What did you use before MODx?

*nukes - nuked for security reasons
custom cms - ditto
joomla/mambo - binned for content-layout mishmash

I really thought I’d ’been there/done that’ cms-wise untill I found out about modx just a few days ago.
I got fed up and searched opensourcecms for another cms/framework for an almost finished joomla site and almost immediately fell for modx. I dare to say I’m not easily impressed but gosh - now I am!
I really love the simplicity and modularity. No bells, no whistles, just clean code, content and templates.
Power through simplicity - excellent system!

I have used joomla and tested many other CMS aroud. I found MODx while i was making my graduation work witch includes evaluation of different CMS´s. I think that MODx is flexible and lot lighter than those huge and heavy joomla like´s. That is the reason that I´m changing to MODx.

Overwhelmed with technology and optionitis and a creeping loss of motivation.Please help?

I began to build a site in Dreamweaver .... It was suggested to re-launch with a CMS builder and I was shown ’Joomla’.by a friend who helped by putting the existing site on-line and showed me ’some of the the ropes’ to continue. Recently he sent an email recommending I switch streams to ’drupal’. Now I’m stuck and I find Joomla exasperating! Drupal looks too tricky too right now!! What to do? Need a more user friendly, designer inclusive package.

Now it’s ModX time but now I’m hot and fried!

I am working on a venture that will hopefully help inspire more joy! Sounds corny but true.
Through a singers site and singing in community, Australia wide I want to help romote songs, singing and singers and at the same time bring more focus and funds to helping a social cause.

With online singer profiles and multi-media development, CD sales, live community concerts & online shows, donations, etc etc, I want to raise awareness and money for the national depression initiative, beyondblue.com. by working a creative productive web space myself !I want to be as self sufficient as possible.

BUT.....I was wondering if there could be someone who might like to assist me?
At least get me started up again.... and then over the initial learning hump so I can get the site actual and functional? Please can anyone help me in some way?

I’m here on ModX daily as I learn it ......... or please contact [email protected]

Sincerely

J

Until now I have been using Joomla for my first 3 websites. And although I have to say that Joomla can actually be a real pain, it also was very easy to set up and give it a decent look - even for an absolute beginner like me.
But as I have now begun to develop a more "serious" production site I started to miss a lot of things in Joomla. Most importantly, I am missing the flexibility of placing content wherever and in whatever look I want.
But after reading some of the documentation provided here I will definitely give it a try. Just hope it won’t be too demanding for a newbie and that some of these chunks and snippets will really boost my site.

For years it was dynamic hand done html pages mixed with a plethora of other apps (with 100000 logins to remember) until we found cmsmadesimple , which works nice, but not like modx.

I used a lot of stuff, and I just wrote about it in http://modxcms.com/forums/index.php/topic,16101.0.html’" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">another post.

CMSs I’ve used to build websites

* WordPress
* Nucleus
* Joomla (and Mambo)
* Xaraya
* PHPWebSite
* ZOPE (AHHHHH!)

CMSs I’ve installed and deemed worthless

* Drupal
* Xoops
* PHP-Nuke
* Exponent
* b2evolution
* eZ Publish
* Typo3

Everything on that list sucks except WordPress

You meant http://modxcms.com/forums/index.php/topic,16101.0.html

Great feedback ! I love that post (and will react to it).
You have a comprehensive background and that makes it a very nice testimony, thanks for it !

I tried Joomla for awhile but its very unfriendly to modify.
Site templates are a pain to work with if you don’t go for the standard (boring) off the shelf ones.
Its general use was okay but seems a little flakey in various areas. Graphics don’t show up, slow loading at times, crashes, etc I think its suffered since the version 1.5
The worst part for me was the hopeless "SMARTY" template system that I found too awkward to utilise fully unless your a PHP buff.
Secondly they boast of excess of a million entries on their support forum but I found I could not get any real help for basic issues. Community support seems lacking!
Modx has some issues, but in general I find its far easier to incorporate AND it a lot easier to set up a site the way you want it. I don’t like the standard 3 column square fixed boring layout that is so standard for most CMS’s - At least I can draw up a site in Dreamweaver and use the html generated in ModX Even though the snippets and chunks are a little obscure at this stage!

I also tried Drupal, -Not recommended for the newcomer
And Tiki Wiki - Bloated to the hilt, slow, but by far the easiest to layout general content structures and data.(joys of a WIKI!) - Very limited template design - (thanks to Smarty)

Smarty is not such a bad template engine, but either you click with it or you don’t, I know I much prefer native tag based system as in MODx, Textpattern or CMS Made Simple... Let’s be fair, it’s still one of the most efficient template system.

This being said, I feel your pain with Joomla, we’ve all been there with "all in one block powered" systems

Designers love MODx because indeed you’re not locked into a design pattern (and for that matter, data structure is not either, thanks to TVs...).

As for Drupal, it’s a very good CMS but I never really clicked with it’s template system and somewhat "nerdy" logic...
If you like TikiWiki you’ll like Bitweaver better IMHO...

Anyway, thanks for the feedback !

After almost a year of evaluation and more than a dozen of installations from mambo/joomla, Typo3, PHPWCMS, Etomite Drupal and a lot of others, I found MODx and got stuck with it.

I just felt in love with MODx.

The more Projects I do with it, the deeper this addiction goes. But it has also to due with the community and the developers in this forum. In other forums one gets real quick the feeling to be stupid and a lot of arrogance can be found, not here. Guys and Girls, to all of you a GREAT THANKS. I believe that MODx and its community makes the web a better place.