Category: MODX

How to Install MODx CMS – Screencast

In this screencast, we will go through the process of installing MODx CMS.  While we will do this install on a local development environment using WampServer, the steps for installing on a remote host are exactly the same with two notable exceptions:

  1. On a remote server you would use an FTP client or something similar to upload the files
  2. Most hosts will add a prefix to the database name and database username, so you need to make sure you enter the full name including the prefix when preparing to install.

While MODx can create the database for you, I have found that this doesn’t always work on some servers, so in this screencast I create the database separate from the install and just let the installer detect and connect to the database I’ve already created.  I hope you find this screencast helpful.

Useful Links:

Beginner’s Corner Part 1 – Setting Up a Local Development Environment
Beginner’s Corner Part 2 – Creating Projects, Databases, and Users
MODx Beginner Tutorials

How to Update a Website from MODx 0.9.6.3 to MODx 1.0.0 – Screencast

In this screencast I will go over how to update a MODx Evolution 0.9.6.3 website to MODx Evolution 1.0.0 by taking one of my MODx sites and updating it while walking you through my process.

I don’t believe there’s a particular prescription to this, what I go through here is my own process. I look forward to your comments on how you do your updates, any suggestions on making the process smoother (if possible 🙂 ), and any ideas, questions, corrections and such.

More Reading:
http://svn.modxcms.com/docs/display/MODx096/Upgrading

MODx Evolution 0.9.6.3 and 1.0.0 Manager Backend Comparison

Welcome to my very first screencast ever 🙂 This screencast covers very briefly some of the differences between the manager backends in MODx CMS 0.9.6.3 and 1.0.0 and might be useful for anyone following the series of MODx tutorials who is using MODx Evo 1.0.0.

I recorded this this afternoon and will be very interested in getting your feedback and thoughts. Obviously I’m a complete newbie at this and there’s lots of room for improvement, but it was fun.

One thing I did notice is that there’s a bit of a time lag between the audio and the video especially in the second half of the tutorial, and even after a few takes I couldn’t seem to get rid of it, so any suggestions are welcome. I’m using Camstudio with the ffdshow Video Codec. This is best viewed in fullscreen format. You can also watch it on Vimeo (without annotations) here: http://vimeo.com/6521761

Building a Website With MODx for Newbies – Part 11: Adding Comments with Jot

Welcome to part 11 of our series of tutorials on building a website with MODx CMS. So far we’ve looked at:

Part 1: Introduction to MODx
Part 2: Installing MODx
Part 3: Working with Templates
Part 4: Introducing Chunks
Part 5: Introducing Snippets
Part 6: Introducing Template Variables
Part 7: Introducing Ditto
Part 8: More Ditto
Part 9: Adding a Contact Form with eForm
Part 10: Adding Search Functionality with ajaxSearch

As we work through this series we’re building a MODx resource site –  Learn MODx, adding functionality and expanding our knowledge. So far our website looks like this:

tut11modxcms

One of the core things that is desirable in any modern website is user interaction.  So far we’ve implemented a contact form to allow our visitors to contact us, but in this post we’re going to go a step further and create a way for users to comment on our library selections and share their thoughts about the books we’re recommending.  You can use this to add comments to a blog, or any other content type that you desire.

Continue reading “Building a Website With MODx for Newbies – Part 11: Adding Comments with Jot”

Want to Take MODx (Evolution or Revolution) for a Test Run?

trymodx

If you want to take MODx Revolution beta (or any other MODx release) for a test run without going through the install process for yourself, you can do so at MODx Demo, a website that lets you try out both the front end and the back end to get a feel for it.

Those of you who’ve been following my MODx tutorials already have a nice feel for Evolution but you may not have ventured into the world of MODx Revolution yet, so this is a great way to see what it looks like and get a feel for the changes.

Make sure you take a glance at the Demo limitations so you know what to expect.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: Looks like the demo has been removed from the site.  If I find another one or it gets restored I will post an update here.  If you guys know of any revo demos that people can play with let me know in the comments.