Getting into the "Framework" aspects of MODx

Hi folks,

I’m using MODx Evo as a CMS for my site(s), and I like it a lot as a lightweight, designer-friendly CMS (been a fan ever since Etomite). I maintain a little private website about pinball that I want to relaunch with a new design and new features. The site is about 10 years old with both crappy PHP code and database structure that somehow manages to work… Now I want to do it the right way, I want something that’s easy to maintain, with AJAX functionality and a few community features, you know, overall a bit more "Web 2.0".
I have a lot of ideas for the site, the problem is: My programming skills are very basic and rusty, and I’ve never dug into MVC. So I’m looking for something suitable for beginners. I already had a look at CakePHP and CodeIgniter, both do look promising, but then I remembered that my dear old MODx is officially called a Content Management Framework and I wondered if it could be the right solution for me? Is it something worth getting into if you only have basic PHP and SQL skills? Where’s the best starting point to learn about the framework side of MODx and what it’s capable of?

Cheers & thanks in advance,
AnnaStesia

MODX has been a great launching ground for more than a few folks who started out as novice developers and who now can actually crank out some code.

^ I do believe you this! It just would be nice if one of these folks could share some tipps on how to get started. CMS-wise, MODx is so easy that I never even bothered to read a tutorial or instruction. But anything beyond that is a big mystery to me, I’ve glanced over the API documentation, was overwhelmed by it and now, I don’t know where I can get that initial kick-off

Take a look a the site in my sig, as well as these:

http://www.sottwell.com/how-modx-works.html

http://codingpad.maryspad.com/beginner-tutorials/

http://wiki.modxcms.com/index.php/Beginner%27s_Guide_to_MODx

After that, the best method is to just start working and ask questions here as you run into trouble.

Looks great, thank you guys!

The official MODX docs are a good start, esp. the Tutorials section:
http://rtfm.modx.com/display/revolution20/

For xPDO, the database layer of MODX:
http://rtfm.modx.com/display/xPDO20/