From XHTML/CSS to MODx Template – Part 3

In part 3 of this series, we’re continue porting our template into MODx, and the focus here is working with chunks to organize and structure our template and make it more manageable.

Useful Links

MODx Beginner Tutorials –  Working with Chunks

From XHTML/CSS to MODx Template – Part 2

In part 2 of this series, we start pulling the XHTML/CSS template into the MODx website and using MODx placeholders to dynamically pull in information and settings into our site. I just want to quickly mention that the reason I had to address the issue with jQuery and QuickEdit is because I upgraded this site from 0.9.6.3 so QuickEdit module and plugin were present and active.  If you’re working on a website that started out in Evolution 1.0.+ I believe you will not have Quickedit because it’s not included in that package. Enjoy, and I look forward to your feedback.

Useful Links:

MODx Beginner Series
MODx Wiki – Tags/Placeholders
Using jQuery with other Libraries

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

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”