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Choosing a web CMS and  an introduction to Modx March 2010
Joe Lee Senior Developer at Artemis 8 Digital Performance Agency Develop mainly in PHP / Mysql Enjoy working with Javascript ...enough about me... NEXT! Who is this guy ?
What I will be babbling about... What is a Web CMS? CMS or development framework? What choices are there? What I wanted from a CMS Introducing Modx Building a website in <5mins Questions?
What is a Web CMS ? Content management system “… implemented as a  Web application  , for creating and managing  HTML   content. It is used to manage and control a large, dynamic collection of Web material (HTML documents and their associated images). A WCMS facilitates  content   creation, content control, editing, and essential Web maintenance functions.&quot;
CMS or development framework? Brochureware = few pages and minimal functionality? CMS How many ‘types ’ of pages?  All holding copy or media we produce? CMS What is the content? Most data driven from and/or aggregated from external source. Dev Framework How rich is the functionality? Sounds like a web app? Dev framework Can’t be bothered with building another admin system ? CMS ;)
What are the choices ? Some choices: Joomla Drupal Wordpress Mambo MojoPortal Umbraco DotNetNuke ....Plus loads more
http://php.opensourcecms.com/
“ Where do I start?” What I was looking for…
Flexible - Good templating system Easy to pick  up - No learning new mark up language Doesn’t mess with their mark up! Designer friendly
Developer friendly Easy code integration Good hook system for future extensibility Handy core libraries to help with the boring stuff Flexible content fields Efficient solution for tiered content structures Active dev forums
SEO / Content people friendly Fast way to manage the META tags Easy to change friendly URLS /Slugs Flexibility to change meta tags  without hassling the developers/designer Intuitive content management workflow
The solution?
Modx Introduction bit CMS framework Written in PHP / Mysql Two flavours Evolution – Production ready (1.0.2) Revolution – Complete rewrite, beta. Full api and OOP based. (2.0)
History lesson bit Started life as a mashup of another CMS, Etomite 2004 Modx mention got removed from the forum and got forked. Won “ Most Promising Open Source CMS ” Packt award in 2007
Cool modx stuff
Simple template system Basic markup = “Chunk” Chunk can be used in templates Allows the static content to be separated in any way you like Nice logical separation of content elements Modx does not try add anything (aka muck up) your tags Makes it very easy for designers to pick up
Easy to put in code! Code bits = “Snippet” Eg snippet called “greeting” <php Echo “Hello “.$person; ?> [[greeting? &person=`joe`]] Separate admin system to manage code snippets
Great core functionality Wayfinder – Powerful snippet to build navigation elements  eg main nav, sub nav and site map Ditto – A content aggregator snippet  eg blogging and news Eform – Build forms quickly WebLogin – Registered user management Changing content from the public pages
Great core functionality (pt2) Chunks/snippets can be cached Scheduled publishing/unpublishing Full user access level control and defining ��roles”
Template variables! Powerful way to create custom fields Placed anywhere in a template/chunk Or as a variable into a snippet
Building a Modx site  in < 5 mins
5 part plan to start on Modx Download Modx from  http://modxcms.com/ Read through the excellent tutorials from  http ://codingpad.maryspad.com/beginner-tutorials/ Bookmark modx cheatsheet  http://tinyurl.com/modxCheatsheet   Browse through the plugins/addins available  http://modxcms.com/extras/   Ask questions on the forums - they are a friendly and active bunch!  http://modxcms.com/forums/  
Questions?
Thank you for listening! twitter:  @thiswayup Email:  [email_address] website :  joelee.me.uk

More Related Content

Choosing A Web Cms And Intro To Modx

  • 1. Choosing a web CMS and an introduction to Modx March 2010
  • 2. Joe Lee Senior Developer at Artemis 8 Digital Performance Agency Develop mainly in PHP / Mysql Enjoy working with Javascript ...enough about me... NEXT! Who is this guy ?
  • 3. What I will be babbling about... What is a Web CMS? CMS or development framework? What choices are there? What I wanted from a CMS Introducing Modx Building a website in <5mins Questions?
  • 4. What is a Web CMS ? Content management system “… implemented as a  Web application  , for creating and managing  HTML   content. It is used to manage and control a large, dynamic collection of Web material (HTML documents and their associated images). A WCMS facilitates  content   creation, content control, editing, and essential Web maintenance functions.&quot;
  • 5. CMS or development framework? Brochureware = few pages and minimal functionality? CMS How many ‘types ’ of pages? All holding copy or media we produce? CMS What is the content? Most data driven from and/or aggregated from external source. Dev Framework How rich is the functionality? Sounds like a web app? Dev framework Can’t be bothered with building another admin system ? CMS ;)
  • 6. What are the choices ? Some choices: Joomla Drupal Wordpress Mambo MojoPortal Umbraco DotNetNuke ....Plus loads more
  • 8. “ Where do I start?” What I was looking for…
  • 9. Flexible - Good templating system Easy to pick up - No learning new mark up language Doesn’t mess with their mark up! Designer friendly
  • 10. Developer friendly Easy code integration Good hook system for future extensibility Handy core libraries to help with the boring stuff Flexible content fields Efficient solution for tiered content structures Active dev forums
  • 11. SEO / Content people friendly Fast way to manage the META tags Easy to change friendly URLS /Slugs Flexibility to change meta tags without hassling the developers/designer Intuitive content management workflow
  • 13. Modx Introduction bit CMS framework Written in PHP / Mysql Two flavours Evolution – Production ready (1.0.2) Revolution – Complete rewrite, beta. Full api and OOP based. (2.0)
  • 14. History lesson bit Started life as a mashup of another CMS, Etomite 2004 Modx mention got removed from the forum and got forked. Won “ Most Promising Open Source CMS ” Packt award in 2007
  • 16. Simple template system Basic markup = “Chunk” Chunk can be used in templates Allows the static content to be separated in any way you like Nice logical separation of content elements Modx does not try add anything (aka muck up) your tags Makes it very easy for designers to pick up
  • 17. Easy to put in code! Code bits = “Snippet” Eg snippet called “greeting” <php Echo “Hello “.$person; ?> [[greeting? &person=`joe`]] Separate admin system to manage code snippets
  • 18. Great core functionality Wayfinder – Powerful snippet to build navigation elements eg main nav, sub nav and site map Ditto – A content aggregator snippet eg blogging and news Eform – Build forms quickly WebLogin – Registered user management Changing content from the public pages
  • 19. Great core functionality (pt2) Chunks/snippets can be cached Scheduled publishing/unpublishing Full user access level control and defining “roles”
  • 20. Template variables! Powerful way to create custom fields Placed anywhere in a template/chunk Or as a variable into a snippet
  • 21. Building a Modx site in < 5 mins
  • 22. 5 part plan to start on Modx Download Modx from  http://modxcms.com/ Read through the excellent tutorials from http ://codingpad.maryspad.com/beginner-tutorials/ Bookmark modx cheatsheet  http://tinyurl.com/modxCheatsheet   Browse through the plugins/addins available  http://modxcms.com/extras/   Ask questions on the forums - they are a friendly and active bunch!  http://modxcms.com/forums/  
  • 24. Thank you for listening! twitter: @thiswayup Email: [email_address] website : joelee.me.uk