not so complicated template for travel agency

Hallo
I have to do the English version of our travel agency on http://www.yestravel.eu
Instead of using wordpress or joomla I’ve tried to install ModX because seemed to me more clean and seo friendly.

The installation went good but then started the problem that our company colors are light blue, red and orange. Nothing to to with ModX green.

I couldn’t find anything to change the header image’s colors so I went for looking for a template.

I’ve found a blu template named Portal2 extremely complicated to install.
In half day work I managed to install it and now I see it’s broken in Internet Explorer 7 (also in template demo).

So I was saying gosh I’ve lost a lot of time with the wrong cms...
So I try to write here if is there a simple method to get a simple site in light blue , better if possible to put a logo and a background image on the header.

thanks a lot!

This is less of a MODX issue and more of a design and CSS issue. MODx is very flexible in letting you create any template or color scheme you choose. But its not going to create colors and graphics for you. You can build your own backgrounds, colors, header images, gradients and text colors by adding the graphics and changing the CSS file directly.

Some of the huge systems like Drupal and Wordpress have full templates that you can download with a lot of this built in. Thats great except if you want your site to be unique. Using a template that has been downloaded thousands of times and using stock disk images can be convenient but your site risks looking very generic with that "haven’t I seen this somewhere before?" syndrome...

Hope this helps...

thanks for the help
My thought is this:

If I have to do a template to use a cms as ModX , I’d rather to a site in the classic way... or no?

It could feasible to customize a bit a standard template (change color, change logo, change header) but here this seems something which requires advanced programming knowledge..

Take a look at this site by one of the MODx experts: http://sottwell.com/templates.html

Try the links to the different templates towards the bottom of the main content area.

CSS is what drives these templates. You can change colors, text size, fonts and countless other presentation styles for you entire site just by changing the CSS.

If CSS is uncharted territory then some CMS users will find a template they like and then adjust the banner image to reflect their own site. You will need to know the size of the banner graphic that the template is using. For instance say a particular template is using a banner of 800 x 175 pixels you could then create a custom banner graphic with logo etc at that exact same size (using Photoshop or any graphics editor) and just swap out the existing template banner graphic. This way you will not be editing a lot of the CSS along the way.

Most site designs will start with color choices, banner graphics, and typography etc. All of this will get built into the CSS which is the foundation of the the site template. If making these custom choices is important to your site and you do not know how to edit or create CSS then you will need to find a designer to help you...

Max

Thanks for your suggestion but this from a first view looks extremely complicated and TIME consuming for me.
I’ve found a commercial development of modx templates here but unfortunately Modx template development looks to be very expensive comparing to other cms
https://w3-markup.com/order#customize-software-implementation

humm

gosh I thought it could be much easier...
even to install a template it’s very tricky and instructions are often not clear...

anyway thank’s for your help

I see you Leica icon I dream of one of these M

Hi osviweb,

MODx is really geared towards designers and developers that are proficient with HTML/CSS. If that’s uncharted territory for you, another system would likely serve you a bit better. However, if you’re up for learning, then you’ll find a tremendously helpful community here. Good luck in your decision!

Wow!
I had answers from so many enthusiasts including the co-founder that I decided to spend other hours for my attempt with this cms.
First of all I have to say that I hate to be crytical but not constructive but guys: being simple is a way of thinking for creating smart things. Unfortunately here you’re really making it complicated an not linear here.

Here’s an example:

• [list]
  [li]I could manage to install Modx and I found a green site. I want it blue.
  So I try to find a blue template: it makes me an half day to try two not working , difficult to install themes.
  I came here , subscribe to the forum , do all the steps to be able to use the forum etc
  I find your great help and decide to spend more hours:
  So...
  I go to the template page , find the template named Natural Beauties I think I can try to install then customize and here we go to the maximum complications...
  To install the template I must install an other thing called SkinGraft.
  To install the SkinGraft I must install an other thing called MODx Resource Wizard
  To get the ModX resource Wizard your site it says that is Depreciated . What should I do? humm looks like a bureaucratic Babylon... I install it anyway.
  Done all these I find in a death road, no instructions. :-(

[/li]
[li][/li]
[/list]

I log out, I log in and go around the manager site and find this SkinGraft and manage to install the template Natural Beauties BUT IS NOT FINISHED YET!
to use the template I must install again another thing called gallery something...
Well this installation is not compatible with MODx Resource Wizard so I read all the documentation and try to install it manually.
I do all the procedures , get a degree in something I don’t know what is for and the end is that my site shows now an error page http://www.yestravel.eu and all this for nothing

Guys when you cooperate in GREAT open source smart project : PLEASE KEEP IT USABLE AND SIMPLE!

Things are made to be used , not to be complicated twisted to be just learned. Life is difficoult enoght don’t build a ModX cool but very twisted+complicated cms
:’( :’( :’(

You don’t need skingraft or resource wisard - but the day you install modx _for a client_ thoose can be handy!

To learn and manage modx - check out:
http://wiki.modxcms.com/index.php/Beginner’s_Guide_to_MODx
http://wiki.modxcms.com/index.php/MODx_Instructional_Videos
http://wiki.modxcms.com/index.php/Main_Page

http://modxcms.com/documentation.html
http://bobsguides.com/MODx.html

thanks
I don’t have clients I was just trying to do a simple website (maybe in blue but turned me very blue)

I can’t vouch for third party components and have never personally used Skin Graft or MODx Resource Wizard. Those would rely on support from a 3rd party developer who is a bit busy being a new dad, and who is easily distracted by pirates. They’re not supported as any type of "official" way.

Installing a template really couldn’t be simpler:

1) Download a copy of the template, unzip it and read any instructions that come with it.
2) Upload your images/css to the webserver where the template instructions tell you to do so. If it’s not stated, open the template and the CSS files in your favorite text editor and read where the includes are set. Recall that MODx is intended to be set up by individuals who understand XHTML/CSS so this should be familiar territory.
3) Make sure you’ve got the right snippets and plugins installed in your site for the templates.
4) Make the chunks and templates in your manager under the Resources > Manage Resources tab. Copy and past the text from the example files provided by the template author.
5) Go to your documents and change the template, or use the Doc Manager module to change them all at once.
6) Use the site configuration to change the default template to your favorite new template.

Total time this should take: under 10 minutes, and probably closer to 5.

AGAIN, three critical guidelines to keep in mind:

[#] MODx is intended to be set up by individuals who are familiar with XHTML and CSS. You should at a bare minimum to be able to understand how to reference image, css and js paths in templates and in your css files.
[#] CSS/Images/JS typically reside on the filesystem and are referenced in pages that are generated from the DB. Make sure you use a base-href attribute in your template. If you don’t understand that, please refer to the first point.
[#] Templates and almost all add-ons are made by third-parties and the MODx project makes no claims that they’ll work as promised.

If you need assistance installing anything or if you get stuck, there’s also a commercial support option.