Sass and modx workflow

g5604 I use prepros it's similar to codekit and it works on Windows and OSX.

If you're into using Bootstrap I made a prepros ready bootstrap template project which you can download here.

It all depends on how dependent you want to be or not want to be.

I was using your method until I got tired of the illogic of actively running multiple software just to do something my computer can powerfully do with ease using a few ruby gems - gems that I never have to see! Don't forget the best gem of all, aptly named Grunt.

And to cause more anxiety, some of these software cost money; I think Scout and Livereload just barely made it to the free side.

TextWrangler is bare bones I believe, but like our beloved Microsoft Notepad, one is bent on moving on to something more intelligent and less incapable. There are lots of IDEs; I have moved around, and safely landed on SublimeText - and this does what you want to Scss and JS, and even has a Livereload add-on.

I know nothing about MODx Cloud, so I can't say how all this may not fit in your workflow.

donshakespeare I guess it really depends on what you work on and how big your dev team is, prepros has worked great for my team of 16+ devs we just install prepros and point it to our projects directory and it uses the settings in our config.rb file or we can create a prepros config setting file and share it.

It works great with file versioning apps like git and tfs (yes, I work with .net too) I find it extremely useful when it notifies me a file could not be processed because it was not checked out.

Your method is great but when you work in a pretty big team environment sometimes the easy way out is best since not everyone has the same skill level or is comfortable using CLI.

I personally just don't like all the different things you have to install to get up and running grunt, ruby, node.js etc.

That's just me everyone has different working conditions which is why topics like this are awesome because we can learn how other people work in different environments.

@benmarte, you are absolutely right. Different demand, different supply.
I used Prepose once, it work well.

This is turning into a great thread! thanks so much for everyone's input.

prepros looks very good, but I found http://koala-app.com/ which does exactly what I need (sass to css and js/css combining + minification)

Pretty happy with the workflow now as it works with any text editor and is very easy to replicate / learn to use. [ed. note: g5604 last edited this post 10 years, 2 months ago.]

g5604 This looks great, I really love the fact that it supports Linux which I occasionally use. Even though it doesn't have all the same features prepros has it looks like a great alternative.

Thanks for sharing

+1 For koala app! I have been using it for a few months now. It has been great. I am just using it for Less for now.

So I have css & js sorted now! How does everyone work with html/tempting? Currently I am just editing directly in modx.

I usually do my templates and js as static html files then manually port it to MODX and create chunks and TVs etc.

Once all the files are in MODX I work in MODX with Ace, I know you can use static resources in MODX but I haven't messed around with them too much.

Aint that a trouble!

The ultimate would be to connect your whole MODx somehow to your local IDE or editor... but I am dreaming.

I do all my chunks and TVs in MODx directly. I used to use CodeMirror which has Emmet inside of it I think.
My only backup is the DB which is not my ideal. I would have a temporary heart-attack if my elements should disappear.

Of late though, I have been using Text Editor Anywhere.
While in MODx, in a textarea, I hit Win A, it grabs the content to my text editor of choice, and lets me save it back to the textarea.

Yesterday I transferred my MODx JS resources to static documents, uncacheable. So I work locally and hit upload... Seems to work pretty fine for me. I think I was sick and tired of logging into MODx just to tweak little stuff. I am not sure of performance though.


I am thinking of creating static files for all my chunks and other elements using Bob Ray's MyComponent, and then linking them back. Oh dear!