Need to build a website based around an equipment list (table, datagrid, etc.) with a few other static pages.
The equipment list spec to be developed:
1. End User can search equipment list and see full text search results from matches across fields.
2. End User can click on item record for popup detail view or to go to an individual URL for item.
3. End User can share a link to an individual item (RESTful)
4. End user can filter list by value from some selected fields (eg, only see Manufacturer "Acme")
5. Admin can easily create new records or edit, delete data in record fields.
6. Admin can upload images to a record.
7. List can be thoroughly styled by CSS (enough element ids and classes to deeply customize look).
8. Content is full indexable by Google, including individual equipment item links.
[ I have looked at solutions also like Knack (knackhq.com) or DataTables.net, or DynaTables and other javacript solutions. Those would be possible but to be indexed require PHP code wrapper to detect GoogleBot request and send back static content. ]
Is MODX a good solution for this? Do non-technical client/admin users find it easy to add records to a list like this and do lists in MODX have those kind of features easily enabled?
Thank you for helping me evaluate MODX as a solution…
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☆ A M B ☆
- 24,524 Posts
Yes. In just reading your post I've thought of three different ways of doing this in MODX. Probably your best bet would be to use the Resource structure as your database. Each resource more-or-less represents a distinct web page, so Google can easily map the entire site. There are several different types of listing and searching features available as third-party add-ons. Most of the listing functions can generate any kind of output you want, including xml sitemaps for Google.
The way MODX handles the generation of end-user web pages allows complete freedom for any HTML structure, and MODX has no restrictions on how you handle your CSS or Javascript.
You can even get a free developer installation on the MODX Cloud to check it out.
https://modxcloud.com/
Thank you for the input!
Trying to understand a bit more: So, can a Resource have custom fields, and in the list view, you can select the custom fields that are displayed? For instance, each piece of equipment has a manufacturer, and that should be visible for each item in the default list view...
btw, I went to checkout the free developer installation on MODX Cloud but didn't find a link there. How does one set that up?
Look like I would want to create the resources from a template created with MIGx in order to have equivalents of "custom fields"? This way the client will also have a custom form to add each new item?
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☆ A M B ☆
- 24,524 Posts
The link for the free dev account is the big green button in the upper right of the page I linked to.
Custom resource fields are called Template Variables. These are tied to templates, so only the resources using the assigned template get the custom fields. There are a number of basic types of fields, from single text input to date pickers and image selectors.
http://rtfm.modx.com/revolution/2.x/making-sites-with-modx/customizing-content/template-variables
One of the most powerful third-party extras is a packaged called MIGx, which is an extensive custom TV type allowing for multiple-value grid resource fields. For example, the basic MIGx sample is for a simple gallery, with multiple images including title, description and path for each images. There is also a variation on the same extra that uses custom database tables.
http://rtfm.modx.com/extras/revo/migx
"big green button" - ah, I thought "free trial" would be different than "free developer account". Thanks for clarifying.
Will have a look at the links...
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☆ A M B ☆
- 24,524 Posts
Sorry about that... it was a "free developer account" last time I looked; they sneaked that one past me. Ah, well, that's life I suppose.
Anyway, MODX is pretty easy to install on a localhost or a shared hosting. If you need something, I can provide a temporary installation for you to poke at, since I have a reseller account with my favorite MODX-supporting hosting company.
