a simple way to start

I have been reading the text in MODx101 and I am very excited to put together my first CMS site but am encountering some roadblocks getting started.

I am a very visual, hands on learner, and I like to play around with software. I don’t have access to a server with SQL. My host offers it but I have to through my IT department to add it and my IT guy sucks. Is there just a simple way to do this? I downloaded MODx and played with the live demo but I really want to do it all from the beginning. The 101 talks about setting a local host? Can anyone explain that to me? I have a decent PC but am completely sure what would be involved.

All you need to do is install a webserver on your computer. If you are using PC there are a number of stacks available. The one I use is XAMPP from http://www.apachefriends.org/ They have an installer that will install Apache, MySQL and PHP (AMP) on your windows box. This comes with phpMyAdmin as well so you will be able to manually edit the SQL from a browser (although it is nice to learn how to use MySQL from the command line.

There are many other AMP server installers for windows and some are smaller and faster than XAMPP but if you are just starting out I would recommend it.

this might sound stupid what does installing this on my PC do? I use it for everyday work and can’t afford to break it.

Well a web server is little more than an application that runs on your computer that accepts requests and sends responses to browsers (and related server systems). You wouldn’t think twice about installing a WordProcessor or Design Application. A webserver is a system application that handles the back and forth of serving webpages (a little more complex than that).

You install the server and it runs on your computer and you go to your browser and type in http://localhost or http://127.0.0.0 (the former is recommended.) You should be able to see the index file that is listed inside your htdocs directory.

If you are really concerned about breaking your work PC then sign up with a shared hosting company for $5/Month and play with their server--it is slow and painful uploading files over the internet even over broadband but you can do it.

Most web developers use a localhost server of some sort either on their desktop or notebook or on an office server. Mac OSX has a rudimentary Apache install in the OS and Most Linux Distros have a built in AMP stack. Windows PC’s can also use the Windows native IIS server (the localhost server that comes in most modern flavours of Windows) together with PHP and MySQL.

I would do some research on this and if you are still unsure you may just need to play a little longer.

One final note: I reread your original post and wonder if it is your hope to host the site for remote visitors on your PC? While it is possible it is not the best way to host sites if you don’t know what you are doing. Let me know if you have more questions or to clarify your OP.

Jay

No, I don’t want to host websites. My problem is I am graphic designer by day who likes (and should have studied) web development. I do a little web now. Mostly simple sites with tables but am learning CSS. I am very interested in redesigning a pure CSS website for work and I want to use some sort of CMS so coworkers can do some of the maintaining of certain pages. MODx was recommended and here I am.

I work on a Mac at the office but it’s on lock-down (like I said, my IT guy sucks) and I called my current web host who did not know anything about MODx so he couldn’t help me. The next step for me to get going on this is use my home computer. What my host said was: they would not install any third party software but do support PHP and SQL for a slightly higher price. I was hoping to get familiar with MODx by installing it and setting up a simple site to learn how it works and then build my actual site.

Should this be as easy as upgrading my host features and just following the install or will I ultimately need to get permission from my ISP. I think they have to set certain permissions don’t they?

Thanks for being so helpful. The person who recommended this to me said it was childs play - I have find them and meet their kids?

Sorry - I just realized this should probably be in the 101. Mods feel free to move this.

Hi,

It’s a truly minimal web hosting service that doesn’t have php and mysql up by default. They may actually mean that it’s there but they won’t help you unless you pay extra. It’s easy to find out. Just create a web page document called test.php then cut and paste the following code in it (except the <br /><br />Then, just go to that page and if all you see is the code above, you don’t have php but if you see a long chart with lots of information about your server, you have php. There will also be information there that will tell you what versions of php and mysql are running.<br /><br />If you don’t have php, it would almost certainly be easier and cheaper in the long run to move your site to a decent host. There are several discussions here about good, reasonably priced hosting services. I use Lunar Pages but there are lots of good ones and many are very affordable.<br /><br />With regard to Xampp, it’s very easy to install and will let you do web design locally. If you set it to run at startup, it will be using some resources all the time but I’m pretty sure you can set it to be started manually.<br /><br />If you just want to play with .html and .css, you actually don’t need a web server at all. On a pc, you can just navigate to the file, right click, select "open with" and select a web browser like IE or Firefox. You’ll see the page just as people would see it over the web. You can’t run MODx that way but you can learn a lot about web page design using the tools you already have.<br /><br />Bob<br />

Oh boy!

This has become confusing for you I think.


First of all, if you have no PHP MySQL experience at all then MODx is probably not the CMS for you yet. All CMSs (with a couple of exceptions) use a database of one kind or another.

Second, installing MODx on a remote server just requires that your host meets the requirements of PHP 4.2.X and MySQL 4.X installed. You need to be able to upload files to your server via ftp (using an FTP application like FileZilla or SmartFTP) or some type of filemanager (don’t use Dreamweaver’s FTP for this as it is like pushing a golf ball through a watering hose. )

You would be the person installing MODx yourself.

There are instructions on installation on the Documentation pages as well as on the Wiki. You will need to set up a MySQL DB (through PHPMyAdmin or some other GUI) or have your host set up an empty database and give you the username, password and path. You will need this to configure MODx for setup.


Some hosting providers use automatic installers that can install some common CMSs such as Drupal, Joomla or Wordpress. None of these are at all like MODx but if you haven’t gotten your feet wet at all and you can’t manually install the application yourself this may be a way to go. Check your hosting control panel to see if they use automatic installers. I also get the impression that your host is not helpful. Most big hosting companies will install third party applications that don’t need root access as long as your willing to pay for their time. I might shop around for a host.

Personally I would download and install XAMPP and play with it on your desktop and see that it is fairly easy to learn (not so easy to master but that is the fun of it.)

Cheers and all the best,

Jay

Confusing... yes, but I am not quite ready to give up.

I called my ISP back and yes, they do support these things. I put together an index.php (using includes, which is about as far as I got with PHP). I have never used,seen, experienced any form of SQL. That seems to be the kicker here. I really want to learn how to do this. I have been doing web stuff for years and am familiar with structure, previewing, browser issues, etc. I have just never done a CMS site or any database site. I have always maintained sites I have built. I am getting pretty good with CSS and the front end crap - it’s the back end that I am clueless with.

That being said - where do I start. Get a local host set-up, get a book on sql? Is that the beginning and what is the learning curve with it?

Yes, by all means set up a local development environment.

I haven’t bought a book in years, there are far too many excellent tutorials and articles on the Internet. Of course, I did have a small inexpensive Xerox home laser printer for all my tutorials; I have notebooks full.

I have found this to be an excellent tutorial/online book; it has a section on databases:
http://hudzilla.org/phpwiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

But just put "php mysql" in Google and you’ll have enough to keep you busy for the rest of your life!