Hello there, everyone...
First, let me say that MODx is absolutely awesome. I want to get the book as soon as I can, because there are obviously a bunch of things I can do with all this power and control that I am just not tapping.
I plan on using it all the time. Right now, I started using it on the recommendation of a colleague in one of my web design groups at Google Groups (sitedesign) after a client requested that they have a CMS.
What I like about it is that I can do everything that I can normally do with a static website. This has always been the main barrier for CMS applications. Plus, the manual is always branded with strange application specific terms that you had to look-up and get a handle on.
Anyways, the site that I am currently working on is at
http://www.elstonmfg.com/index.php and is publicly available, but I am still working on it. There are several issues I need to address, and I will ask them in another thread.
I am planning on using it on at least half a dozen sites once this current project is put to bed, including my own website. In fact, my usual own home website for Symbiotic Design is on hold for its redesign until I finish-up this project (as the customer must always come first and I want to use MODx in the Symbiotic Design site redesign).
I had used phpWebsite in the past, and was hacked. At that point, I pretty much swore-off content management systems. I tried out Drupal, Joomla, Mambo(?) and WordPress (among others), which were supposed to be big on security, but they always missed the mark in a number of ways. I never felt both creative and secure within those box models. Instead of designing websites, I was designing little tidbits of parts of the site, and that is no way to design. I need to see the whole picture, all the time. MODx is the only thing I know of that allows this.
I still have a bit of a hard time with the developer terminology, but I have had some basic programming classes and work with developers all the time, so I think I can work around it.
I have already posted here in the forums with a couple of issues and never gotten a response. I’ve also contacted the Wayfinder developer at MuddyDogPaws.com, who apparently might even live in my area. So far, not one time have I gotten a response. And that is my main concern with using MODx. When I have issues, will anyone be able to assist me in finding and overcoming them?
That said, it would be excellent to be a part of a growing community, and I would love to be. I honestly think that with the upcoming support for HTML5 & CSS3, MODx & Wayfinder can be leveled to create superior websites which I had only before dreamt for the remote possibility of being able to one day create. And as a designer, I have a whole new world of dynamic website development and content management possibilities opened up to me.
Just please keep everything secure. Getting hacked is absolutely a crushing blow. I’ll never get over it. Seriously. It has been 10 years since I trusted a non-custom CMS for a live site. But I do MODx, and I need it to work (or I will go down in flames with you).
I don’t really have any other options, as my php developer partner has died and I haven’t found anyone to replace him.
Anyways, this was supposed to be an intro...
Who am I?
I’m not just a designer, I’m actually an artist. And no, the two are not the same (only remotely so). But above all, I am a father.
My son is 9 and a black belt. He takes advanced classes in a school for the gifted and is a straight A student. He loves sports: baseball, football, basketball and many others. He loves hockey, but I can’t get him out on the ice.
I used to race bicycles and wasn’t ever beaten as a kid. Then I raced motorcycles short track, but my dreams of racing cars (Indy/F1/NASCAR/SCCA/ARCA) were dashed by the fact that my family was totally and completely against it. Racing is a family sport and you just can’t do it without them.
My son won’t even get on a minibike. When I was his age, that’s all I dreamt of. But that’s OK, because I was different from my dad, and unlike him, I will encourage my son to be who he wants to, and who he feels he should be.
My father was an attorney, but unlike all my friends he never gave me a thing. So I was the poor little rich boy. Even upon his death he made it a point to mention in his will that he left nothing to me (instead of just ignoring me all together).
Since my father was an ass, I try hard not to be to my son.
My dad wouldn’t put me through college, made too much money and yet refused to sign a document saying that I was on my own, I had to wait until I was 24 until any college in the country would accept me. So I started putting myself through college at 25.
I still haven’t graduated with mt BFA, I still have to complete one foreign language requirement. I hope to knock that one off soon, but I am always busy trying to accomplish something and find work or freelancing. Looking for work is, after all, a full time job. It gets tiresome at times.
I’m addicted to Coke... Coca Cola. I have quit smoking, I hardly drink (I don’t like to drink alone), but I have to keep the junk food (potato chips) and Coke so that I can stay seated at my desk. I miss smoking cigarettes all the time, constantly, but I can’t afford them and are unhealthy. But I am still addicted to smoking. Coca Coloa is my substitute, and the only way I can get by. I wish I wasn’t an addict.
I am married and have been for 10 years, but I think my wife hates me, now. Oh well. Life goes on.
I have made a great deal of websites that I thought were just plain flat-out cool. And yet they come down all the time.
I try very hard to use standards compliant, cross browser friendly code. However, without full CS3 support we are pretty much using hacks. Web design still has not yet come out of the dark ages. When we reach full CS3 support we will be finally enjoying an age of renaissance in web design, but not until, and even then only if the standards and support for them will continue advancing.
I have been designing websites for around 14 years now. Obviously I know the old school methods, but I try feverishly to find other solutions so that I can avoid them all together. But there are a few times when the benefits of old school design techniques outweigh every single benefit of using modern techniques. Just like any controversial subject, that debate will continue to rage until CS3 & HTML5 support is widespread (available in the last two major releases of IE).
Because I am a search engine oriented web designer, I will use the option which is best for the problem at hand. Luckily, the best solution is usually always a CSS one, but there are exceptions and CSS purists cannot seem to get over them. But as stated previously, until (at least) CS3 is supported everywhere, we are confined to one hack or another for most complex design solutions.
I am confident we are heading in the right direction with web standards. But some of the names and conventions we use as code irk me. I mean, "float"? How do you float anything on a 2D plane? What was wrong with align, which is what we are doing, aligning things? Why is padding:0 1 2 3; a clockwise declaration? When the page is built it starts with the top and left most corner. Then it needs to know the right side and bottom. But that’s not the way it is presented.
If you aren’t into code, you don’t think the above paragraph is funny. To me and those like me, it’s hilarious. I mean, when you have padding: 0 1 2; you have 0 padding on the top, 1 pixel padding on both sides, and 2 pixels of padding on the bottom. This makes sense and is perfectly sane. On top of that, it’s not even clockwise. But when you have FOUR defined measurements you are not just splitting up the sides into right and left, but you are taking the left side and wrenching it out from where it should be (must be painful) and plopping it at the end? What insanity! Who could be so frivolous, nonchalant and wreckless? What is this world coming to?
Maybe you have to be a little obsessive to get the joke? And yet, that’s not a joke! In a world where code should be logical and nothing makes more sense than HTML’s English heritage, there is no logic in the four measure padding! I need a padded room.
I am also a graphic designer and illustrator. I even try my hand at cartooning once in a while. Plus, I love animation.
Oh, and I really am a funny guy, trust me.
I am thrilled with MODx and Wayfinder, and how well they accommodate me and my designs.
I am hoping to make it to the modxpo, but not sure if I can make it, yet (everything is tight, as always).
MODX Staff
MODX Staff
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