Posted by: Anonymous
[ip: 12.48.5.194]
on January 18, 2008 05:58 PM
Adam,
It appears that you have a lot of misconceptions about what MODx is and isn't. MODx is a framework and isn't just another portal system. It's a highly flexible open-ended framework that allows you to build sites with web standards in mind. And, you're right, a CMS like Plone can be a real pain in the ass to work with.
I've tried most of the other PHP based CMS apps out there and the one thing that always turned me off with them is the the proprietary nature of their templating systems. They're just too complex. I always felt like I should be able to build a template around my site design rather than building my site around a particular templating system. And that's what MODx allows you to do. The templating capabilities in MODx are not complex at all. In fact, you can pretty much built templates any way you want and use placeholders for information like the title of the page, javascript includes, and the like. So, unlike other CMS apps that have highly complex and confusing templating systems (Plone, Joombla, just to name a few) the MODx templating system is an absolute breeze by comparison.
Every CMS stores some HTML code in a database. That's just how a CMS works. Some, like Movable Type, will allow you to spit out the site as HTML files on the server. Others, like MODx, use a caching system so that calls to the database are kept at a minimum and reduce bandwidth. It the case of MODx, most pages can be loaded from a cached version and a call to the database isn't even required. So why exactly is it a problem that HTML code is stored in a database?
On a similar note, MODx doesn't limit designer from not using WYSIWYG tools. In fact, it's just the opposite. Template can be built using just about any HTML coding apps out there (including Dreamweaver!). A designer can then implement a template by simply replacing certain parts like the title, content, and such with simple placeholders that the MODx parser understands. The result is that the end user (the person actually keeping the site up to date) doesn't have to fuss with any HTML code and can realistically keep the site up to date with very little knowledge of HTML code. That's what business owners want and that is what MODx empowers web developers and designers to do for those business owners. Can your simple templating system do that?
Also, to really use MODx to the fullest, you have to know how to program. Plugins, snippets, modules, and the like are all written using PHP. You can't write any of this stuff on your own if you haven't learned how to program with PHP. Good, well written plugins, snippets, and modules do follow patterns and are highly reusable. It's only the bad one that turn into spaghetti code. And that's what MODx is all about....giving developers the tools to write highly reusable code in an environment that is friendly to end-users. Reality check, chief...if you're not writing for end-users then you're screwed.
In regards to other comments....you're right, PostgreSQL isn't currently supported....but it will be! The guts of the MODx parser has been completely re-developed and built off of xPDO (www.xpdo.org). I'm not sure yet about the time frame but it should be released before the middle of the year. :)
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Misconceptions
Posted by: Anonymous [ip: 12.48.5.194] on January 18, 2008 05:58 PMIt appears that you have a lot of misconceptions about what MODx is and isn't. MODx is a framework and isn't just another portal system. It's a highly flexible open-ended framework that allows you to build sites with web standards in mind. And, you're right, a CMS like Plone can be a real pain in the ass to work with.
I've tried most of the other PHP based CMS apps out there and the one thing that always turned me off with them is the the proprietary nature of their templating systems. They're just too complex. I always felt like I should be able to build a template around my site design rather than building my site around a particular templating system. And that's what MODx allows you to do. The templating capabilities in MODx are not complex at all. In fact, you can pretty much built templates any way you want and use placeholders for information like the title of the page, javascript includes, and the like. So, unlike other CMS apps that have highly complex and confusing templating systems (Plone, Joombla, just to name a few) the MODx templating system is an absolute breeze by comparison.
Every CMS stores some HTML code in a database. That's just how a CMS works. Some, like Movable Type, will allow you to spit out the site as HTML files on the server. Others, like MODx, use a caching system so that calls to the database are kept at a minimum and reduce bandwidth. It the case of MODx, most pages can be loaded from a cached version and a call to the database isn't even required. So why exactly is it a problem that HTML code is stored in a database?
On a similar note, MODx doesn't limit designer from not using WYSIWYG tools. In fact, it's just the opposite. Template can be built using just about any HTML coding apps out there (including Dreamweaver!). A designer can then implement a template by simply replacing certain parts like the title, content, and such with simple placeholders that the MODx parser understands. The result is that the end user (the person actually keeping the site up to date) doesn't have to fuss with any HTML code and can realistically keep the site up to date with very little knowledge of HTML code. That's what business owners want and that is what MODx empowers web developers and designers to do for those business owners. Can your simple templating system do that?
Also, to really use MODx to the fullest, you have to know how to program. Plugins, snippets, modules, and the like are all written using PHP. You can't write any of this stuff on your own if you haven't learned how to program with PHP. Good, well written plugins, snippets, and modules do follow patterns and are highly reusable. It's only the bad one that turn into spaghetti code. And that's what MODx is all about....giving developers the tools to write highly reusable code in an environment that is friendly to end-users. Reality check, chief...if you're not writing for end-users then you're screwed.
In regards to other comments....you're right, PostgreSQL isn't currently supported....but it will be! The guts of the MODx parser has been completely re-developed and built off of xPDO (www.xpdo.org). I'm not sure yet about the time frame but it should be released before the middle of the year. :)
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