How soon before Joomla-level Repository?

One of the reasons Joomla is so attractive to users is the large repository of plug-ins/modules. For those who have been using MODx for a while, how soon will it be before MODx’s repository is similarly large? Will it take a year?

I’m evaluating different CMSs. My company has been using Joomla, but the output isn’t xhtml compliant. It’s missing Access Control Lists (ACL) and multi-site capability. However the templates are easy for a designer to customize, and the the list of module options is incredible.

Our next option is TYPO3. ACL and multi-site come built in, and the modules are plentiful. Templates are proving to be impossible to build.

MODx seems to have a similar architecture to TYPO3. It’s easy to manage. Templates look easy, but there aren’t enough modules. I have a list that I need, but they aren’t available yet.

Which leads me back to my original question. How soon will it be before MODx has more plug-ins/modules? What’s the typical development cycle?

Is sheer number of modules really a deciding factor?
What functionality are you looking for exactly?
Chances are it probably already exists in MODx!
Quote from: melriks at Dec 27, 2006, 07:28 PM

My company has been using Joomla, but the output isn’t xhtml compliant. It’s missing Access Control Lists (ACL) and multi-site capability. However the templates are easy for a designer to customize...

Is that quote about Joomla! templates being easy to customize a typo?

Quote from: melriks at Dec 27, 2006, 07:28 PM

Which leads me back to my original question. How soon will it be before MODx has more plug-ins/modules? What’s the typical development cycle?

The development cycle is focused on the MODx Core.
add ons come around as they are requested or as they are contributed by the vast number of generous and talented MODx users.

-sD-
Dr. Scotty Delicious, Scientist.

Thanks for the quick answer. I’ve searched through repository modules (it’s a nice collection; hopefully I didn’t miss one). Some key ones I’m looking for are (strong calendar/events module, seminar managment, shopping cart, file repository/document managment). Others like the banner rotator changes images, but I need something a little more sophisticated.

Yeah, module quantity is important. Good core functionality is key, but modules open up the CMS to a non-techie user base.

I didn’t find changing the Joomla template to be a problem. I had three subsections to my hobby site, and they all looked different (based on different templates).

From my few posts, I’m getting the sense that MODx is still too early in it’s development to meet my needs. I’ll keep eye on it throughout 2007 to see how the development goes. What I’m seeing now is really amazing.

MODx is not YAPS (Yet Another Portal System) where you’ve got loads of pre-baked goodies. It’s a framework intended for developers to be able to build exactly what they need without a lot of compromises over the output and interaction. Given that, more an more components will surface over time (and many many more have already that I’d ever imagined), but I doubt we’ll ever strive to have a block/module/zone/whatever to suit every whim or wishlist. Based on your short list of items above though, I’d suspect that MODx would actually be a good fit save for the seminar management.

Combining Snippets can give a huge hand in reaching objectives.

If you’re a programmer, you can create what you need.
If you’re creative, you’ve plenty of things to combine and a wide results range.

"How soon before Joomla-level Repository?" - guess I kind of misunderstood the topic.
I really hope the modx repository will remain well maintained. (unlike the joomla/osc/etc extension pools)

Quote from: melriks at Dec 27, 2006, 08:49 PM

Some key ones I’m looking for are (strong calendar/events module, seminar managment, shopping cart, file repository/document managment). Others like the banner rotator changes images, but I need something a little more sophisticated.

I think a lot of these are already available.

Calendar - I believe Kalendar will work pretty well for this.
http://modxcms.com/resource-listing.html&tags=kalender

Seminar Management - What do you need for this? Something like event registration? Or is it more like a Seminar information? For registration, you can use eForm and eForm2db to create a form that has its results saved to a database (I am working on making PPP work for this as well).
eForm2db - http://modxcms.com/forums/index.php/topic,8111.0.html

If you just need to list info, you can use Ditto to list all of the information for each event.

Shopping cart
I have just used Cubecart (its MUCH better than virtuemart in my opinion).
or you can use ShopX

File Repository
There are a few files here: http://modxcms.com/resource-listing.html&tags=file%20management
One is http://modxcms.com/FileDownload-502.html

You can link this with http://modxcms.com/FileUpload-804.html to allow users to upload files as well.

Banner Rotator - you could use a Snippet or eval template variable to do this. You just would get a random image from a directory.

--
The key is remembering, instead of Mambo’s prebuilt packages, MODx gives you tools to pull everything together. Instead of a component that has user levels in it (like DocManager), you can use Kyle’s FileDownload in a page and set the user level there.

Whereas in Mambo you have to learn how to make modules and components to do new functions, in MODx you just need to create a simple php file. Save it as a snippet and put that snippet in any page you would like.

Chuck

Is that quote about Joomla! templates being easy to customize a typo?

hehe. Classic.

This thread just reminded me why I haven’t been able to use MODx for my projects:
1. Multi-language
2. Versioning/workflow

Those are features which could hardly be build "on top", like a module or component, but must be part of the core system.

all the best for 07!

Thanks everyone for the great ideas and solutions.