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    • 7455
    • 2,204 Posts
    Quote from: melriks at May 18, 2007, 11:28 PM

    The only thing I liked better in Joomla was the ability to add php elseif statements right in the template. The Joomla base template has examples. For instance, if a sidebar had empty content, the sidebar disappears. MODx may do that, but I haven’t found the method yet.

    This is what phx can be your help I use it a lot.
    like [*sidebar:len:gt=`0`:show*]
    if tv sidebar has more than 0 charackters then show the content else do not.
    lots of other cool tricks.

    Dimmy
      follow me on twitter: @dimmy01
      • 10839
      • 51 Posts
      I appreciate so much all the advices you are giving me.

      You have pointed out some key "tools", like Ditto, eForm, Maxigallery, etc. Moreover, in each answer you speak about other interesting features (PHx, PPP, etc.). And also, you are teaching me about "how to" do things in MODx. That’s good. Thanks!!

      I begin to realize that there are lots of interesting "components", "modules", "plugins" and so on...

      So, let me ask all of you a more general question.

      If I want to start with MODx, and I do not want to get lost, I think I should:


      But... There are lots and lots of modules, plugins...!

      What can I do in order not no get lost? I mean, I am afraid that I can start building my site with one module or plugin, and then I realize that [there is any forum thread or any other resource in which someone tells that] there is a better module for that task, or that there is an easier way to get to what I am trying to do. That’s what happened to me with Joomla sometimes.

      Do you recommend me the wiki, as a general guide?

      So, my question could be formulated as follows:

      Which "beginners’ path" or "road map" do you recommend me, in order not to get lost?

      —If you think I should start a new post/thread in another section, let me know.
        GinerBosk smiley

        If you can dream it, you can do it.
        • 19638
        • 39 Posts
        Look for the components

        The very necessary "core" components are already included in MODx just download and try.
        This include -if y remember well eForms, Jot, Ditto, DocMan, Quickedit Ajaxsearch and some few others.
        Try first with this one and dowlond the "missing" features for you later.

        PS: Your can see a sort of themathic sorting (using tag clouds) here :
        http://modxcms.com/repository-tag-cloud.html
        maybe a more classic hierarchic sorting "a la dmoz" is missing
          • 6726
          • 7,075 Posts
          Quote from: GinerBosk at May 18, 2007, 07:56 PM


          2) Do you know any other open source CMS "between" Joomla and MODx, I mean, similar to both?


          I am late to the party, and you certainly can do everything you need to with MODx, no sweat !

          But if I have to answer the CMS between Joomla and MODx question, I’d sure say : Jaws

          Young project, not that many module and probably you won’t be able to do what you need with it, but it’s the closest thing to an hybrid between Joomla and MODx :

          • "block" logic akin to every portal app out there, like Joomla
          • mvc based lightweight framework, not same as MODx but the goal is more similar to MODx than Joomla
          • easy tag based templating like MODx, though less powerful (no micro-templates e.g no granular control over the extension’s output)



            .: COO - Commerce Guys - Community Driven Innovation :.


            MODx est l'outil id
            • 11429
            • 90 Posts
            Quote from: Paintbox at May 18, 2007, 09:01 PM

            - Don’t know about languages, haven’t looked into that
            - Blogs are pretty easy using a Ditto tag

            WRONG!!, blogs are not so simple with Modx, in fact unless you know how to code you won’t be able to set it up like a standard blog, you’ll come close but not all of it unless you can code it, remember most everything in Modx is manual code labor, as is most CMS software created by developers for developers. if you want anything done you have to code it by hand and pray the snippets and plugins have clear instructions smiley)

            the one thing i didn’t like with joomla besides being bloated is the url’s look like crap option=com=component eek
              • 10839
              • 51 Posts
              Quote from: gspark at Jun 30, 2007, 05:06 AM

              WRONG!!, blogs are not so simple with Modx, in fact unless you know how to code you won’t be able to set it up like a standard blog, you’ll come close but not all of it unless you can code it, remember most everything in Modx is manual code labor, as is most CMS software created by developers for developers. if you want anything done you have to code it by hand and pray the snippets and plugins have clear instructions smiley)

              You say everything needs coding in MODXCMS. Do you think that it is easy to deal and to get up with that manual labor? I mean, I do not mind coding at all, if it is relatively easy.

              I am still thinking about choosing between MODXCM or other alternatives, like Textpattern.
                GinerBosk smiley

                If you can dream it, you can do it.
              • Quote from: gspark at Jun 30, 2007, 05:06 AM

                Quote from: Paintbox at May 18, 2007, 09:01 PM

                - Don’t know about languages, haven’t looked into that
                - Blogs are pretty easy using a Ditto tag

                WRONG!!, blogs are not so simple with Modx, in fact unless you know how to code you won’t be able to set it up like a standard blog, you’ll come close but not all of it unless you can code it, remember most everything in Modx is manual code labor, as is most CMS software created by developers for developers. if you want anything done you have to code it by hand and pray the snippets and plugins have clear instructions smiley)
                I tend disagree about blogs being difficult to set up with MODx, especially given that the default demo content comes with one fully working. I further rarely have to custom code anything for typical marketing websites. If it took custom code, I wouldn’t use MODx because I’m simply not a coder.

                Could you define what you consider a standard blog, and what disqualifies the one that comes installed with the demo content from counting as such?
                  Ryan Thrash, MODX Co-Founder
                  Follow me on Twitter at @rthrash or catch my occasional unofficial thoughts at thrash.me
                  • 6726
                  • 7,075 Posts
                  I agree with Ryan, 80% of the time you’ll start with the provided template and build upon it ! MODx won’t take more work than Texpattern (since you mention it).

                  Textpattern is NOT working "out of the box" any more than MODx is (I should know, I have been a core contributors for 2 years there) if you need customizing. MODx and Textpattern are very much alike in the sense that both plugins and snippets are tag based, have parameters and are fully templatable. That also means they are very different from most CMS using a "block based" logic (read : Joomla and the likes) where parameters are set through the admin interface and where templates are hardcoded into the extension code. That’s where you loose the flexibility and why I chose Textpattern, and then MODx (which is way more flexible than Textpattern, see this discussion as reference).

                  You want to do everything through the backend without looking at a line of code, stick with Joomla (but then, don’t try to change to many things or you’ll have to dig into not-so-easy templating IMHO).

                  You’re at ease with HTML and CSS, you’ll be fine with MODx or Textpattern (probably even more so than with Joomla tongue ). You’re not afraid of tag based language = bonus : You’ll be able to customize ! You’re not afraid of tiny bits of PHP : doors are opened for you that you wouldn’t have expected !!!
                    .: COO - Commerce Guys - Community Driven Innovation :.


                    MODx est l'outil id
                    • 11429
                    • 90 Posts
                    I think i should have rephrased it differently perhaps, the modx snippets, plugs and chunks are brilliant but of course we all know there’s a learning curve to Modx, the concept behind Modx from a design perspective I feel is very warm and cozy, but there are just some things in order to make your site look act and behave like other sites, you may have to beat your head against the wall and code it, even snippets may require some adjusting, to a developer it’s a walk in the park but for a novice it’s like pulling hair (out of your nose) smiley)

                    I also had to look at the time being spend on trying to get some snippets to work because not all of them just work the way you want without some additional coding oh and the modx documentation is well written by developers in developer tongue so good luck trying to figure that out. The blog as an example, the instructions are good for a very basic non-blogish setup but many of the ditto features for categories, archives are very difficult to understand, i mean a choice can be made easily, do you want to hand code and invest hours trying to figure it out to get your categories and archives and whatever else you want or do you want to simply use a blogging software that was made to do it with a click. So no it’s not so easy for a novice but i think everyone here will agree that novice are not the end user target so its all good.

                    Count on spending (insert #) percent of time learning Modx and the other (insert #) percent of time researching documentation and when something breaks call a plumber because it will get messy..

                    I have grown to like Modx a lot, and it grows on ya, but then i have to consider time spent, i really do not want to spend my time fiddling with code to make what should be a simple feature to work, you have to consider what type of person you are. Anybody who says everything in Modx works the way you want right out of the box is probablly a developer who can make a line of code since the national anthem.

                    Would I recommend Modx ? yes for adv designers and developers no doubt, but for a novice who has little or no coding ability I would have to say no. Myself I am still undecided, i did manage to turn my wordpress blog into an 85% CMS system but something about Modx hard to let go he he for CMS and Web Standards sites it gives total control that’s for sure.
                    • And that’s exactly the type of people for whom MODx is created! smiley Out of curiosity how much time did you spend hacking your blog system to make it into an 85% CMS, and how easy will that be to upgrade in the future?
                        Ryan Thrash, MODX Co-Founder
                        Follow me on Twitter at @rthrash or catch my occasional unofficial thoughts at thrash.me