tutorial – The Coding Pad

MODx Video Tutorial: MODx Revolution Template Basics

I’ve just added a new screencast to the MODx Video Tutorials website on understanding MODx Revolution templates, tag syntax, and resource field tags.

To see the full notes and related links and such, and to ask questions and discuss this screencast, check out http://modxvideotutorials.com/modx-revolution-basics-understanding-modx-revolution-templates.

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:

On a remote server you would use an FTP client or something similar to upload the files
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:

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”

Quick Fix – How to Change a Document’s Parent in MODx

This post is a response to a question by one of my readers. In the comments for the post on Introducing MODx Snippets, Ian asked:

I accidentally created a page that was at a sub-level of the first page, turning the first page into a folder. I can’t figure out how to undo my mistake.

This is an easy mistake to make, and sometime you may just need to change which docs are in which container and such. Fortunately, it’s actually pretty easy to correct and there are a couple of ways to do it, let me walk you through them. (Remember you can click on all the screenshots to see a larger view)

To start off, here is a screenshot of my document tree. I have created a document named Home, and within it is a document titled About Us.

Continue reading “Quick Fix – How to Change a Document’s Parent in MODx”

From PSD to HTML to WordPress Video Tutorial Series

The folks over at Nettuts+ have posted today what promises to be the best PSD to HTML to WordPress Video tutorial series ever. To access this series, you need to be a member of the tuts+ network, one of the sponsors of our MODx Blog Contest.

Joining the tuts+ network is easy, it will cost you only $9 a month, or $22 for three months (better deal), or $78 for a year (best deal), and gives you access to the entire tuts+ network premium tutorials. This is not something you want to miss.

Here is a lesson overview:

Continue reading “From PSD to HTML to WordPress Video Tutorial Series”