Is MODx Evolution Dead ?

This question has been running through my mind for the last couple of months, well at least since Revolution was officially released to the public.

Since the release of Revo there have been loads of updates and the forum is starting to be (in my opinion) overrun with Revo this, Revo that.

Even the MODx homepage only realistically promotes Revo, with "The Revolution Starts Now" and the download page has one link to Evolution, the rest (8 in total) are for, yes you guessed it, Revo.

This may sound like a rant, but for those like me who have pretty much been using MODx since the start, now have to probably convert all sites in the near future to a system that isn’t (IMO) day to day user friendly.

This is obviously my opinion and others may say that their clients and friends have no problems using the new system but I have carried out some testing with clients and they say they would like to stay with Evo because of the ease of use.

So, back to Evolution:

Is it going to be updated at some time - for any reason at all ?

Are security patches still being made ?

There is a lot of talk about the iFrame hack and files that may contribute to the problem, including phpThumb, AjaxSearch, TinyMice etc..

Have these files been updated in the core release ?

Just for Thought:

Definition of Evolution: A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form

Definition of Revolution: A sudden or momentous change in a situation or the overthrow of one and its replacement with another

Conclusion:

My opinion stands, I am not a great follower of Revo for various reasons - If you are a savvy phper, then Revo is ideal, but for a normal user without programming experience, its a nightmare.

Was there never the thought of upgrading Evolution to a standard whereby some of the functions from Revo could have been introduced or simply improving on what is already there, like the cache system or the so-called page limit of 5000.

I personally hope that Evo will continue for a very long time.

I hope that all readers of this post will open their thoughts for others to see and take note of. Especially the Evolution supporters

Note: This is not an official statement, just my own observation.

For MODx Evolution there will be security updates for many years to come but as I understand core development is very slow or at least very community driven. Also many "hard-core" community developers will develop new extras only for Revolution in the future.

Still, Evolution is great as it is. Especially for smaller sites Evolution is a great choice now and in the future.

Revolution on the other hand is the future. It’s already very good and will get even better when it’s rough edges will be polished. Revolution may be right now even a bit ahead of it’s time (slow on older browsers, demanding server requirements etc.) but let’s say in a year things will probably smooth down a lot (IE9 and other new and fast browsers, hosting services will upgrade their systems etc.).

Evo is definitely not dead. Tbh I didn’t get to try Revo yet, but even if I do, I am not intending to upgrade any of my Evo sites. Well why would I while Evo works great for them?

For new sites I’d have to reconsider whether Evo or Revo is the better choice. My guess is for multi-domain and large enterprise sites Revo is definitely the better choice, while for sites that need to be finished quickly Evo is supposed to be definitely the better choice atm (for instance because of the existing add-ons etc.). Evo would probably also win the speed test and therefore be more suitable for projects that have their priorities on that part.
That is according to performance issues in Revo reported by several users (which I can’t confirm, since I haven’t tried it yet).

Either way, Evo is not likely to die in the coming years. There are too many sites that work fluently using Evo and most know: Never change a well working system.

So far my 2 cents on that matter.

I am not intending to upgrade any of my Evo sites. Well why would I while Evo works great for them?

For new sites I’d have to reconsider whether Evo or Revo is the better choice. My guess is for multi-domain and large enterprise sites Revo is definitely the better choice, while for sites that need to be finished quickly Evo is supposed to be definitely the better choice atm (for instance because of the existing add-ons etc.). Evo would probably also win the speed test and therefore be more suitable for projects that have their priorities on that part.

+1. Evo just fits a certain part of the CMS World perfectly, even with revolution being the future, i hope Evo gets picked up.

I believe it when they say support for Evolution will continue for years to come.

Is it going to be updated at some time - for any reason at all ?

Yes, 1.0.5 is under way, according to the news section of the bugtracker.

Evo suits the kind of small site I work on very well, and suits me personally, as a solid framework with all the functionality to get something going quickly, and a transparent structure that lets me customize through templates and scripting at a level that matches nicely my skills in PHP, HTML and CSS. Even to file the occasional bug when I find something doesn’t work as advertised!

I think security is something to be concerned about, but not to panic about at every alarm. I’m saddo enough to look at raw server logs now and then, and I can see that there are scum out there targeting MODx installations (e.g. still probing for reflect.php, and lately looking for MODx tags in blogs). In fact looked in on the forum today to see if there is a place to share information and practical techniques for proactive defence against the hackers and comment spammers.

I’ve had a couple of quick looks at Revolution, and I’m sure I’ll have a crack at building something with it before too long. That’s the only way to really find out what’s what. But I find all this talk of ExtJS and so on a bit offputting, when I still haven’t got around to exploring jQuery; likewise advanced custom PHP database operations when I’m still dabbling with the basics of classes.

Overall, I’m sure there are enough people who want to continue using Evo, and enough who want to continue contributing to its refinement and security, for it to make sense to build new projects with it.
KP

Besides, I haven’t finished my ebook yet... http://sottwell.com/modx-from-the-inside.html

Hi,
Thanks for your thoughtful question. I’ve wondered that myself. Any major change creates friction and unease. We’re seeing all the normal group dynamics that one expects in that situation.

In a nutshell, I think Evo is wonderful and will remain for a very long time. The team is great on bugfixes and improvements, and the community helps with that, too.

However, I’m already seeing a lot less Evo plugin and snippet work. Basically very little new stuff, and some items don’t get fixed anymore when they break. For those who stick strictly with Evo, they will get more and more upset with this as time goes on. Mark my words! Actually I’m already seeing it. So ironically, at some point it may take very good PHP skills and self-reliance if you want to fix, improve, or write an Evo app. But for a site that doesn’t change much, or is not too unusual, Evo may be just fine.

I am no advanced PHP coder at all (although I’ve recently started to do some again), but after fiddling just a little while with Revo, I’m getting on fine. You might, too. My first big test for any system is to build a template, as I enjoy that more than programming. I have posted here about how the interface is more barren and geekie to many, and how I’ve had trouble "selling" it to savvy Evo users. I’m not a bleeding-edge person at all, I kick back and let the early adopters get the arrows in their back and fix the bugs before I get there. But the improvements in Revo are impressive enough that the tipping point has already occurred for me.

I’ve been around long enough that I’ve used a bunch of systems. Sometimes a major change like this will tear a community asunder, and you get forks (totally separate systems). It can get very nasty. But I am optimistic that the MODx community is strong enough, and more importantly, civil enough, that it will not fork into separate camps. But communities always have different types of people. For instance, those who will resist any change other than tiny increments vs. those who want the latest cool stuff ASAP. And I’m sometimes in the group that whines because "why isn’t everyone donating all their free time to writing me some free apps just for me?", which is a large contingent in any open-source system. I try to counteract that by answering forum questions as much as I’m able, to give something back.

Cheers, Dave

Actually there’s still some pretty awesome stuff being done for Evo, it’s just not readily available to the mainstream... http://www.kunane.com/modx/multi-image-tv.html#jfd9ffa3e2

EVO is an ipod touch
REVO is an iphone.

I love my ipod touch!

Quote from: iusemodx at Nov 11, 2010, 02:22 AM

This is obviously my opinion and others may say that their clients and friends have no problems using the new system but I have carried out some testing with clients and they say they would like to stay with Evo because of the ease of use.

Thanks for taking the time to share your opinions. I wonder if you could be more specific about what the clients don’t like about using Revolution. From my perspective, it seems that the Manager actions for clients are mostly the same in Revo as they were in Evo but with some added convenience. The perceived speed of the manager is a little slower in Revo, but otherwise I’m wondering what’s not to like, though I haven’t tested it with any clients.