What a MODx Blog would consist of

Quote from: OpenGeek at Jan 04, 2011, 12:44 PM

you can take any free HTML/CSS template off the web and use it in MODX within minutes

Which is the #1 reason I love MODx. Strictly speaking, however, a template you download off the Internet is not going to have specialized components for presenting things like blog comments (for instance) in a way that’s consistent with the template. Thus, this would still not be analogous to the ease of implementing a Wordpress theme, which generally includes everything needed to handle widgets of all types AFAIK.

@sottwell

Yes; more like hours.

You doubtless have many more years of experience than I as a developer, but I would have to respectfully differ on this. Unless, of course, you’ve got a specific example of a particular high-quality template that has been designed, coded, and tested in such a brief period?

I think Wordpress will be the king of blogging tools for years to come really. For many the advantage is the availability of all those themes.

I liked Wordpress. I really did. The issue for me came down to this: I need to create my own sites using graphics, images and layout design elements built from scratch. When I look at all the themes for Worpress I am very impressed with many of them. But clicking on one of the themes that appeal to me in these theme galleries usually reveals the words "downloaded 14, 873 times..."

I have done the reading and watched the video tutorials on building or customizing a Wordpress theme and it is a ton of work. With MODx I can do what I am already familiar with: build a static page system with valid strict XHTML and CSS. I can test this, toss it up on the web (with no database or installation hassle) and then get the client approval and move on. Creating a MODx template is is pretty quick run from this point. All of this takes a lot less time and aggravation than building a Worpdpress template in my book.

The other thing is I sort of feel many users want flexible content management. Not everyone is up for hardcore blogging. Blogging takes writing talent and commitment. I find that MODx gives you most of the core blogging tools and content aggregation needed to make custom yet flexible sites from scratch.

My $.02 anyway...

Quote from: Photowebmax at Jan 04, 2011, 01:37 PM

"downloaded 14,873 times..."

Good point!

In the real world, however, how many ordinary blog followers are going to say, "Hey, that blog uses the Monochrome Pro theme from Graphpaper Press! I’d know it anywhere!"?

Now let me be clear: Our clients get unique, high-quality designs, not templates. However, if somebody’s just looking to start a run-of-the-mill blog, I don’t think one person in a thousand would balk at becoming download #14,874 for that oh-so-cool theme.

Do you really think that one designer, working alone (and taking time to eat and sleep) should be able work through intial design, mockup, complete coding, exhaustive browser testing, and release of a high-quality template (such as, for example, this one) in days rather than weeks?

I could - and have - designed templates in a few hours (2 days max) like the one listed, and they validate. As long as you know what you want to design and all of the elements that go into it there shouldn’t be a problem. I run a large website (350,000 pageviews a month, email marketing and SEO) for a royalty free music company and I often have to have new sections finished in a day, maybe two. It’s not ideal, but it can be done - professionally and well, if you have to.

For my own site, which was just re-designed, once I new the direction I needed to go it didn’t take too long to complete.

Quote from: JWMSales at Jan 04, 2011, 02:05 PM

As long as you know what you want to design and all of the elements that go into it there shouldn’t be a problem.

...

For my own site, which was just re-designed, once I new the direction I needed to go it didn’t take too long to complete.

Impressive. Are you including the time you took in deciding what you wanted to design - i.e. the paper-and-pencil stage? What about programming things like custom Javascript slideshows? (If you consider those part of the template - I do). Additionally, your sig site appears to support IE6 partially or not at all - is that policy? If I could chuck IE6, that would save a lot of time

Thinking about it, I myself have done some pretty heavy templates that may only have taken a few days in actual template work, though it’s hard to measure as things like browser compatibility come up later during site development - and harder still to measure time actually spent on the template when other stages are overlapping.

Personally I don’t think you should take design time into account as it doesn’t matter what platform you are designing for, that time would be taken, however that said I do feel that modx gives you more freedom as when designing for Wordpress you have to ensure your sidebar elements are in <ul><li></li></ul> unless your going to hack plugins to death.

For me once I have a design ( that the designer at work does ) it takes anything from 6 - 12 hours to build the templates / layouts in html / css, get that into modx and then add all the functionality into it so the client can add the content with ease.

Oh and before anyone shouts for getting the clients to do the content, we always do that as it gives them the training before the site goes live and they are more comfortable adding / editing the live site then )

Quote from: paulp at Jan 04, 2011, 02:22 PM

Personally I don’t think you should take design time into account as it doesn’t matter what platform you are designing for, that time would be taken

Not sure I understand. My original mention of design time was meant to contrast using a premade, all-encompassing Wordpress theme vs. building such a "theme" from scratch and using MODx.

http://modxcms.com/forums/index.php/topic,48476.msg284228.html#msg284228

your sig site appears to support IE6 partially or not at all - is that policy? If I could chuck IE6, that would save a lot of time

I no longer support IE6 on my site. Less than 2% of visitors are using that browser and it isn’t worth the time to make it work. It does cut down on a lot of time. I do have a lot of templates that require more time. But a simple blog is pretty easy to create, especially if you’ve been working in MODx for several years. Of course, on my site I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

I find with new customer sites the planning (writing things out, deciding which elements, drawing, etc) takes the longest. That does take a lot of time.

Quote from: JWMSales at Jan 05, 2011, 12:13 PM

I do have a lot of templates that require more time. But a simple blog is pretty easy to create, especially if you’ve been working in MODx for several years.

I find with new customer sites the planning (writing things out, deciding which elements, drawing, etc) takes the longest. That does take a lot of time.

I’m with you 100% on this, I just think we have slightly different ideas of what constitutes a "simple" template