Is MODx for us?

The question is simple: I only know HTML and CSS - no Javascript or PHP. Will I be able to deal with MODx, including setting up extra functions that are not included in the normal installation, snippets/plugins/forms...

So far I have been using phpwcms, and there this knowledge is enough. Forms for example are bulit in the backend easily with drop-down menus... Everything seems to be reasonable accessable, even for people who deal with it only in the afternoon after work sometimes (that’s me.)

Otherwise I also would be looking for something that is straight forward for editors to get into and understand, especially as some people who would be updating sections of the site are secretaries or volunteers who’d be updating something only once a fortnight or once a month. I’d like to hear you view on that. Is MODx good to use in this situation?

Php’s not hard to learn, but it’s also not essential to know php to use modx - you will need to know how to set up a mysql database, my sites got some pretty pictures on that topic.

MODx isn’t an entry level CMF - but it is one of the best. I’ve got a very installation taking over a thousand uniques a day and modX handles it like a breeze.

Multi user access for performing updates is all perfectly doo’able with modX, but if your coming in from ground zero there’s a learning curve so you’ll need to have the time available to read through the sites tutorials and threads.

The forums are a good place for support - so long as your not asking questions that have already been covered, searching through past topic’s gets easier with time.

You can definitely use MODx without knowing php, and you can even do stuff you wouldn’t be able to do with other CMS, without knowing php. MODx is great for those who master XHTML and CSS, because of its templating flexibility and true separation between content and presentation...

About its being easy to low skilled contributor, I have several corporate websites content updated by low-skilled people with no issue at all : in fact, with proper doc, I didn’t need to do any training ! QuickEdit is a real plus for them

hi !
me too, i don’t know everything about php nor javascript ( i’m planning to learn php/sql for months ), and i use Modx, the only limitation you will face is that you will not be able to create/customize the snippets, but there are already plenty of snippet ready-to-use moreover this wonderful community will help you to customize the snippet whenever you need it

I would say that you can use MODx without knowing PHP, but I think that you are likely to learn some basics of PHP whilst extending it. So ideally you’ll be willing to learn. But you only need to learn PHP if you want to do something different from what is available, so this is sufficient motivation.

I second what Paul said. I’ve set up a site without even looking at JS/PHP. (The sometimes large parameter-lists of snippets are by far enough to learn for a newbie - but they don’t require PHP-knowledge as such.)
But what is more: MODx gave me new motivation to look back at my days of being a coder and to learn some PHP again. I guess: Even if you never have written code before, MODx will be a good way to come into that thing. And the best about programming as well as of MODx is: There are no secrets, everything can be discovered, tested and used. And different from learing PHP from books, you’ll have a supporting community here!

Just out of curiosity, spirelli: What are you missing in PHPwcms? Functionality, stability, GUI, or something else?