Is MODx Evolution Dead ?

@Photowebmax
Evo is a perfectly good solution for you. Evo’s going to be maintained and is not going anywhere. We’re still spending real dollars and times maintaining and making tweaks to it. If you are building more complex or extensive sites that require custom development and integration, Revo would make more sense. Revo is different and sometimes change is hard to get over! The tide is just now starting to change towards add-on developer volume doing things for Revo, so the situation may look really different in a few months.

@GoustiFruit
The syntax and much of the API is similar between Evo and Revo. If you’re interacting with the database you do have the added learning curve of PDO, but soon that will mean you can run Revo on more databases than just MySQL. That opens up MODX to many more markets where Open Source software like MODX would typically never have a chance.

Once we get the new website launched, I’m going to start doing a series on mini-tricks you can do with Revo that make site building infinitely more flexible and productive, even for smaller sites. And that’s for me as a non-coding site builder.

Once you get over the understandable perception that the Manager is slower feeling, you realize that the net gains by being able to do things that honestly would be impossible in Evo without a ton of extensive coding. There’s a couple of things happening on that front though. First, the Manager gets faster with each release. 2.0 to 2.0.5 is a world of difference. Second, there will be a "dad simple" day to day Manager interface next year that will surpass even everyone’s beloved Evo Manager for speed and usability.

And again, I reiterrate, Evo ain’t goin’ n where.

[offtopic]
Quote from: GoustiFruit at Dec 11, 2010, 02:38 AM

WinXP does about everything as good as Win7, but is faster and easier

If you made this comment about Vista I would agree, but not about 7 - I really like 7. I think the improved taskbar alone is worth the whole upgrade!
[/offtopic]

Quote from: rthrash at Dec 11, 2010, 10:08 AM

there will be a "dad simple" day to day Manager interface next year that will surpass even everyone’s beloved Evo Manager for speed and usability

What part of next year??? (panting with eagerness)

This is one of those valuable threads. Its interesting to read different viewpoints and experiences.

It should be noted that for the viewing public this is a mute point: a good site should not announce what system it runs on. This is one of the issues I have with systems like Wordpress: so many WP sites look like WP sites. In the case of choosing between the two flavors of MODx we are mainly talking about the backend Manager here.

It would be nice to see some tutorials on Revo sites and how they manage real practical project needs like image galleries, images in document pages, implementing custom CSS, aggregation of articles, blogging, tagging, adding/pulling data for real estate sites, generating restaurant menus, shopping cart integration, etc, etc. I would also like to see tutorials or videos on stuff like "you used to go through klunky steps using Evo to get XYZ done, but how look how much easier it is with Revo!"

Show us doubtful Evo diehards why Revo is better! More importantly show us why it is easier, quicker to implement or more powerful? I think some Evo users have some concerns that giving up Evo means giving up some functionality and hard learned practices? I have had this conversation with other web guys. Which system is better for coders, developers and folks with real programming skills? Which system is better for designers, web standards CSS geeks, photographers and fans of custom layouts?

Like I said I have tried Revo while using MAMP and I found the whole thing to be a hill I was not sure I wanted to climb? Maybe having more insight and answers to my previous question will identify the issues for me? Right now I sort of feel like I have learned Latin (Evo) but am not sure if I want to learn Greek (Revo) as well? My hunch is that I am not the only one with these questions swirling around in the old brain cavity.

Thanks to all!

Quote from: Photowebmax at Dec 11, 2010, 07:13 PM

It would be nice to see some tutorials on Revo sites ... learn Greek (Revo) as well? My hunch is that I am not the only one with these questions swirling around in the old brain cavity.

I completely agree with you! Although I also understand that the developers are working very hard on it, we need time and patience, I am pretty sure that in the near future we’ll see usability and speed improvements, documentation and tutorials !

Quote from: Photowebmax at Dec 11, 2010, 07:13 PM

It would be nice to see some tutorials on Revo sites and how they manage real practical project needs like image galleries, images in document pages, implementing custom CSS, aggregation of articles, blogging, tagging, adding/pulling data for real estate sites, generating restaurant menus, shopping cart integration, etc, etc.

I believe there’s a lot of documentation already. You should really check those lovely snippets descriptions Evolution is good CMS leaning towards CMF; While Revo is CMF with almost all typical functionality (through snippets) you ever need. It seems more logical to use Evo on smaller sites, and Revo on bigger ones but Revo’s UI is so good (except it slower) that i say "Goodbye, Evolution. We had some really nice times together but it’s time to move on"

in other words:

Which system is better for coders, developers and folks with real programming skills?

Revolution

Which system is better for designers, web standards CSS geeks, photographers and fans of custom layouts?

Revolution

Quote from: GoustiFruit at Dec 11, 2010, 02:38 AM

as mush as Windows XP against Windows 7: WinXP does about everything as good as Win7, but is faster and easier; yet everybody is slowly migrating to Win7 because that’s the OS that gets full updates and attentions)

That comparison is far-fetched though. Developments on WinXP have ceased, while Evo is still being developed on. That applies to the core as well as to add-ons for it. In fact some new, extensive add-ons for Evo are still to be released.

Revo and Evo are two products on the same level for two different target purposes. Whereas Win7 is even the second successor of WinXP.

I say long live Evolution (er... at least "a while live"). I personally have done a couple sites on Revo and I’ve found mainly 2 items that keep me coming back to Evo:

1) Evolution’s interface is much faster for development (at least at this point)
2) Form Customization is still maturing in Revo and I feel like I can do all I want with ManagerManager

I think at this point it maybe depends on whether you need a super robust CMF (and CMS) first and foremost, or an easy-to-use and integrate custom design CMS (and CMF) first and foremost. The ever helpful sotwell said something to this effect in a post somewhere on these forums and it really clicked for me.

Bottom line for me: As a designer before developer I’m continuing to choose Evolution. I’m confident though in time I will be happy to switch to Revolution. It’s still coming of age a bit in certain areas that are important to me it seems and I *think* as it develops the deeper customization (forms and otherwise) will be easier for creatives like myself to pick up on.

I think it’s too early to complain too much about Revo and at the same time, it’s also too early to feel like Evolution is dead. I think it’s alive and well and awesome in its current state. Lets not forget, Revo aside, just how powerful Evolution really is.

At this point, can’t we just love both the old and wise big brother as well as the new hot shot kid on the block?

Would love to hear others’ thoughts on these sentiments.

:)

Interesting. Mine is another perspective, for what it is worth.

I have never used Evo. I came upon MODx a couple of weeks ago. I started out with Revolution and intend sticking with it — I like its philosophy, I like its security model, I like...

What is a pity, is that I come across nice looking Extras and then find they are only for Evolution. An example is the simple UploadFile extra. I ended up writing my own for Revolution (but it’s simpler than the Evo one as I not only didn’t need the ability to create directories, I didn’t want users mucking up the directory structure!). I’m sure this issue will simply go away in a few months (well, I hope it does).

One of the things that bothers me in the Revo documentation is that there are constant references to how things are done in Evolution — they simply muddy the waters. However, with a large Evolution user-base who will probably start using Revolution at some point in time, I understand why they are there.

Thanks for your perspective. It’s cool to hear opinions from those who have been with Revo since the start. Depending upon project needs (that maybe call for all the cool extras you speak of in the repository, I would encourage you to consider using Evolution. As far as "templating" goes the principles are the exact same with chunks, templates and tvs. It’s really only the syntax that changed on that front—someone correct me if I’m wrong! I say both are great, one is much newer in terms of a PL and it’s a transition for some that will take some time—particularly designer types like myself I suspect.

As far as power overall goes, lets not forget what even MODx pre-Evolution (0.9.6) was capable of: http://www.takemefishing.org/. HOLY CARP!

Both versions are amazing for designers and developers alike. Revolution is more of a bonafide CMF from my understanding.