MODx and "CCK" Concept?

That is pretty much exactly how I’m using it each entry is a new page that is then pulled into another page using getResources and I have a chunk for the boxed layout of each entry.

This works on the back end each time you make a new page for a particular section, if you want it to work on the front end there will have to be some extra coding but I’m sure it can be achieved.

Hello Everyone Again,
Thanks again to all replies here! I’ve spent a lot of time reading about MODx, and I like the open way of creating sites with it.

I’m extremely impressed with MODx. From a pure design perspective, it’s won me over! And I love a lot of the extensions. The final big question for me is how to create individual pages from user-submitted information, how to manage the placement of those pages in the site, and how to allow people to edit/change their submissions.

It seems that NewsPublisher provides the solutions I’m looking for. But I’m still figuring it out.

By way of background, in the Joomla world I’ve used something called "Seblod," which is incredibly powerful. The problem is, it’s forced to work inside the Joomla templating structure, which can be very confining. I mention Seblod only so that anyone who has used it will know that’s the kind of feature set I’m looking for. My hope is to have these features within the terrific structure of MODx.

Hope all this makes sense. I welcome comments, pointers, corrections, criticism from anyone who wants to jump in!

Thank you again,
Matthew

If you are going to use Template Variables then I highly recommend checking out the migx extension, which allows you to make arrays and groups of variables. We use it for galleries and specific content in sites.

Using categories, in the template variables tab, each category is a sub tab, so for example, on a home page we have a promotional slide show so the group of variables is in the Slide Show tab, we then have a Features category which becomes a tab to click on to administer the features boxes on a home page (another promotional thing), and we have a Calls to Action category which becomes a tab to administer the calls to action variable group.

The advantage of an array is you define a TV once, such as slideshowimage and with migx, you can use that variable multiple times. It’s automatically indexed and you can drag and drop to change the order of each array group.

rx2,
Thanks for the pointer! Looks good.

Here’s my progress so far: I really like the way MODx allows me to manage site designs and templates. But I’m still unclear about how to create front-end forms that collect information and dynamically create pages. The thing is, I don’t want to pull information into an existing page. It needs to create a new page from scratch when the form is submitted. I then need to keep track of who submitted it so it can be edited from the same form.

Thanks,
Matthew

Quote from: MatthewSchenker at Jul 11, 2011, 06:26 AM

rx2,
Thanks for the pointer! Looks good.

Here’s my progress so far: I really like the way MODx allows me to manage site designs and templates. But I’m still unclear about how to create front-end forms that collect information and dynamically create pages. The thing is, I don’t want to pull information into an existing page. It needs to create a new page from scratch when the form is submitted. I then need to keep track of who submitted it so it can be edited from the same form.

Thanks,
Matthew

Newspublisher for Revolution does this, though I haven’t quite had the time to try the new document feature. The tutorial is here:

http://bobsguides.com/newspublisher-tutorial.html

rx2,
Yes, indeed, NewsPublisher looks terrific. I’m actually experimenting with it right now, and it definitely handles this. I’ve been able to get it to create articles from forms. And I’m just now getting into customizing the forms and which fields get presented for article creation. Very nice so far!

I feel very hopeful and can almost taste the way my new site will look in MODx.

The one problem I’m running into is setting things up to allow editing of an existing resource (page). Bob’s instructions say to add "allow_modx_tags" to the Context Access policy for users in the front end to make this happen. I can’t figure that one out. At the moment, I’m kind of drowning in the whole access control area of the MODx control panel!

Thanks,
Matthew

allow_modx_tags is only necessary if the page they will edit (not the template) contains MODX tags.

If you need that, add the allow_modx_tags permission to the Policy Template used by the policy that’s used for the logged-in users in the front end. Then check that permission in the policy. Hope that makes sense.

BobRay,
Thank you for helping. It really says something that you are coming in here to answer my beginner-level questions about NewsPublisher.

I did include tags in the actual page. But now that I think about it, maybe I should handle all the tags in the template?

Let me take another look at permissions policies. It’s the one part of MODx that really does not make sense to me.

Thanks again, and keep up the great work on your extensions!

Matthew

If you can move the tags to the template, it will make the site easier to maintain, though it’s not always practical.

You’ll definitely want to have the users log in before allowing them to do any editing in the front end, though, so you’ll have to learn about permissions.

These may help:


http://bobsguides.com/revolution-permissions.html

http://bobsguides.com/revo-security-tutorials.html

BobRay,
Thanks again. As someone who is getting a grip on MODx, it is so great to have a strong and active community.

Yes, users will need to edit their entires, so I’ll have to learn about permissions. I’m used to Joomla’s permission system, which is not any easier, and certainly not as detailed. But it’s what I’m used to!

I’m sure I’ll get it soon.

Thanks,
Matthew