I am pleased to announce that DotNetNuke 5.6.1 is officially released.  This release resolves a number of outstanding issues with the 5.6.0 version and adds a few new significant enhancements including:

• Razor Scripts – 5.6.1 includes the new RazorHost module which allows you to use Razor scripts in your DotNetNuke installation.  For an example of what can be accomplished, checkout the recent entries in the Razor Hackathon.
• Child Portal Aliases – In the past you were forced to designate a portal as either a child portal or parent portal at the time the portal was created.  In 5.6.1, you will be able to add Child Portal Aliases at any time, to any existing portal.
• Improved Portal Alias Handling – In the past, it was possible to create multiple Portal Aliases for your site.  This has always caused potential SEO issues.  In 5.6.1 we have taken portal aliases one step further.  You will now be able to designate a single portal alias as the default alias.  The administrator can specify special handling for the portal aliases including the ability to use the default portal alias as the base domain for the “canonical url”.  Alternatively, the administrator can choose to use a 301 redirect so that all portal aliases will be redirected to the default portal alias.

During the 5.6.1 development cycle our security team received a few reports of security issues that affected previous versions of the platform.  Based on these reports we did further testing on the platform and identified additional areas that we felt warranted additional hardening as a preventative measure.  Because of the number and seriousness of the issues identified, and the additional hardening work done to the platform, we recommend that everyone upgrade to the 5.6.1 version to ensure your sites remain secure.