Newby questions

Hi,
I’ve just installed MODx and am trying to get familiar with it as quickly as I can. I have two hopefully simple questions.

1) In the sample web site there is a righthand column "News" etc. I think this comes from a Template Variable, is that correct. Basically I’m trying to understand how to edit & work with columns like this. I was expecting to see an "Edit Content" button, but there is only one for the main content area.

2) I want to use some sidebar tables and assume these should be done using CSS, but haven’t got a clue how. Some pointers would be most welcome. For examples of what I want to achieve see the sidebars on this page and this one.

I have to say that I’m very impressed with MODx so far, but like everything there is that initial steep learning curve to get past.

Neville

You may wish to check out the Wiki to learn more and read the Documentation.

To answer your first question the, News is coming from a Snippet called Ditto which is part of the current core Snippets. Also in the sidebar is other snippets: ListIndexer and the WebLogin. These are not template variables but php scripts that are called using special markup from within the template. To see what I refer to go to: Resources->Manage Resources->Templates->MODx Host and click on it to edit it and look at it in the edit pane.

To address your second question: while I think it is important for you to learn CSS based layouts (Did you know that CSS is now 10 years old?) it is possible for you to achieve the same result with tables. Just build your HTML page in the editor of you choice and create a new template. If it is just content you want to stick into the place where the news is you would use a Chunk for HTML and a Snippet for PHP generated code.

You should take one step at a time and learn how to create templates in MODx and then get yourself a great text editor like UltraEdit, Notepad++, e-TextEditor, HTML-Kit, or stay out of design view in Dreameaver and stay in code view. I guarantee once you try to fix a 5 deep table nesting in a text editor more than once you will be looking for a better way. Save your tables for the wonderful world of email template design. I am a realist though and I would rather you not get discouraged by the learning curve and be encouraged by how much fun you’ll have learning. [urlhttp://alfredfox.com/blog/Design/38/Website_Design_Gone_Bad_-_Frontpage_and_Dreamweaver_Designers]Here is another reference for you[/url].

SmashingRed, thanks for the detailed and clear reply. Unlike many folks I do read documentation, but clearly when it comes to MODx I have a way to go.yet I take pride in the docs I write for my software and just wish more of my users would read it. It is all a bit of chicken and egg situation with MODx. You need to get a grasp of the basic concepts before you can work out the questions you need answers for.

I write C++ code all day long, but unfortunately I have always found CSS difficult to grasp. If I did more Web development, I imagine I’d see the light, eventually. I even bought Eric Meyer’s CSS book a few years back.

Thanks again for your help. Back to reading.

I even bought Eric Meyer’s CSS book a few years back

Great book

Getting CSS to do what you want can be tough at first. The link bellow has some great tutorials as well as some examples for layouts with columns that you can use as starting points.
http://www.pmob.co.uk/

The MODx learning curve differs from user to user. To get a simple site up and running is a snap, once you start getting into the more specialized applications it gets difficult (at least for me). The good thing is that once you get it it sudenly all makes sense (so they say, I hope to get there soon).

@nefv Glad to help.

Meyer’s book is fairly good but it may be hard to get your head around it at first.

Coding C and writing CSS and HTML are like driving a car and eating pizza. There is little relationship to one another except you are the one doing it. The biggest problem is that people try to make HTML and CSS into a programming or scripting language but really they are little more than text elements on which you assign properties and values.

There are some really great newb tutorials out there on understanding tableless design and the box model that will make your life easier. Staying in Dreamweaver may actually limit the speed at which you progress because it can be hard to figure out what it is doing with all that markup.

The best thing to do is to start out with the basic building blocks and look at people’s code (View->Page Source) and if you have Chris Pederick’s Web Dev Toolbar for Firefox you can also click on the CSS tab to view the CSS. Best of luck to you.

@dev_cw

The good thing is that once you get it it sudenly all makes sense (so they say, I hope to get there soon).

I agree, I recently had an epiphany about snippets and it made a world of difference. Then things start to really fall in place but I am not an expert at MODx yet either.

Cheers,

Jay

Quote from: dev_cw at Sep 12, 2007, 09:09 AM

I even bought Eric Meyer’s CSS book a few years back

Great book

Getting CSS to do what you want can be tough at first. The link bellow has some great tutorials as well as some examples for layouts with columns that you can use as starting points.
http://www.pmob.co.uk/

The MODx learning curve differs from user to user. To get a simple site up and running is a snap, once you start getting into the more specialized applications it gets difficult (at least for me). The good thing is that once you get it it sudenly all makes sense (so they say, I hope to get there soon).

Thanks, http://www.pmob.co.uk/ looks like a very good resource. If I was doing Web development regularly, I’m sure this would all fall into place somewhat easier, but I’m a software developer and that’s where I spend all of my time and then some. No point grumbling though.