Should I...

Ok, here goes...

Should I start on MODx at all? I am not a programmer type. I can analyse bits of php, but not write or really understand it. I can edit css, write html and that is about it. I have built a number of joomla sites by now which are happily used by others. The work done was basically installing the cms, adding extensions and doing a bit of template editing.

Now I am looking to build a new site for myself which should incorporate a blog as well as a site and possibly payment things later on. Should I start on MODx at all? Could I do it? (Remember, I have not yet downloaded it and I have not found a demo installation linked here, so I have no actual knowledge of MODx.)

Arne

Download it, install it with the demo content on your local machine and play with it.
If you like it and it starts to click then great if not, well you tried.

Maybe of interest to you:

http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2101

Maybe modxcms.com needs something like that...or even a link to that.

Hope you find what you are looking for. MODx grows on you, and I like you started with very little (bordering on 0 ) knowledge of PHP.
I like wading in now, still nowhere near I would like to be, but it’s paying the bills

Good luck,
Taff

Quote from: ganeshXL at May 15, 2008, 06:06 AM

@Taff: See the big yellow lightbulb link in the upper right corner?

I knew I had seen it somewhere.

ghulst,

For a blog, I still like Wordpress. For a custom website, I think you’ll love MODx. Some tips to get you started:

- I like installing 2 MODx installations to learn from
  1. install with default content
  2. install with no content
  * you can then work through the tutorials on the wiki w/ 2. and compare to 1.

- The first snippets you’ll probably want to use are Ditto (for aggregating content- think category blog) and Wayfinder (menu builder)
  * You can go through the tutorials here for a basic getting started- http://wiki.modxcms.com/index.php/Category:Beginners
  * For each snippet I use, I start with no parameters or the basics, then add parameters as needed. Progressive Enhancement or (deploy-test-enhance-test...)

- Snippets are similar to modules in respect to parameters. Instead of a WYSIWYG though, you type them such as [!Ditto? param1=`value` param2=`value` !]

- When developing the site, be sure to turn the cache off for each page your working on, and call snippets uncached [!snippet? !] instead of cached [[snippetName?]]