Newbie: best way to run multiple sites on Modx?

I'm new to Modx & looking for a CMS to manage client websites. I'm wondering what the best approach is when running multiple sites? Would i have one install on my server running many sites, or is it better to have an individual install of Modx on every individual client Cpanel hosting account?

My thinking may be wrong here, but isn't it better (safer) if all sites and client admin access where individual from a security point of view, so any problems or issues encountered by one install or website doesn't affect all of my client sites?

I've got about 20 sites running now and I've created them all as separate installs.

Like you I thought it would be a dream to have one install and then I'd only have to patch/upgrade one version. However the following downsides put me off one install

1. If I patch it and it goes wrong, it breaks for all clients
2. Difficult to separate out the assets folders and packages
3. Security and user profiles is tricky enough in Revolution without overcomplicating it

Thanks Mark, they where might thoughts as well. Traditionally i set up sites on a sub domain of my own website whilst im developing for a client, and when it's finally ready, copy over the files to a new client host account. How is this process approached when building up a site in Modx?

I have Modx installed on my server and found a tutorial on how to set up sub domains on one install of Modx ( http://www.belafontecode.com/how-to-host-multiple-sub-domains-on-modx-revolution/ ).

Would i set up sub domains via Modx on my own server to build up sites and then do a fresh Modx install on new client host account before copying files over? I think my problem's in trying to set up and run Modx come from having zero programming knowledge although i can design and write HTML & CSS. Any tuts i've found have usually lost me in the programming schpeil.

Currently I've got a lot of clients on a dedicated server and the process I've adopted is

1. Create a temporary url via plesk, like develop.myclient.com
2. Build the site
3. When ready to go live rename the url in plesk to myclient.com
4. Run the setup tool which will change MODX to the new URL
5. Fix the 4 instances of develop.myclient.com still in core/config/config.inc.php which the setup tools seems to miss

If you need to move it from your development server to client hosting you need to search for some docs on migrating servers. However recently I had to migrate 20 instance of Revolution from one dedicated server to another and the method that worked well for me was

1. Upload a clean copy of MODX to the new server
2. Copy core/config/config.inc.php from develop to client
3. Copy assets folder from develop to client
4. Copy the database using phpMyAdmin from develop to client
5. Run the setup tool and perform an UPGRADE
6. Re-install any packages by force removing any existing ones (right click) then do a fresh install of each package

The above may not be the approved method but it worked 20 times for me without a glitch. Point 1 also mean I got all 20 sites to the latest consistent version of Revolution/

Thanks again Mark for your guidance, I'll take a note of this and give Modx a try going to try on new project.

I used to build sites with Dreamweaver and loads of php includes for common parts. For the last 12 months I've used Revolution exclusively for sites. It's improved productivity, increased the possibilities and simplified maintenance.

That's what attracted me to this, i found Modx after much research. However my fear is that without any kind of programming knowledge, php etc. i may struggle with some concepts and tuts i've found.

How is it best to backup each Modx site, and are regular upgrades to versions required, meaning have to do this individually for every Modx install

Backup everything that changes

1. The database
2. Assets /assets/

So far I've never been forced to perform an upgrade so I've had multiple installs running on different versions of 2.n