{{Infobox Software |
|name = MODx CMS
|logo = [[Image:Modx_logo.png]]
|screenshot = [[Image:Modx_default_home.png|200px]]
|caption = [[Screenshot]] of a default MODx install.
|developer = The MODx Development Team
|latest_release_version = 0.9.6
|latest_release_date = [[May 25]], [[2007]]
|operating_system = [[Cross-platform]]
|genre = [[Content Management System]]
|license = [[GNU General Public License|GPL]]
|website = [http://modxcms.com modxcms.com]
}}
'''MODx''' is an [[open-source]] [[content management system]] based on [[PHP]] with a [[MySQL]] backend, and is used in the creation and management of websites. Development of the software is managed by [[Ryan Thrash]] and [[Jason Coward]], as well as the entire MODx Development Team. MODx began as a [[fork (software)|fork]] of the Etomite Content Management System in 2005.

The system can be fully configured and managed using a web-based interface from any modern [[Web browser]]. MODx requires a [[Web server]] with support for the PHP extension such as [[Apache HTTP Server]], [[Lighttpd]], or [[Internet Information Services|IIS]]. To use "[[Url#Clean_URLs|Friendly URLs]]", the web server must be compiled with a [[Rewrite engine]].

The system itself is released as [[free software]] under the [[GNU General Public License]], and is completely free to use and distribute. 

==History of MODx==
MODx started out as a module that integrated with [[Etomite]] Content Management System. When the main developer of Etomite left the project to start work on a commercial software, [[Ryan Thrash]] and [[Raymond Irving]], the creators of the MODx module, decided to [[fork (software)|fork]] the project and continue the project in their own direction. Etomite and MODx were effectively split over the weekend of [[March 19]], [[2005]].<ref>{{cite web |date=2005-3-25 |title=MODx Forum Announcement By Ryan Thrash |url=http://modxcms.com/forums/index.php/topic,8.0.html |accessdate=2007-8-9}}</ref>

Since then, the development team behind MODx has worked on ironing out the [[Software bug|bugs]] and improving MODx based on their original intentions. In August [[2005]], Ryan Thrash was interviewed on opensourcecms.com about MODx, and revealed some background information on the project, as well as some of the team's future plans for the software.<ref>{{cite web |date=2005-8-6 |title=MODx Interview on OpensourceCMS.com | url=http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2091&Itemid=156 |accessdate=2007-8-9}}</ref>

"MODx" is in fact a working-name for the project until the developers decide on a suitable name for the content management system. While the preliminary code on the system is complete, the developers continue to overhaul the core code and focus on making the system as modular as possible. The application itself will be very "slim", but will be packaged with various modules and "snippets" (the MODx equivalent to a PHP script). The new core will be based on a custom library of [[PHP_Data_Objects|PDO]], known as OpenExpedio ("xPDO" for short). This means that, although MODx currently only supports MySQL, it will be possible to use with any other [[SQL]] system such as [[PostgreSQL]] or [[Mssql|Microsoft SQL]]. The 1.0 release of MODx has been dubbed "Tattoo".

==Features==
The intention of MODx is to be as modular as possible, and is designed to be a [[Content management framework|framework]] for custom scripts. On a completely "fresh" install, there is very little in terms of functionality, and the idea behind this is simple: to avoid the unneeded [[Bloatware]] that some users may not need, and to only include the functions that the developer needs to run his or her site. MODx is also bundled with a number of "snippets", also known as PHP scripts, and "modules", the scripts that are designed to integrate with the system's backend, or "manager". Essentially, snippets and modules extend the functionality of MODx, and can do just about anything a normal PHP script can do. For example, the [http://ditto.modxcms.com Ditto] snippet aggregates the content from documents and can be used to create a blog or news archive.

MODx contains a built-in user permissions system for both the frontend and Manager, meaning that users will only have access to exactly what they need. When logged into the Manager, users will have access to the QuickEdit module; an interface for editing the current page directly from the frontend.

The system allows for custom content types, and allows the user to define specific types of documents (such as [[CSS]] or [[XML]] ). This essentially means that ''all'' of your content, can be stored in a database, and can contain MODx tags such as snippet calls or template variables. MODx uses file-based caching for documents, which simply means that the database will not need to be queried for every page load, thus improving performance. 

Out of the box, MODx contains a "Friendly URL" setting which allows the user to configure URLs to their liking. It allows for setting prefixes (e.g. "page_") and suffixes (e.g. ".html"), and allows for preserving the directory structure of the website. Documents in MODx are based on a [[Tree structure]], and can consist of parents (containers, much like a folder), and children (sub-folders and documents). 

MODx uses a script library known as [[Mootools]] for most of its [[JavaScript]] and [[Ajax (programming)|AJAX]] functions, which means that developers will have a starting point for their own JavaScript and AJAX applications.

==Community==
The official MODx Community Forums are home to a number of users to seek and offer support with the CMS or programming in general, discuss issues with the system, and to share resources such as [[Web templates]], modules and snippets. As of August 2007, the forums are made up of 8,200 members, 15,000 topics and 106,000 posts. While the main forum is based in English, there are also sections for international support in 14 different languages. There are also areas of the board for hiring freelance programmers and designers to develop custom resources for third-party MODx site owners.

Commercial support packages are planned to be released over the summer of 2007, and are currently in the process of being finalized. <ref>{{cite web |date=2007-6-28 |title=Pre-Announcement of Commercial Support Options for MODx |url=http://modxcms.com/forums/index.php/topic,16100.0.html |accessdate=2007-8-9}}</ref>

==Release History==
*0.9.6 - [[May 25]] [[2007]]
*0.9.5 - [[December 5]] [[2006]]
*0.9.2 - [[April 25]] [[2006]]
*0.9.1 - [[December 23]] [[2005]]
*0.9.0 - [[October 8]] [[2005]]
*Tech Preview 3.2 - [[August 23]] [[2005]]
*Tech Preview 3.1 - [[July 24]] [[2005]]
*Tech Preview 3.0 - [[July 17]] [[2005]]
*Tech Preview 2.1 - [[June 1]] [[2005]]
*Tech Preview 2.0 - [[May 27]] [[2005]]
*Tech Preview 1.0 - [[April 10]] [[2005]]

==See Also==
{{portalpar|Free software}}
*[[List of content management systems]]
*[[List of content management frameworks]]
*[[Content management system]]
*[[Comparison of content management systems]]

==Learning MODx==
The following links and resources can be used as tools for learning MODx.

*[http://modxhost.com/ modXhost] - A site containing tutorials on installing and customizing MODx.
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgcc9VJ3pp4 MODxCMS E-Learning] - A German video tutorial on using MODx to publish content.
==Literature==
*{{cite book
|last = 
|first = 
|year = [[May 10]] [[2007]]
|publisher = ??????
|title = MODx????!???CMS??? (???) 
|id = ISBN 978-4-88166-573-2
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External Links==
*[http://modxcms.com/ Official MODx Website]
*[http://modxcms.com/forums/index.php MODx Support Forums]
*[http://wiki.modxcms.com/index.php/Main_Page MODx Wiki]
*[http://ajaxian.com/archives/modx-cms-an-ajaxphp-content-system MODx Review on Ajaxian.com]
*[http://www.xpdo.org/ xPDO Development Site]
*[http://mootools.net/ Mootools Website]

[[Category:Open source content management systems]]
[[Category:PHP programming language]]
[[Category:Software forks]]

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