Learned PHP by using Drupal... Will Modx be over my head?

I began learning PHP using Drupal so it’s safe to say I’ve been Drupalized when it comes to PHP. For those who used Drupal before that means I know mostly Drupal functions (Hooks).

So my question is simple. How much of a learning curve will I have if I wanted to switch to Modx and my own modules... Even though I know Revolution doesn’t have modules. I understand that Modx is more lightweight which is the main reason I’m thinking about switching. But I must say when I looked at the API it was confusing.

Well, it will take some times.
MODx as an api but ultimately it’s just PHP, it’s does not enforce you to use the API.

The biggest problem will not be the php skills i think, but to get out of the Drupal thinking model.
You should start with the simple example provided in the official documentation:

http://rtfm.modx.com/display/revolution20/Creating+a+Blog+in+MODx+Revolution

It’s a specific example for blogging purpose, but it will give you some base to understand how MODx can work.

I know very little about Drupal.

A little more about MODx Revolution.

Most of the AddOns for Revolution have hooks that can be used by your snippets some pre and post.

MODx allows you to do as little or as much as you desire. Good PHP skills will set you on your way.

Maybe someone with more knowledge of Drupal can answer better.

Welcome to MODx hope you enjoy your stay.

I’m asking myself the same question.
It was very easy for me to learn Drupal API because
- it’s pretty well documented.
- There is a very great book to learn it step by step http://drupal.org/node/137201

I really don’t know how to use modx API for know, but i would say that
- modx is coded with POO : this far much interesting for a CMS because you can override methods, extends class etc...
- it’s harder to get how things are working if you had never used designs patterns with POO. Even if drupal is somehow "MVC" (database abstration and functions are the model part, hook_menu is the controller part, theme functions are the view part), it is far much easy to understand. You create a page with a hook menu, then write functions tp retrieve datas, then output result with a theme function. No big deal...
- Drupal has a lot of hooks because it doesn’t let to what you want most of the time. Instead, he is doing things you have to destroy( with hooks like form_alter and such) before you can rebuild something clean. So, if you know what you want, you have to implements a lot of hooks ! With modx, most of the time, you just to WHAT YOU WANT, modx doesnt add a lot of stuff you don’t need.
So the moment where you need to write php is later thant with Drupal

Thanks for the replies,

So correct me if I’m wrong but say I have a script. Maybe a simple form script that does a validation check. Say this form only allows you to use numbers. If I wanted to use this on Drupal I’d have to pretty much start over and do things the Drupal way. So with Modx can I continue doing things "my way" without have to start from scratch?

Another thing is I find that Drupal is a small medium site platform. If I have a site with say 500,000 nodes/pages the core search isn’t an option because I’m simply told that it isn’t meant for that. Is the new Modx meant for large scale sites? I’m not talking Facebook large but say 5 million page views. 1 million users... I know this is a very general example, sorry.

@nyl auster You’re right about all the hook and such. Drupal tries to do a bit of everything and I often find most of the time I spend coding is to override most of the core. (Why have is when you don’t need it.)

Like many people who use the same CMS over and over. I am reluctant to switch unless the rewards are very high. So still wouldn’t mind any Drupal developers or long time Drupal themers to add their 2 cents.

Quote from: walker2238 at Sep 28, 2010, 05:54 PM

So correct me if I’m wrong but say I have a script. Maybe a simple form script that does a validation check. Say this form only allows you to use numbers. If I wanted to use this on Drupal I’d have to pretty much start over and do things the Drupal way. So with Modx can I continue doing things "my way" without have to start from scratch?

MODx is likely about as close as possible to doing it your way as you’ll get with any platform.

Another thing is I find that Drupal is a small medium site platform. If I have a site with say 500,000 nodes/pages the core search isn’t an option because I’m simply told that it isn’t meant for that. Is the new Modx meant for large scale sites? I’m not talking Facebook large but say 5 million page views. 1 million users... I know this is a very general example, sorry.

500,000 pages is a big site in my book. 5-million page views a month can be handled assuming you’re on decent hardware, and probably on a single-box server if you optimize it properly. With 1-milllion registered users, you’re most likely going to want to create your own user management system, but I suspect the default user data structure itself may hold up; I’ll have to let Shaun or Jason chime in on that bit.

... So still wouldn’t mind any Drupal developers or long time Drupal themers to add their 2 cents.

Theming is where MODx absolutely shines over just about any other Open Source project. If you can create an HTML/CSS/JS static mockup of how you want your site to look and behave, you’re 90% to having a "theme" for MODx. You don’t have to worry about blocks-this, nodes-that or modules or content zones or anything else for that matter. With MODx, you apply the tool to your site, not compromise your creative vision to fit (or fight) the tool. You can create a theme that outputs XML to drive a Flash or Silverlight or Flex application, old-school table-tag soup or HTML 7/CCS 5 (if they existed). You can even have a dynamically generated CSS file with logic built in to do programatic styling (not saying it’s a good idea for all sites, but you can do it). With MODx you further don’t have to undo anything the core outputs, just create your own template chunks and you’re off and you don’t even have to worry about upgrades because it will just work.

The best thing about moving to MODx for someone like you is the fact that you almost *never* have to mess with the core code to do what you want. It’s been so long since I looked at Drupal that I can’t remember if it will let you intersperse PHP and HTML. If so, you’ll have to move your PHP code into snippets, because MODx won’t let you do that. Beyond that, any PHP code that will work anywhere will work in MODx.

Your biggest translation job will be converting code that interacts directly with the Drupal API to have it interact with the MODx API. The MODx API is very straightforward and a delight to work with if you are familiar with object-oriented programming in PHP.

With a site that size, you’ll definitely want to use MODx Revolution.

Welcome to MODx.

Thanks guy that helps a lot. I don’t plan on converting any existing Drupal site I have over to Modx.

As far as the general scale of a site, those were just numbers at random.

Well guys I think I’m sold on testing it out. After reading a bit here in the forums and also the doc pages I learned that the most confusing thing is the terms being used like tv and such. And I’m glad to know that I don’t need to learn about thousands of hook functions.

Anyways thank you all for taking the time to help answer my questions, I appreciate your efforts.