Searching for a simple explanation of the interaction btwn params and Wayfinder

Hey everyone,

Just started using ModX and I love it. I have a pretty good understanding of HTML and CSS but I still am puzzled when it comes to using Wayfinder and its parameters/chunks. I’ve checked the Wiki, Muddypaws and the examples, but I am still confused at certain points. I understand the basic call in the template, and I understand that it’s parsing the Doc ID’s to generate the menu, and I also get the GENERAL parameters. But when it comes to the Template Parameters, I fall apart!

As I understand it, the Chunks that I will create, if I so choose, will determine the output, but I am confused about the relationship between all the chunks. Isn’t there a simpler way just to define the CSS for nav. menus like I normally would without ModX? I get confused with all the inner/outer tpL stuff. Any simple explanations for what this stuff really does??

Thanks for your help everyone

Well, imho it’s best to just sit down and try it out yourself. I have to say, the Wayfinder documentation is really nicely done, and there’s no shortage of examples.

Isn’t there a simpler way just to define the CSS for nav. menus like I normally would without ModX?

I’d just copy one of the examples into your own modx installation, and add your own comments into the template chunks. That’s maybe the easiest way to see which element does what.
http://www.muddydogpaws.com/development/wayfinder/examples.html

Wayfinder by default works by creating an unordered lists <ul> that represents the document tree structure. By using the different tpl options with wayfinder you can have full control of the output.

The tpls represent the breakdown of the different html parts of the list structure. You do not need to set them all, only the ones that you want to change. I find that in many cases the default works fine with the standard list based css navigation.

The examples in the parameters page of MuddyDogPaws illustrates the possibilities well.
http://www.muddydogpaws.com/development/wayfinder/parameters.html

Thanks for the replies. I realized that the old Menu CSS that I set up pre-ModX/Wayfinder was immediately picked up by the snippet and it’s working fine now (without the granular templating via the parameters). But I will definitely take a look at the links you guys posted.