Our group have a common collbaorative area using DNN that is meant to act as a space to share ideas and thoughts. But is it the right solution? The Requirement

1. to collect together a variety of resources on a particular project or pre-project
2. to manage the following
   • word documents in various stages
   • links (including internal ones)
   • ephemeral or emerging texts
3. the collection should be extendable to other participants
4. the collection should be self-contained
5. the collection should link with the top level site
6. it should be easy to set up and maintain

DotNetNuke

The current site is a single common area without differentiation. Page hierarchies could be created within this portal to satisfy the requirement.

• wiki
• the ability to display rss feeds
• repository

Of these the repository is probably the least satisfactory for small scale collections, although a folder could be created in the main repository and linked to the pages

Sharepoint Services

Can do all of this in much the same way (i.e. feeds are shown using xslt). The principal differences are (negatives in italics)

For advanced users and administrators

• quick creation of a new area (although a DNN site template could be created)
• mapping of directories as Network Places
• easy inclusion of additional users (on DS)
• easy access control
• easy inclusion in the area of
• limited editor for wiki area
• limited ability to change design
  

For casual users

• pass through authentication using IE
• navigation on wiki gets mixed up sometimes
• it is a different environment to use (although they have not used the DNN site much)

Conclusions

While DNN is the better platform for a public-facing site sharepoint is probably easier for quickly generated internal working areas.