newbie proper start

After research I’ve decided to go with ModX for a content management system. Now I have coded HTML by hand and I know what a CSS style sheet is - although creating one is something I’m still learning to do.

I want to learn how to do this correctly. So what should I focus on learning? There’s ModX of course, but it seems to me I should wrap my head around php, mysql and creating websites using css.

So if you were designing a course to teach content management and ModX what would you suggest a person focus on learning? I plan to read books (all suggestions welcome) and maybe take some courses. I don’t mind putting in the effort and I just need some suggestions to start

Thanks.

I tried checking the wiki, search and documentation and I could not find the answer. If the answer is out there somewhere just put me to the location.

You can go quite far with MODx if you have additional php knowledge. However, what to learn will depend on what you want to get out of it. There are many users who focus on design and just let MODx do the rest.

I would focus on figuring out how to get the most out of modx with the skills that you already have and once you identify your deficiencies you can focus no those.

If you have no php skills then a intro to php will be great help, but not really required.

Jump into modX and build a site for testing. Go into the Resource Repository and download ones that look good and install and test them out. When you hit a brick wall and you are lost... then that is where and what you need to start learning. Read the many post here and search before you post.

I haven’t bought books in years, and regretted the last few I did buy. There is far more online than one person can ever read, and small black-and-white laser printers are quite cheap, and print out documentation, articles and tutorials quite fast. I printed probably the equivalent of ten times the value of the books on two black toner cartridges.

Just do a Google search for "css tutorial" or "php tutorial" and you’ll get more than you can ever hope to go through. There are a few especially useful sites I’ve found:

http://www.alistapart.com/
http://www.w3schools.com/
http://www.positioniseverything.net/
http://hudzilla.org/phpwiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
http://www.wpdfd.com/articles/
http://www.brainbell.com/tutorials/MySQL/

Thanks for the replies and the website. Will start with PHP

For that a good place to start is right at the proverbial horse’s mouth as it were...

http://devzone.zend.com/node/view/id/627

There’s also some info on getting started in MODx at the site in my sig.

Bob