A manager to manage managers

Hey all,

Ive been using ModX for a little while now. Im using it as part of our sites and also recommending it to clients for use. One thing that has crossed my mind on more than one occasion though is what if your managing more than 1 site? What if your site goes under multiple names, each with its own look and different content?

Im getting a bit lost really in having multiple tabs open each on a manager session jumping back and forth copying bits of snippets etc, or other work.

Has it ever been discussed to perhaps create a manager portal that was capable of managing multiple modx installs? Or even better, to be able to have a single install of modx but run a number of sites from that. Each capable of looking unique, having their own content, each accessible to its root via its own domain name, but all managed from just the 1 manager logon and each capable of sharing the same snippet or chunk if required?

Ok I know im thinking of something that may well be well out of the world or reach of modx as it currently stands, but the thought is nice and im sure that it would certainly make it a lot easier for a few people on here... wouldnt it?

You suggestion is pretty much what Contexts in MODx Revolution is all about. ;-)

So, it’s probably not going to happen in MODx Evolution (0.9.6.*), but in Revolution it is happening.

http://svn.modxcms.com/docs/display/revolution/Contexts

Erm...

Sorry if I didnt understand all of that

I know there was meant to be a whole new Modx out some time ago, but thats about all. I didnt understand that context thing either? Is that something that is installed on one particular domain or server? Or is it run from Modx only for you to use?

Out of interest actually how far off is Modx Revolution ? My fear is that im not inclined to use it in production, but then once it is released, upgrading everyones modx to the new one will cause many issues as some of the snippets used etc, will no longer work, thus causing even more problems...

Ideally I wouldnt mind using it in production, if it were ready and had snippets etc available that would fit the needs of the many (as it were).

I’ll try to elaborate.

MODx Revolution is on the way, and has been for a long time, but it’s definitely getting closer to release. It’s currently in Alpha 6, I think the next release will be a beta, which means it’s getting closer to a stable release. Nobody really wants to guess on when the stable release will happen, my guess is summer 2009 (but keep in mind that I’m not involved in the development, I’m just following it...).

The current MODx Revolution (Alpha 6) should not be used for production yet, unless you’re a hardcore developer badly needing features that you can only get in Revolution.

I’ve read somewhere (on the forums), that the idea is to make a tool for upgrading, which should be able to fix all snippet-issues etc. I expect it to work almost perfect for the default preinstalled snippets, but wouldn’t as much success for custom snippets.

If you have more questions regarding Revolution I suggest you ask them in the "MODx Next" forum under "Core Code", found here:
http://modxcms.com/forums/index.php/board,280.0.html