Nube First site, thoughts, possibly a little guideance

Hey all, this is my first shot at a modx site. I am having a bit of trouble figuring out where the modules are hiding. For instance, I have a column on the right side for newsletters, where I will simply have some PDFs available for download, but I can’t find where to put the links. Also, somehow my search bar is stuck at the bottom, I want to get it over in the right hand bar. Also, the green bar at the top seems out of place. I know these are simple issues, but for a guy that is use to regular html and table layout, I get a little lost.

Thanks!

www.swgrs.com

Well... are you talking about the Manager? Or the front-end of your site? The front end of your site is totally up to you... you can change your templates, CSS, HTML, whatever you want. If you’re really new to MODx, I might suggest watching a couple videos:
http://www.tipsfor.us/2009/01/22/new-overview-of-modx-modx-series-part-ii/

The manager (where you login at www.yoursite.com/manager/ ) can be customized, although personally, I’ve never bothered. Check out the "Manager Manager" plugin for tweaking how the MODx manager looks and operates.

I think the site in my sig might help. I think you may be referring to snippets rather than modules. If so, they are hiding in the MODx database.

4u2dci4, it looks to me like you’re using the template that’s installed by default, and you’re just customizing it. You actually have complete control (down to every <div> and whatever else you want) by creating new templates or editing the code for existing ones.

MODx isn’t like Drupal or a lot of other CMSes because you don’t really have "modules" or "blocks" like you’re referring to. There’s no place in the manager where you tell it you want links on the right sidebar, a menu at the top, etc. It all has to come from you in the HTML you write. That’s the beauty of MODx, and it’s also why you need some HTML skills to use MODx well.

It sounds like you need a snippet like Wayfinder to do the links to your PDFs. The community will be glad to help you out, but do some Google searches for things like "MODx snippets" or "MODx Wayfinder", and you’ll find guides on how to get started.

If your already familiar with HTML/CSS try looking at some of the other existing templates. It might help you understand how to accomplish the desired result.

Thanks Guys and Gals! I started digging in a little deeper, and it is starting to make sense. I think I was thinking too hard. I have made sites with html, ccs, and enjoy programming in PHP, but for some reason I was just having a hell of a time with modx. Well after a few days of work, I can really appreciate all the work that has went into this program. I will go out and seek some nice templates, as i am not an artist

I tried Joomla, it was overly bulky and what I thought complex, wordpress wasn’t my cup of tea either. Modx is really nice, it just takes a bit of getting use to.

Thanks again for your help! I look forward to helping another nube when the time comes.

Good Times!

It sounds like you’re making progress.

Welcome to MODx.

If you have experience with HTML/CSS and PHP, go ahead and develop a static version of your site that way. You can then create a site template in MODx to add dynamic content to the exact design you would like (vs. just altering a template).

Some links that helped me:

http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/other/working-with-a-content-management-framework-modx/

and

http://wiki.modxcms.com/index.php/Beginner’s_Guide_to_MODx

Go through both examples. You should be well on your way after that.

Also check out the video for making a template, if you’re in the market for this:
http://www.tipsfor.us/2009/04/30/creating-templates-in-modx-part-i-part-iv-in-the-series/

One of the reasons I love MODx is that it’s so simple to take existing HTML/CSS and add CMS functionality to it...

Everett, you’re post count is 666 as of this writing. I just thought it was amusing.

I definitely agree. It’s amazingly simple to design a site, then make it work with MODx. When I start a MODx project (I’ve started a few now), I first design my basic layout in just plain HTML and CSS. When I feel that it’s completed enough, I to my MODx manager and make the template(s) for it. It’s more complicated than using a downloadable theme like with some other CMSes, but it’s way more powerful.