Getting my head around the Way Finder

Hi everyone,

My first post on here actually, although I have been reading up on ModX for a few months now. I still can’t seem to understand how the navigation runs!

I have been following the suggestions on :http://wiki.modxcms.com/index.php/Beginner’s_Guide_to_MODx

However, I was completely blown away when I looked at the CSS file to find properties for a ’menu’ div, even though there is no ’menu’ div within the template file! So I began to read more about the Way Finder because I think its one of these things I need to understand how it works before trying to do it myself...

I came across this: http://wiki.modxcms.com/index.php/Breadcrumb_navigation_with_Wayfinder

The problem is, when I read this I am not sure whether I am understanding it correctly. From what I can see, it is telling me to put the first two lines of code into my template file, then create 4 chunks with the information given.

What threw me off this when reading it was the

<a href="[~[(site_start)]~]" title="[(site_name)]">Home</a> &raquo;

What exactly does this mean? Is this the link? Because if it is, will I have to go into this code everytime I want to add a link to my menu?

I think what I need is a basic explanation of how to insert a navigation menu into my Modx website that can update when a page is created. I know that I can achieve this by simply copy and pasting the code from the Wiki page, but its no good if I don’t understand the way it works.

Thank you guys

MODx documentation, while well-intended and fairly copious, can be slightly funky at times. If you like to learn by doing, as I do, here’s an idea. Just stick this somewhere in your template and see the result:

[[Wayfinder? &startId=`0`]]

Then start playing with adding parameters to your call from here, and see what they do:
http://www.muddydogpaws.com/development/wayfinder/parameters.html

Take a look at the code that’s generated, too. This way you don’t have to worry quite as much about CSS, special templating for menu sections, and all that fancy stuff.

I found this book to be really great if you’re serious about doing MODx. I don’t always like online docs, and this book covers a whole lot:
https://www.packtpub.com/modx-web-development/book

My 2 pence. Cheers, Dave

Thanks for the book recommendation, have just ordered the book as it looks extremely helpful.

I will try out your suggestion.

Thank you