Category: Screencasts

From XHTML/CSS to MODx Template – Part 1

In this first part of a series of five screencasts, we are going to go through the process of porting an XHTML/CSS template into a MODx website.  I recorded these screencasts while working on an actual live project so there’s a bit of fumbling and issues that come up that I try to think and work through. I thought it would be an interesting teaching and learning experience on working with MODx templates and I hope that someone will find this series helpful and instructive.

As I mention in the screencast, I am not doing a written version of this information because it’s all pretty much the same as I covered in the MODx beginner series (see useful links below).  Bear in mind as you watch this screencast that the website we’re working on is a project in progress and so it may appear different than you see it in this screencast.


Useful Links:

MODx Beginner Series
Drews Designs
MODx CMS

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

Beginner’s Corner Part 3 – Installing Scripts – WordPress, Drupal, etc.

In this third installment of the Beginner’s Corner series of screencasts, we’re going to put together what we’ve learned so far and start installing scripts on our local development environment.  We will learn the general steps that are involved in getting the scripts to run successfully on our local server.

In case you missed them, here are the links to the previous parts of the series:

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

Useful Links:
WampServer
XAMPP
MAMP
On Database Collation – http://oregonstate.edu/cws/docs/collation
How to Set Up Virtual Hosts on your Local Host

Beginner’s Corner Part 2 – Creating Projects, Databases, and Users

This is the second part of the Beginner’s Corner series of screencasts where we’re going back to basics and learning how to set up a local development environment.  In this installment, we look at how to create projects, where to put our project files and how to access them.  We also look at how to create databases and users in phpmyadmin and how to assign users to databases.

In case you missed it, here’s the link to part 1 of the series:
Beginner’s Corner Part 1 – Setting Up a Local Development Environment

Useful Links:
WampServer
XAMPP
MAMP
On Database Collation – http://oregonstate.edu/cws/docs/collation

Beginner’s Corner Part 1 – Setting Up a Local Development Environment

In today’s screencast, the first of a series, I am going to go all the way back to basics and walk you through setting up a local development environment (the easy way) on your computer that will allow you to code in PHP, develop applications, and test scripts such as WordPress, Drupal, MODx, etc.  This series of screencasts may be rudimentary for some of you, but I think that for the very rank beginners these may help lower the barrier to entering the world of web development.

Useful Links:
WampServer
XAMPP
MAMP