Tough decisions for a newbie

I have been around the block recently trying out different CMS’s. I am so frustrated because I am looking for something that is free and that I can understand and that is easy to use.

My current web site was designed using Rapidweaver for the Mac. I tried to make it as simple as possible. The one thing I can’t do with my current site is edit and manage it from any location, from any computer. This is the kind of flexibility I am after. I tried following some of the written tutorials out there for ModX but had trouble understanding them. I learn much faster from detailed videos explaining how things work (please let me know if there are some really good ones out there for newbies).

I know that ModX is a powerful, scalable CMS. Right now I am trying out Wordpress and even that I find somewhat confusing and non intuitive.

The biggest challenge I have had with my current site is organizing all the content that I have. I am hoping this forum will help me out with this.

I look forward to your responses and if you require additional info, let me know. I have to make up my mind soon so that I don’t go crazy .

Sincerely,

Randy
www.mcran.com

Randy,

Do you know some CSS and HTML? Those are really handy if you want to create your own design. If not then you will need a template.

Have you read this great series of tutorials: http://codingpad.maryspad.com/beginner-tutorials/

Spend an afternoon and read through the 1-11 chapters just to get a glimpse of what you are getting into. Them try a local install (using MAMP if you are on a Mac) and go through the steps carefully.

Its a little bit of work, but it all builds on itself. Once done you will find MODx very powerful and flexible.

If that all seems daunting then I would seriously consider hiring a designer & MODx person to build you a custom template and deploy MODx for you. This will cost money, but save you time. The right person will also coach you on the backend manager so you can manage your site yourself once its completed...

Good luck!

Max

Thanks for your comments but I would rather try and do it myself. Maybe I can find pre made templates I can look at and incorporate into my site? Also, if there are any good screencasts out there that you know of, that would help me out in a big way!

I tried to get throught the Codingpad tutorial but got stuck when it came to TV’s. Like I asid above, videos work for me.

Thanks!!

Here’s one: http://www.tipsfor.us/2009/01/22/new-overview-of-modx-modx-series-part-ii/

See the site in my sig also (no screencasts though).

Maybe I can find pre made templates I can look at and incorporate into my site?

some MODx templates are available here: http://www.demo.amdbuilder.net/

Thank you so much!!

I am in the process of watching a video on Youtube that really explains very well, HTML and CSS. Once I get a grasp of this, I think I will be well on my way.

If I want to take the current template I am using with Rapidweaver for my website, do I just copy the contents of the index.html file into a new template in ModX and just change a few things?

Thanks again!!

http://www.sottwell.com/how-templates-work.html

The basic conversion process is well noted on Sottwell’s sites, but in general it’s just taking an existing page and replacing the content with MODx tags. If you need help with the conversion let me know, Ive done a few conversions and would be happy to help.

AMDbuilder

Thanks AMDbuilder

I just took the code from my Index.html file and pasted into a new ModX template. I think that there is some code in it that needs to be stripped out but I am not quit sure what to do next.

All I want to create for my site a 5 pages. That’s it. Three of the five pages refer to files that are residing on my hosting server. I already set up anchor links for them but my main challenge is trying to figure out how best to present all of this stuff. Even when I am working in Raipdweaver, the challenge has always been how am I going to present all of the radio material I have.

I tried by using Rapidweaver plugins and for the most part it worked great. Especially on the Radio page . I had some help from people on the RW forums helping me with the html and CSS code that make up the calendar like layout.

Like I said in a previous post. The limiting factor has always been that I can’t modify my site unless I am sitting in front of my Mac with Rapidweaver open. I wanted to be able to work on my site from any computer wherever I might be.

This has what has lead me on the hunt for something that I could understand and would be fairly easy to use. I have always had problems understanding code although I keep pushing away watching tutorials etc...

I want to be able to do this myself and for some strange reason (:)), I keep coming back to Modx. I keep struggling with Wordpress just to let you know what I am also trying out.

AMDbuilder, I will take you up on your offer to help me out just to get me started. Where do we go from here.

This is my current site (www.mcran.com)

This is what I am working on in ModX (www.mcran.com/modx)

Thanks so much!!

Randy

I’ve sent you an email to get you started.