PDF User Guide

Mods can this be a sticky...and spellsmith, thanks so much. Noob?!? ...pleeeeese.

Anyone have technical feedback on it? Areas which are wrong, things I’ve forgotten, etc.? I have a more complete version almost ready, with the missing sections filled in, but if you’ve already got feedback on what exists, I’d like to have it so I can work it in.

Wow, well done, better than i could ever write

its a shame i ahve to write our own per client for the TV usage ill post my now very poor looking version later bleh!

Please use TVs for managing META content in your websites. It’s going to be deprecated in Evo, and it’s never going to make it into Revo. TVs are much much much better for this.

"Parent Resources" have traditionally been called "Containers" but I’m OK with that title too. Great job on the document.

Great job with this!! Excellent work, will read it over the weekend. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the feedback, those who gave it

So... here’s the finished product, in PDF form. http://www.g2n.be/files/MODx_ContentEditor_Guide.pdf

The file will remain available until approximately January 2010. Admins are welcome to store it somewhere else on the MODx website if desired.

Copyright applies. Feel free to use it for private use, but give credit where it’s due and all that.

One thing in particular to note: I’ve left the use of Meta Keywords and Tags as it is, rather than switching it over to Template Variables. The reasoning for this is that most content editors aren’t going to have a clue what a Template Variable is, whereas they have a higher likelihood of knowing a Meta Keyword or Meta Tag. Since that *is* still supported in Evo 1.0.0, I’m taking advantage of its greater user-friendliness factor.

First of all, thanks a lot for this excellent user guide.

It looks like it’s a bit late now, but I think it would be useful to have a short section on template variables. It is very common for administrators to set up TVs to allow content editors to provide consistently formatted additional information or to control output on a document by document basis while avoiding the need to have to write or interact with any code. So, the content editor needs to know that the template variables are, where they can be found, how to change them and what effect this is likely to have. @INHERIT is commonly used in TVs, so it would be useful for them to understand what this does too. I’d say that this is more important than knowing how to make and use snippets, since snippets are normally hidden from content editors where possible. If a section on TVs was included, the keywords method described above could serve as a good example of how TVs can used in practice.

I plan on making an updated version after I’ve become more familiar with all of MODx’s various quirks and features (say, January? heh), in which I’ll add something on template variables. Unfortunately for this version, I needed good documentation for very non-technical users, and I had exactly one month to learn enough about MODx (and document it) and put everything live. As such, I was writing as I was learning.

When/if I make an updated, more comprehensive version, I’ll share it as well. So far I’m really loving MODx, and planning on implementing it on my personal websites as well.

Thanks a lot. I think that what you have managed to achieve in a month already is incredible.