MODX Core development team abandoning MODX development as 1st priority? Please read!

I have a few additional questions that I hope someone from Siphon Labs can answer.

Will the "modxcloud.com" domain name still be left available for in-development domains and for the Cloud dashboard login? - Will we still be able to rely on the MODX branding to help support our MODX-focused businesses?

For my business having a MODX-dedicated hosing company behind the CMS software I use really helped me in sales pitches, sometimes I've even had to sell MODX against other large CMSs such as Drupal.

Lucky I've won some of those pitches and it now concerns me that those clients will soon be notified that the MODX-dedicated hosting I convinced them to use will soon include WordPress and Drupal. It would cause me many problems if they started to ask me questions like "oh so is WordPress now just as good as MODX? Can we try WordPress please".

Do you plan to have one-click WordPress > MODX/MODX > WordPress migration tools? - if you do, would is be possible for an account admin to switch these off so clients don't play around with them?

It also worries me that on the new SiphonLabs website you list Joomla as a future CMS to be supported on the platform - I have no interest in Joomla, I really do not like their system and in the past when I recommend my clients a hosting solution it would be something like Linode or Amazon Web Services; who don't have any prior interests in what software is run on their platforms, which makes it easy to offer them as a hosting solution.

When MODX Cloud was announced it was a real bonus for my business, it showed dedication from the MODX core team and also showed a reliable platform for my clients to build on to.

Is the reliable backing from the respected MODX brand simply going to be changed to SiphonLabs?

Play nice guys, please don't say community contribution is up now like this was ever possible before. I think what you should state is that you have made community contribution hard in the past.

Some decisions were made that didn't involve the community when what is now MODX 2 came about, ExtJS for 1 has kept community involvement low, we have just now started to grasp how to use the thing. The use of Github only started since MODX 2 and whatever you were using before was behind hidden doors.

MODX Bug Tracker still being something separate from the Github repo doesn't help this, Issues is was more easier and accessible for anyone to use, I find Tracker daunting and less intuitive.

Many times have I asked why not start using other Components inside of MODX to lessen the time core devs spend on reinventing the wheel, this has not been received nicely by any member of the core dev team I have spoken to. Drupal has made this move as it free up the time of devs and also have a wider PHP community contributing to the core system now.

I am happy for what you guys are doing over at SiphonLabs and wish you all the best. I hope this message is received positively rather than negatively, take notes and not try and reply to address every comment in a defensive way.

Quote from: easylancer at Mar 28, 2013, 12:43 AM

I don't think CMS development has slowed down, it is actually better these days with more contributions from community users, the system might not have updates or changes as quickly as other CMSs but that is not a bad sign, it just means the team is making careful decisions about what to work on in CMS.

I find there are more extras being developed all the time, all of which contribute to the growth of MODX as a CMS, and the fact that there aren't endless security updates like some CMS's means surely MODX is a robust platform.

I, for one, completely understand the need for a revenue stream - after all isn't that what we all do every day making use of MODX which in its simplest form is free to download and use. Whilst change can be scary and frustrating, it often allows growth and increases experience and knowledge.

MODX Cloud is a hosting platform - its not a CMS - it happens to host MODX very well and I use it for developing new sites, backing up, creating snapshots and making a living out of. And surely being able to support Magento or Wordpress means for those of us who include those CMSs as part of their MODX sites can now host them with MODX Cloud now SiphonLabs.

SiphonLabs is still part of the same team who believe in MODX and want to build for the future. Whilst trying to please everyone in the MODX community is never going to happen, I am happy to support these guys and those devs who put in time and effort (often without any financial reward for it) and will continue to offer my support as an Ambassador for MODX (not other CMSs) and provide hosting to my clients whether that is MODX Cloud SiphonLabs or some other hosting option.

I, for one, completely understand the need for a revenue stream - after all isn't that what we all do every day making use of MODX which in its simplest form is free to download and use. Whilst change can be scary and frustrating, it often allows growth and increases experience and knowledge.

Absolutely.

And that's what MODX Systems LLC has been dedicated to providing for years now by utilising paid for listings, lots of commercial support and professional services, and Cloud has been part of it as well until a few months ago.

If this change is achieving anything, it's loosening the dependency of the Cloud platform on MODX, and setting MODX Systems LLC back to a 2 man team with little money to hire people from.

Quote from: dinocorn at Mar 28, 2013, 05:15 AM

When I was first introduced to MODX I was under the impression it was a large company with several dozen developers focusing on Revolution alone. It's not. In fact if you look at the number of core developers and relatively low community involvement it's unbelievable that Revolution is what it is today. I haven't met Shaun or Jason in person yet and until I do I'll continue to reserve judgement that they are in fact individual human beings.

One thing I'm excited about with SyphonLab, is the that news users that might of never even heard of MODX will be able to easily compare it side by side with other technologies. MODX is still a bit of a best kept secret, so I think SyphonLab introducing other communities to the capabilities of Revolution (as well as the areas it currently lacks in) is only going to help.

Thanks JP for you comments and support. Very much appreciated!

Hi,

first of all, just to make it clear I don't judge anyone badly for this - business is business, nothing wrong there.

But, anyone with any business experience knows that this is beginning of the end for MODX CMS, which of course is a great shame.

Regarding community contribution, as Silent Works says:

Play nice guys, please don't say community contribution is up now like this was ever possible before. I think what you should state is that you have made community contribution hard in the past.
Some decisions were made that didn't involve the community when what is now MODX 2 came about, ExtJS for 1 has kept community involvement low, we have just now started to grasp how to use the thing. The use of Github only started since MODX 2 and whatever you were using before was behind hidden doors.

and let me add xpdo instead of doctrine, developing your own forum, not using established framework for development...you were open source, but I always had a bit of feeling that you didn't want too much community involvement in development.

Also, I would like to hear Ryan's opinion on all of this (I don't know why, but I have funny feeling that he doesn't like all of this at all).

All the best

Hi All, I am going to try to answer some of these questions in a single post:


Hi Charles:

In terms of supporting other solutions, we are very much being driven by our users. We also will be bringing on additional specialist resources as we introduce other software into the platform. This therefore maintains the level of support and knowledge we have inside the company, something I know MODX Cloud users enjoy when they have specific questions on the MODX CMS. We are not planning to become a platform with hundreds of software options. The goal is to stay focused on a handful within the content and ecommerce space, and build resources around those software as we grow.

In terms of what you want:

I want specialized and focus services just for ModX...
- SiphonLabs will continue to offer this, and will still be maintaining a commercial support service, so should you or a client need some specialist development, we can collaborate with you.

I want quality over saturation that focuses on performance and security of ModX...
- SiphonLabs as with Automattic and Acquia still be a major force in the continued development of MODX, and with core developers like Jason, Shaun, Mike and Garry at SiphonLabs, we have a great team to help maintain this.

I want knowledge expertise at the most granular level on ModX...
- Ryan and Jay, as well as SiphonLabs employees will still be providing this level of expertise and we very much expect to continue contributing in the MODX Forums

Hi Graeme:
Thank you very much for your continued support. Much appreciated. MODX Cloud though like any software or service will never be done. We will always be innovating new benefits and features as we expand the platform. However, as explained, as we grow the popularity of the platform, it will have a hugely positive impact on our MODX CMS development abilities.

thapriest86:
Thank you for supporting the separation of MODX and Cloud in a corporate sense. In terms of branding MODX more, Ryan and Jay would love to kick off a conversation in another forum post I am sure to garner some great community ideas! Please do reach out to them as well to discuss how they be able to help you with your tech sessions needs.

eighthday:
Thank you for your MODX Cloud compliments. Using it definitely goes a long way to ensuring the continued future of MODX.

Adam:

Will the "modxcloud.com" domain name still be left available for in-development domains and for the Cloud dashboard login?

MODXCloud domains will not be available to use on new clouds once the switch over to the SiphonLabs dashboard takes place. Existing clouds that are using the domain though will still be there to use until their are torched by the cloud user. Only when new clouds are created, will the SiphonLabs URLs be used.

Will we still be able to rely on the MODX branding to help support our MODX-focused businesses?
Absolutely. Ryan and Jay's core focus will be to lead the charge with driving the adoption of MODX, the increase in awareness of the brand and will continue to their community support, just as you have been experiencing from them of late. Their efforts with the introduction of the Ambassador Program and relaunched MODX Professionals listing go to show how focused they are on building the MODX brand. Having dedicated resources on this, we believe will further MODX usage significantly over time.

MODX-dedicated platform vs multi-software platform: We believe it become specialists in several software, rather than hundreds as with many traditional hosts, we can still promote ourselves as a specialist provide, offering a far better experience than many experience with their existing hosts.

Do you plan to have one-click WordPress > MODX/MODX > WordPress migration tools? - if you do, would is be possible for an account admin to switch these off so clients don't play around with them?

All ideas are good ideas, and in time, I am sure we will consider innovating features like this.

Joomla! being added: At this time, WordPress is our main focus. The addition of the Joomla!, Drupal and Magento logos is an illustration of where we intend to go to due to the user demand for other CMSs and software. As with WP, the communities around these systems are large. We are not planning to rush things though. The goal us to grow in increments. Magento versus Joomla! for instance is the next likely candidate as this ecommerce platform is in high demand right now and our research with the MODX community is leading us to put this above others. The timing of this introduction though will be announced much later. WP first, then we will move onto others.

When MODX Cloud was announced it was a real bonus for my business, it showed dedication from the MODX core team and also showed a reliable platform for my clients to build on to. Is the reliable backing from the respected MODX brand simply going to be changed to SiphonLabs?

Absolutely. We will continue to be the premium cloud provider that you have been promoting to your clients, simply now with more options. With many of our user community in both cloud and MODX building in many different software, they will now have a single platform for all their client's needs.

SilentWorks:

Great feedback. Thank you. These points are well understood. I am confident that as we settle in, SiphonLabs and MODX will be working hand in hand to improve how the community can take a great role. Feedback like this is great so please keep it coming!

Is SiphonLabs a 100% subsidiary of MODX?

Will all the extra revenue/profit generated by SiphonLabs go to MODX?

If the answers to the above are NO then it's not going to benefit MODX financially, unless SiphonLabs make a donation.

P.S. I fully get the need for MODX developers to get paid which is why I've signed up to pay $99 per month for a partner listing even though I know it wont generate any leads.

I really hope you can will be able to add your own url for development clouds. e.g clientsite.mysite.com

For us the Cloud is attractive because:

• It is MODX Revolution Ready
• Daily Backups
• Snapshots
• Sharing Clouds
• Vapor
• Updates and Rollbacks
• Quick and Easy Staging
• Revenue Generating for MODX
• phpMyAdmin
• SSH/SFTP

Out of the gate though, for addressing all of a clients' needs it lacks or lacked:

• Email (Coming Soon) (Gmail was our default until they reduced their free program to a max of 10 emails)
• Separate Databases
• SSL (Coming Soon)
• Possible Issue with Integration with other Systems

The last point in particular was the largest and the Cloud team have done a great job accommodating our needs in this regard.
We use MODX as our default CMS because it's fabulous and customizable and obviously great for web content.
But our clients also have other needs. A few examples are:

• eCommerce
• Surveys
• Project Management Systems
• CRM Systems

For eCommerce, for us, nothing comes close to Lemonstand. Magento's templating system is something we can't stand. Lemonstand gives us a similar level of freedom with layout and functionality that MODX does. Furthermore, it's great for eCommerce, with a ton of payment and shipping modules out of the box. It is not great as a CMS however. There is nothing like MIGX for example. But for eCommerce it's fabulous. 95% of our work involves both MODX and Lemonstand. Without support for other applications on the Cloud the Cloud is less attractive to us. The Cloud team worked with us to get Lemonstand working alongside MODX on the Cloud and now that makes the Cloud far more attractive to us.

For survey work we use LimeSurvey. We haven't attempted that on the Cloud yet however.

As was mentioned, the solution of just make MODX do what these other systems do is unrealistic, at least in a timely fashion. Each system has it's own strengths and weaknesses and have years behind them to develop the strengths. Our philosophy is integration when we have budget. Eventually we plan to use Lemonstand as an eCommerce engine that MODX can integrate with on various levels for example. Same with LimeSurvery.

Having a host that has MODX expertise out of the box and allows for other systems is a huge plus in our book. It seems to me they are just adjusting to the needs of their clients.