mdxthemes.com: What's going on?

Quote from: norblenn at Jul 18, 2014, 10:34 AM

I have the same problem with the install of MDX Apostle like elgrandeadi.

I tried to install it on Revolution 2.2.14-pl and 2.3.0-pl. There are 3 different transport.zip's. None of them can be installed without any bigger trouble.

I moved to another server with better modx skills (TMDHosting.com). But it is the same failure or even others after skiping the old ones.

I bought the MDX Apostle theme to have a quick start and no trouble with the design.

I would say, Mengash should improve the install and deliver new transport.zip's to his clients. He must be a good expert because mdxthemes.com looks great, the demo-versions there, too. But with the current versions of Revoution it is impossible to install the theme.

Hello Norblenn,

I am sorry for trouble caused while installing the template. Currently there is no perfect extra for packaging templates other than vapor for template with demo content. Some hosting providers have limit on number of process or CPU usage which can cause installation failure. Even after installing the template there may be issues but can be easily fixed. There are 2 problems mainly. The colorpicker and MIGX addon needs to be reinstalled after the template installation. I have updated the same in the template installation instructions.

I am also available via skype for support. I would be more than happy to install the template for free.

Skype: mdxdesigns

Regards,
Mangesh

I have also invested in the Apostle template and have it installed and working without any major issues. But on engaging a developer with experience in MODX he has advised:

"The MODX theme does not comply with MODX standards. It requires that for each resource you need to add various chunks for elements on the resources and to replicate the same elements on another resource – you will need to add all the chunks again. This basically defeats the concepts behind MODX.

Also there are a lot of additional snippets used in the theme which will be a major issue when upgrading. These snippets will throw errors when MODX version is upgraded. "

is there anybody who has experience with these MDXTHEMES who would like to comment on this feedback?

Trying to work out what to do, get development done on current site or start from scratch.

Thanks in Advance

Hmm that's an interesting statement. How does this look in practice? Can you show an example of code that has this weakness?

Quote from: modx_in_oz at Aug 14, 2014, 02:28 PM

"The MODX theme does not comply with MODX standards. It requires that for each resource you need to add various chunks for elements on the resources and to replicate the same elements on another resource – you will need to add all the chunks again. This basically defeats the concepts behind MODX.

I have not seen any standard theme for MODX. There isnt any standard template in MODX. Regarding the chunks and resources, the resources inherit all chunks so you don't need to re-add them for each resource. If needed you can just add/remove chunks needed for any resource. Its a feature which makes the template dynamic.

The idea behind such template is that you don't have to create multiple templates to modify the page. Using my templates you can add modify different elements/chunks using one single template.

Its a modularized template system. It helps to dynamically change the module content the way you want it, using chunks.

I believe template should be dynamic. It should not hold static content. Beats the purpose of the CMS. CMS are used to manage dynamic content. Every module position in my template can be modified/deleted. So every page can be a different page using one template. I think its a feature, a powerful feature.

There are many such great features which people might think useless but its their opinion. I have 10+ years in template development. I have put my years of experience in developing this system. Some will like it some wont. It surely reduces a lot of development time for less than $50.

Also there are a lot of additional snippets used in the theme which will be a major issue when upgrading. These snippets will throw errors when MODX version is upgraded. "

I had no real issues when upgrading MODX. However when upgrading snippets to latest version depends on the developer who provides those ad-dons/snippets. This problem could happen with any MODX template. I am a template developer. I wish I could upgrade some addons which do not work with latest version of MODX but I am better off with developing template and leave the addon development to the experts.

Regarding the chunks and resources, the resources inherit all chunks so you don't need to re-add them for each resource. If needed you can just add/remove chunks needed for any resource. Its a feature which makes the template dynamic.

Yes the complaint as provided seemed very odd to me, that's why I asked for some evidence of this problem.

Thanks for the comments and feedback. I am going to spend some time researching more and work out what if any issues there are with our intended usage.

We have spent significant amount of money on Evolution site development which I was then told could not be upgraded to Revolution without spending same amount again. Now more on Revolution development to only have 3 different contractors disappear on us. All but one being fully paid. At the moment my partner says why MODX as he feels MODX = PAIN

That's beginning to become a serious problem. I've had several contacts lately from people in your position. Somebody does a half-assed (pardon my Hebrew) job, then disappears, leaving the site owner dangling. Of course any reasonably competent MODX developer can fix things, but it seems like a lot of fly-by-night scam artists are calling themselves MODX developers these days. I suspect that there are just as many for the other major CMS apps out there, they're just getting lost in the noise from the bigger user bases, and the situation is just beginning to become an obvious problem for MODX.

There's really no compelling reason to upgrade from Evo to Revo. I maintain several Evo sites that I created over the years, and while I don't do any new Evo sites, there's no problem with keeping existing sites patched or upgraded. Switching a site from Evo to Revo mostly depends on the complexity of the site. Multi-language sites, originally on Evo using YAMS, would be harder to switch, for example, than a simple single-language brochure site. Old sites with a lot of custom code for features that have been developed over the years are also not good candidates for switching.

This has never actually happened to me, but I can imagine a situation where a site looks half-way reasonable at first, but the more you dig, the more you find out that the previous developer has made decisions that make it impossible to do what the client wants without starting over. I would never bail out in such a situation (unless the client was literally impossible to work with), but I'm sure some people would.

The statement about the chunks could makes sense if the previous developer designed a system where resource-specific chunks are being used instead of TVs.

I could easily imagine a novice MODX programmer creating a TV that held the name of a chunk to be used on a particular page (or several TV/chunk combinations). Every new page you created would require the creation of one or more new chunks.

Well, I got curious, and Mangesh was kind enough to give me access to one of his templates for review. I'll be writing a comprehensive review along with detailed instructions on how to use it.

First impressions:

This is NOT a template. It is a complete, themed site. Do not think you will just be installing a template. This will completely overwrite any existing site - including your Manager users.

It provides a lot of functionality, sort of a kitchen-sink approach. Articles, Gallery, all kinds of things you might want on your site.

26 add-ons
89 resources
45 categories
6 templates
130 chunks
11 plugins
72 snippets
88 TVs

A good bit of all of this is taken up in the theme management. A lot of the TVs are for defining the colors for the five different theme variants.

The demo site itself seems a bit odd. I don't think the menu is working right. I may be wrong, that may be what it's supposed to look like. I'm not at all fond of all the fading in and out and wavering from side to side that its various content sections do. I suppose this is all the latest greatest mobile web stuff, but it makes me feel a bit queasy. It does seem to settle down once the full page gets loaded.

Anyway, it looks like it's going to take some doing to learn how it actually works. I'll keep poking at it and let you-all know how it goes.

Well, I am not able to work with this theme (Collab). Attempting to open some of the resources causes a Manager white-page. This is on Revo 2.3.1.

From what I have been able to see, this is a design framework using TVs to determine the structure, layout and styling of each page. The actual HTML and CSS code is managed in chunks and resources, which can be selected in the applicable TVs. If you want other layouts and styles than are available, you create your own chunks and resources. I presume there is some mechanism for "locking" a selected set of TVs, since I can't imagine expecting a user to have to go through all of those TVs for every page on the site.

The styling didn't seem to be fully working, the only layout I could get no matter which page I tried was what appears to be the mobile layout, everything full-width and scrolling from one block to the next. The main menu was an unordered list with the default structure and only a little color styling. It was the resources that I believe control this behavior that I was unable to edit, so the lack of positioning and the Manager white-pages may be related.

Until it's ready for Revo 2.3 I can't do any more with it.