How do I get started where do I put my html and css files?

Someone please help me get started.

I think I could be a huge fan of MODx, but I really need some help.

First off I am a designer more then a coder. I’ve mostly designed in tables using Dreamweaver, but I understand (conceptually) .css, thought the vagaries of it drive me crazy.

Let me start off with a few questions? Is the template created from any html file or does it need to be created from a html file using divs, linked to a .css file which is what I have always assumed.

Ok so you have this template (html file with a css file attached. Exactly where do I put them. What confuses me most (at the moment) is what to do with the css files. Now the hml files have a link to them to the style sheets within the html doc. So folder names and the exact path in the link would seem to be critical.

I think once I get a file uploaded and working I will begin to make modx work for me.

Help in Chicago,

Dave

I would definitely recommend searching the forums here, there are plenty of good descriptions om how to do this, and the same question has been asked and answered several times. But a good start could be this one.

Good luck and keep asking if you are in trouble. 

The Wiki (http://wiki.modxcms.com/index.php/Main_Page) is probably the best place to start. Here is a good article, that sounded about right for where you are. http://wiki.modxcms.com/index.php/Beginner%27s_Guide_to_MODx

Or you might want to consider the just published Nettus MODx tutorial.

Quote from: rthrash at Jan 09, 2009, 05:23 AM

Or you might want to consider the just published Nettus MODx tutorial.

He he, thats the one I was referring too, but my link-title was not so clear. 

Quote from: lightsail at Jan 08, 2009, 05:44 PM

Let me start off with a few questions? Is the template created from any html file or does it need to be created from a html file using divs, linked to a .css file which is what I have always assumed.

Any html can be a template. xHTML/CSS works nicely with dynamic content (less markup) but any form of markup will work. That is one reason that there is little industry catering to modx template, any template is in potential a modx template.

Quote from: lightsail at Jan 08, 2009, 05:44 PM

Ok so you have this template (html file with a css file attached. Exactly where do I put them. What confuses me most (at the moment) is what to do with the css files. Now the hml files have a link to them to the style sheets within the html doc. So folder names and the exact path in the link would seem to be critical.

The html template will be added to the database (they can be made into external files with an ’include snippet’). The css files can be anywhere you want as long as the paths in your markup are correct. All modx ’pages’ are generated from the index.php file in the root modx directory, so all paths need to originate from there. Very much like you would work with static files.

One of the first steps in learning MODx is to unlearn all the dribble that other CMS have imposed and go back to the way you worked with static files (as far as structure is concerned).

This might be helpful: http://bobsguides.com/porting-your-site-to-modx.html

If you use Dreamweaver templates, you can just copy them directly to a new MODx template, move the CSS files, and put the correct path to them into the template. You should be able to preview the site at this point, although your menu may not work and any PHP code on the site will be ignored.

Then you can move the "editable" parts out of the template one at a time, previewint the site after each action.

Content that appears on every page stays in the template.
Replace the main content section with [*content*] and put the content of each page in the "content" field of a new MODx document.
Replace the menu with a call to the Wayfinder snippet.
Replace any content that appears on more than one page (but not all pages) with {{chunkname}} and put the content in the named chunk.
Move any PHP code on the pages into snippets you create and put a call to the snippet [[snippetname]] where the code was.

Be sure to ask questions here if you run into any trouble or confusion.

If you’re familiar with creating your own html and css for pages, then this video might be useful to you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EasmxiU0LsM

It shows how to take existing html/css and port it over to a MODx template.