Wordpress is the Devil...

RSS feeds are simple to generate in Revo or Evo. You running into problems somewhere?

Hi Ryan,

No problems installing packages / addons, just think it should be part of the core code as virtually every site out there uses RSS now, however that’s only my personal view

pp - Doesn’t Revo already allow for that? I use RSS feeds for all my implementations, and some other less than conventional uses. As far as core add-ons, if I understand correctly, its simply a matter of taking your favorites (and packaging them) for installation right? When they baked in PHX functionality that was the cats backside and all was good in the world. Moddy really takes the right approach though in that it lets the dev start with content/presentation and fits the framework to that versus wordpress which seems to start with the framework and you need to shoehorn/concede certain things to framework limitations.

I do like the idea of some kind of like customization add-on packages interface, the manager add on directory in revo is good (I havent played around with too much) but could use some refinement. Somethng like mootools where you could select a, b, & c, then package them together and install all at once. Which is pretty small in the grand scheme of things.

But the way I look at it MODX is already so extensible,and the community members/developers that good, that you can pretty much do 90% of what the 100,000k wordpress plug-ins do with less than a handful of equivalent MODX add-ons.
The only thing, and I mean, only thing thats a sticking point (and this isnt specific to modx) is a cart/inventory integration. About the only thing I’ve seen thats even remotely decent is Expression Engine and thier Brilliant Retail or FoxyCart integration(but I havent used those, just researched.) The FC integration is great from a cart processing standpoint (Ive used it several times,) but all-in-one inventory/supply chain management (foxyback anyone?) leaves a bit to be desired...but you have to have something to shoot for right?

Back to the rant though, a gentlemans cms showdown. Dealey Plaza, High noon, Dallas Texas. Default installation, 12 hours and a chimp. (Cue tumbleweeds)....

I’m about 10 minutes away from Dealey Plaza, but you’ve got to go a lot further west before you find tumbleweeds. See you there.

Let me say this if its OK...

I get the spirit of this thread and the title it has etc.

Here comes the "but": I think its better for us MODx fans to verbalize why we love MODx or why MODx is a better tool rather than just slamming other systems. Face it: there are a lot of developers and designers who use more than one system. Having long anti "this system" threads sort of brings little to the table and might generate unfortunate search engine results. There are a ton of great looking custom built Wordpress sites out there. Same thing with EE sites, etc.

I for one started out as a dual Wordpress and MODx "site builder". I have sort of given up with keeping up with Wordpress as I find MODx easier to design for. Its hard enough keeping one’s brain in tune with one CMS system let alone multiple systems. That been said I have landed on certain Wordpress sites and thought "wow, that would be a ton of custom work to do in MODx."

I guess I am saying I really do not believe that Wordpress IS the devil ...

Much as I don’t want to see the inside of it again, I would still recommend WordPress for many types of users who want a pure blog, especially if they can find an existing theme that they like.

MODx is easier to work with and customize, but the template system does not allow easy "all in one" templates sellable on websites as themeforest or woothemes (without LOTS of work).

The template install requier lots of manual adjustements, You "have to know MODx" in order to use it, while you can just one click install WP themes and obtain thousands of functionalities without having to type 1 line of code or snippet call etc...

Having lots of themes does come along having lots of 3rd party plugins and they bring the peoples with them.

Glad I stumbled upon this thread.

I’ve been wrestling with the idea of starting to develop in WordPress but I really don’t want to.

My approach with modx has been to create my own very flexible ’blank’ theme with all the extras I know people will ask for time and again, already built in. This has worked extremely well for the last few years and considering I know very little PHP my modx journey has been relatively painless.

The problem I’m now getting is client expectations of what a website should consist of are rising. They expect a blog, forums and ecommerce as being ’standard’.

So I started to look at WordPress - Hmmm! It seems to me like a huge community and many more options than modx but what is apparent is - there are also many more issues arising with WordPress because of all the options available and trying to find the right option and integrating it.

My approach with modx has been to source the most popular extras, then learn about them and modify them as soon as I understand how they work - so continual improvement.

I’m using Magento for ecommerce which is absolutley fantastic for larger sites.

The ’brick-wall’ with modx is fully integrated e-commerce and forums. We have a great community but sometimes I get unsure if it is large enough or well enough supported especially when various ecommerce modules have come and gone and it also seems we have 2 forks of modx that dilutes the ability to reach unified solutions.

This isn’t a criticism - I am so, so glad I chose to work with modx - it has allowed great flexibility and is easy to understand with a very limited knowledge of PHP. Just at the moment I feel that I’ve got one foot on the boat and one on the dock - I’ve got to jump one way or the other!

Very interesting discussion!

I have been using MODx, Magento and Wordpress for about 2,5 years now and all of the time I try to suggest MODx to clients.
Most of the time clients take my advise and let me pick the CMS, and once they see/use MODx they always love it. I am about 20% to 30% faster when working with MODx on websites!

But I do still think WordPress is great for blog specific style sites, sometimes clients specifically ask for a WordPress site and nothing else will be an option...
When I really must use WordPress, I always start with the Starkers theme http://starkerstheme.com/ from Elliot Jay Stocks. Starkers is a bare-bones WordPress theme created to act as a starting point for the theme designer. And it makes life with WordPress a lot easier!

Magento is great for really big shops, but I have high hopes for Visioncart....

I think that the key here is the solutions provider vs. client and how that developer/client relationship has changed in the last year. More and more clients are wanting flexibility, but not in the macro sense that something like Wordpress offers. Its like me giving my kids the keys to the Ferrari (thats what I call my minivan, he) without a license or any training. Sure they can flip switches and adjust the seat position and mirrors, but they certainly dont have the skill set to drive the thing. They may want to, but their role is essentially a passenger.

Its my job (and I failed a bit in this case) is to relate to the client that a. I understand what you’re needs are 2.and heres my opinion of what you should go with. In this instance I didnt do that and got stuck working within something against my better judgement...

Bright side is that I’ve handed the project off for implementation and my work is essentially done. WIll I work with Wordpress again? Maybe, but it will only be the most basic involvement, initial set-up,existing template customization (front end only), and final walk-through and thats about it. Anything more advanced and I will probably convince them to move to modx or seek out a developer that specializes in Wordpress theming. (WHich to me defeats the purpose of Wordpress anyway, if you want something fully customized then you kind of need to jump in with both feet,...but thats a different topic)