And with a rapidly growing community of more than 1350 users – who’ve made more than 1300 downloads in under 2 weeks of our first "production" release – it’s time to celebrate MODx’s first anniversary.
One year ago today, Raymond released the webuser modification for Etomite. Shortly thereafter he and I started brainstorming and working on what you’ve come to know (and hopefully love!) as MODx. Thousands and thousands of man hours over countless days and late nights by the whole team, and you’ve got where we stand today!
So, what’s the future look like?
While the details are still somewhat secret, and they’re definitely subject to change, I will say this: if you think MODx is promising today, you’ll definitely want to stick around.
For Developers
From a technical standpoint, we’re actively profiling the parser for optimization and supporting recursive snippets and other calls. We’re revamping the way the user/groups/roles system works to make it both easier to understand and administer, and to allow for even simpler integration with outside applications. We’re combining a lot of items for a more svelte install and database structure. We’re increasing our interaction with and use of AJAX technologies. Versioning. Module packaging tools. Better documentation of how the parser works and how to handle the advanced MODx concepts. More module and plug-in examples. More/better @bindings. And we’re moving toward version 2 of what’s know today as Template Variables that take them to the next level and then some...
For Designers and End Users
There’s also the aesthetic and usability side of things. MODx needs to be three little things: Simple. Smart. Sexy. It will!
We’re totally overhauling all the jargon associated with MODx. While the manager has served us well, it’s time to loose all the frames. And they’ll be disappearing as fast as possible. (How does a customizable/overridable manager that’s also can be skinned via the CSS Zen Garden sound?) A file repository on our site for downloads will also roll out soon. Installs and upgrades will become even more simple and fast to perform; you’ll be able to do a fresh install with a single file upload of under 100Kb, and upgrades will be handled inside the manager. Heck, upgrades and installing additional components might even just interact
with our file repository.
For the Future
And finally, there’s the ongoing innovation that we’ll continue to bring to the table, like the MODx Workspace (a developer’s dream!) and more... but we’ll save those discussions for later.
Happy Birthday MODx!!!
MODX Staff
