[inzid]

Hey there,
New to this website and keen to get inspired by you all..

Im on my 3rd year of a design course majoring in webdesign I know how to code (but not very well) i just love designing..

I want to code a website I have currently designed (still got abit more to do) but once iv done all that I want to implement a CMS.

How do I go about it? Do I find a CMS and then code my website into the CMS? if so how? any tutorials?

whats a good CMS? I am clueless about CMS and wish to learn more about it.

[b.]

I'm not really that experienced in web-design, but I've been hearing some good things about MODx (I'm thinking of teaching myself). Drupal is also highly spoken of, though apparently it's really difficult to learn. If you want a blog only, Wordpress is the best out there, but I know from experience that twisting it to do something other than that isn't the most ideal way to do things.

Hopefully someone else could give you a better idea though.

For tutorials, Google is your friend.

[Ahabstein]

just have a look at the Drupal.org

[pedge]

Definately modX for my vote - try most of them via this link Open Source CMS / Portals Scripts - OpenSourceCMS

[b.]

Hey Pedge, how good is modx at blogging? From what I've read so far it's harder to set up than wordpress, and isn't as developed in that regard. Could you run wordpress inside modx?

[pedge]

It is a bit complicated at first, but you just use the built in 'Ditto' plugin. If I recall, this is how you set it up to begin with:

1. Create a new page (lets call it 'Blog') in the manager, edit it and click on Page Settings tab and deselect Rich Text. Save it and then put this code:

[!Ditto? &startID=`45`&sortBy=`createdon` &sortDir=`DESC` &summarize=`5`  &total=`5`&tpl=`blogclip`!]

into its Document Content.

2. 'blogclip' (referred to in above) is a chunk of that name containing something like:

<h1><a href="[~[+id+]~]">[+longtitle+]</a></h1>
<h3>[+introtext+]</h3>
<p><a href="[~[+id+]~]">Read this post.</a></p>
<h6>Posted on [+date+]<h6>

You only need to create this once - you can add images and stuff to it if you want. This is the template your blog previews will use.

3. Now whenever you want to create your post, just right click on 'Blog' in the manager and select Create document here.

4. You put some preview text which is shown in the chunk into Summary (introtext) area and the main content of the post goes into the Document Content. Save it and publish it and it should appear when you click 'Blog' on your navigation.

That's basically it - its long winded compared to Wordpress but its not meant to be blogging software; the above works for blogs as well as news pages, job postings etc.

Hope that helps...

[pedge]

Try this:

Ditto - MODx Wiki

Ditto

[b.]

Thanks for that - I might have a try. Was going to use my portfolio as an excuse to learn it, but I wanted to add a blog as well. Does it offer many export options, like with wordpress?

[pedge]

Haven't a clue - not got that far with it!

I just use it for content management, not really got into blogging.

[b.]

Hmm - might have to do some more digging before I get too far into it. This is one article I've found: Using WordPress in the Modx CMS Although I've got a basic understanding of PHP, I'm not really a coder, so that makes things a little difficult.

When I saw the marketing jazz on the modx website I thought it was a godsend, but I just don't want to box myself into something that will be hard to switch from in the future. That's the beauty of using Wordpress for blogs - its mature, and good at what it does.

This is what I mean about exporting: Administration Panels « WordPress Codex

[pedge]

Exacto - each system is good at what it does, its just choosing the system that does what you want it to do.

ModX can seem quite intimidating when it starts talking about snippets and template variables but its not once you've had a dabble with it. I'm predominantly a print designer who has adjusted to the web but I draw the line at programming. I understand the basics of php and can hack and slash prewritten code but if I can fathom it out I'm sure you can...

[b.]

Originally Posted by pedge

I understand the basics of php and can hack and slash prewritten code

Yep, that's basically where I'm at. I studied C and PHP in my last two years at high school so I'm pretty good at understanding syntax and logic, but I'm hopeless when it comes to writing anything from scratch.

[Tom]

@bjzaba & pedge

I keep meaning to learn a proper CMS, and MODx will be my choice, already had a little play around at work at it looks doable (for someone with limited tech skills like myself, I only know HTML/CSS, have no idea about PHP etc).

As as few of us on here are interested in it, shall I create a sticky dedicated MODx thread in the CMS forum on here? We could share resources/tips etc.

[Tekka]

Yes please

I'm exactly the same as Tom_E, php is a bit of a blur really even though I have had a little bit of training on it. Basically I like looking at pretty pictures and type, not code, but understand basic html

Really need to dedicate some time to MODx to get my site functional and use it as a good learning curve to start selling sites, so any dedicated thread like some of the others across the forums would be great

[b.]

Originally Posted by Tom_E

As as few of us on here are interested in it, shall I create a sticky dedicated MODx thread in the CMS forum on here? We could share resources/tips etc.

That'd be great Mr Mod. Call it 'modx madness' or something.

[Tom]

Excellent, bit busy at the mo, will create thread after work later.

[b.]

A nice comparison of modx vs wordpress: MODx vs Wordpress « Web Design South Yorkshire

I guess I'd be looking at using modx because I'd like to learn to use a CMS before I start even thinking about getting clients, but I don't think I'd be able to get my head around the other contenders (drupal, joomla etc.).

[Tekka]

I found Joomla a bit complicated and restraining. that might sound ridiculous to someone who uses it a lot but i just found it a bit frustrating trying to make a template into something how i actually wanted it to look

that's why i want to learn MODx

[pedge]

Thing about modX though, you don't need to understand PHP - so long as you can install it (using the installer), set up a MYSQL database and chmod permissions if needed, its all done via the Manager frontend. Here's some tips for the 'Resources > Manage Resources' tab which is what you will use most of the time:

Templates - this is where you create a template which contains the body of your webpage. You can make as many templates as you want which means every page you make you can choose a different template for (ideal for portfolios etc). So make your webpage in dreamweaver or Coda etc and copy the code and paste it into your new template. Then, go through it and strip out any placeholder text and replace it with modX tags (such as [*content*] for the main content and [*pagetitle*] for the page title) or template variables which are custom tags you make up...

Template variables - these are custom placeholders; so if you want a picture to appear in a specific place you create a new template variable (TV) and assign it a value such as an image etc. So, you create a TV with a name (lets call it MyMainImage) and refer to it in your main layout/template (where you want MyMainImage to appear) using [*MyMainImage*]. When you're entering the content of your page, as you scroll down it you will find a new field where you can select your image. When you save the page (and publish it) and view it you will see where [*MyMainImage*] is referred it now has the image you selected. That's basically how they work...

Chunks - these are chunks(!) of reusable code which you can place on each page; so you could do your main navigation as a chunk and refer to it in the template and then everytime you need to tweak the nav you just tweak the chunk and that's it. Its also used for Ditto (the blog thing I mentioned above) where the code is (I believe) parsed and actioned when the chunk is called. I'm no coder - probably didn't explain that properly but thats what it does for me...

Snippets - not done a lot with these but they can be used to logically determine who is logged in, do dynamic menus, process forms and do search functions etc.

Meta Tags & Keywords - you can set it to automatically add meta tags etc from the 'Resources > Manage Meta Tags & Keywords' section - define them in there and then when you create or edit a page you can select the ones you want to use from your predefined list.

That's a brief overview - I'm no coder so sorry if I muxed up the jargon but the modX developer guide answers all your questions and the forums are even better.

Read more here: Developer's Guide - MODx Documentation

MODx Community Forums - Index

[weldo]

i last looked at modx about 3 years ago ... i was just getting into it - it looked good.

maybe i'll have another look ?