.  Interestingly, second place went to both Firestone Union Jack India Pale Ale & Schlafly Quadupel Ale with a score of 74.

Despite not being "professional beer tasters", we all had a lot of fun and will hopefully do this again in the near future.

Cheers

One gesture and a couple of portraits this week.

A 2 - 3 hour portrait with Photoshop and a Wacom.