Time for a MODX Revolution guide/manual for editors and other end-users

I'm in the market for suggestions about what should be added next to create version 0.2 of the MODX content management guide.

Hey David,

I've just reviewed this as is posted on Susan's website and it looks like a great foundation for end users (formatting was a little wonky in LibreOffice for me for the .docx).

Something (that maybe I missed) that struck me is that there was little mention of TVs in relation to content editing. Most websites use them to some degree, while others use them extensively and include MiGX (not that it need be addressed specifically). Another thing is that there should be a caveat regarding field labels and that often developers/site builders customize the field names based on the content types. This can dramatically, improve the usability for non technical folks switching tasks between disparate content types.

Great work and I can't wait for the next iteration.

I have plans for adding my own TV chapter to the version on my site. One of these days...

The formatting in LibreOffice can be improved by making sure that the inner containers are set to single-column; for some reason on page 7 it starts having nested containers.

Quote from: smashingred at Apr 19, 2013, 10:10 AM

Something (that maybe I missed) that struck me is that there was little mention of TVs in relation to content editing.

The document is designed as a core which designers can extend. Since no two sites will have the same TVs, I've left this for individual designers to create.

I'd happily include instructions for any reasonably well-used add-ons, if anyone wants to post them.

Quote from: sottwell at Apr 19, 2013, 10:13 AM

The formatting in LibreOffice can be improved by making sure that the inner containers are set to single-column; for some reason on page 7 it starts having nested containers.

If anyone can post or message me a copy of the file with the LibreOffice nested containers glitch removed, I'd be delighted. I've so far failed in my own efforts to remove it while keeping the graphics well-behaved.

Other than that, I'd suspect that if you are running a business dealing with substantial numbers of clients, you're probably going to install Word at some point. Let me know if I'm wrong. [ed. note: shorewalker last edited this post 10 years, 10 months ago.]

Or get a subscription to Office 365. A developer (Android apps as well as MODx) with whom I work from time to time just got one, and loves it.

I've recently had a lot of discussion and demand for something similar to this resource to live at rtfm.modx.com as many end users automatically come to modx.com for documentation. While it makes sense for there to be more info about MODX across the web, what do you think about having something similar (or a variation of this) at modx.com?

Quote from: smashingred at Jun 10, 2013, 04:11 PM

What do you think about having something similar (or a variation of this) at modx.com?

Very happy to do it, and to do it however you think is best. I owe you guys a heap for creating MODX, so don't be afraid to make vigorous suggestions. I'm happy to do whatever gets quality documentation into the hands of non-code-savvy end users.

I would offer a stronger opinion about how to encourage enhancement to the document if I had better data about what would work. The truth is that I don't know is the best model for growing a plain-English end-user guide like this, i.e. collaboratively developing it.

However, I have not yet had any outside contributions emailed to me, which suggests it is time to try some other authoring model. I'd suggest that the best model might be a Wiki.

The Word document was created in that format only because that allowed people to take my work, easily adapt it as a PDF or Kindle or RTF document, and distribute it to end-users.

David,

I was thinking we could incorporate into the Revo documentation. Not in the current Confluence version but the soon to be live MODX-based version of the docs. It will be wiki-like for sure/though not a pure wiki, however it will allow multi author editing. Anyone who wishes to contribute would be granted access (with some conditions on new modx.com users).

I like the new documentation interface. Weldone to the team that made this possible.