ModX Review

Note: This post is over a year and a half old. You may want to check later in this blog to see if there is new information.

I always promise a post (I said I’d write a short TextMate tutorial), and then find something terribly exciting to write about before I get the intended post finished. And this one is exciting. If you’re using Joomla/Mambo and looking for an XHTML/CSS solution, read on.

ModX CMSI had initially passed over the ModX CMS because it was too new. That was silly of me. I downloaded the most recent version over New Year’s weekend and went to work on it and I’m absolutely in love. In short, I’ve finally found a CMS that can:

  • handle large site structures
  • is extremely simple for clients to edit
  • is 100% XHTML compliant and CSS driven
  • has an excellent templating structure
  • is completely extensible
  • has a multitude of plugins (chunks, snippets, Template Variables, themes, etc.) available
  • comes with a huge and friendly user community
  • is open source
  • and has simple, non-excessive Ajax goodness to boot.

It blows me away that I still even hear about Joomla and Mambo while something like this is on the open source market. Ajaxian covered it back in July, and it’s been mentioned on several of the CMS sites, but it’s not as well known as it should be. Seriously, with the flexibility of Wordpress and a friendlier interface for clients, and it’s actually W3C friendly by default, this should be a lot more popular among my grade of web designer. And it’s hackable (and GPL). It runs on LAMP and probably WAMP, although I’d never try. I have it running on my local OSX machine right now and have tested in on PHP4 and 5. I was able to put together a template in about 20 minutes, including a wicked photo gallery that was easy to upload to and included sub-galleries and a choice of lightbox-esque libraries.

It’s a simple matter to write plugins and insert them directly into the architecture. The integration isn’t seamless, but the promises of “Tattoo” are very tasty. I went out on the net trying to figure out why I don’t hear more about this software but found nothing but good things people had to say about it. And the support, which I always consider the most important aspect of the software, appears to be tremendous. Their user forum has over 69,000 posts and many thousands of direct responses from the developers.

I would still choose Expanse CMS for its specific audience, but for mid-size sites (I’m working on two right now that are immediately being transferred to ModX) this is my new first choice.

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8 Comments

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  1. Maniquí 01.03.07 / 12pm

    I have heard about ModXCMS before… I tend to think that it’s just a copy of Textpattern. Of course, it could have many improvements.

    But i’m in love with Textpattern. Have you ever tried it?
    I think there is nothing you can’t make with TxP.

  2. GiorgosK 01.07.07 / 6am

    I have looked at modxcms but, I personally like Drupal a lot. The only sin that it has commited so far is that it has not attracted enough web designers to make it look stunning but, this is changing rapidly … other than that its a brilliant cms.

  3. brett 01.07.07 / 7am

    I love Drupal for “organic” sites that require a lot of user interaction, but don’t find it ideal for pseudo-static sites that just require a basic CMS. I’m working on a ModX site at this very moment and finding it pretty simple and intuitive. There are a few shortcomings, but I’m really liking the flexibility of the interface. I have to admit that my experience with Textpattern has been limited and I’m willing to give it another shot. When I tried it out I didn’t find it to be friendly enough for my clients, but I haven’t looked at it for a long time and didn’t give it much of a chance when I did.

  4. Susan 01.17.07 / 12pm

    Regarding MAMP, I develop MODx templates and apps on it, and also the beta of MAMP Pro. No problem, either php4 or php5.

  5. Mike 01.29.07 / 4pm

    I used Textpattern for many sites and loved it. It is wonderful. I also use MODx a LOT and love it too. TXP lends itself more to article-driven sites. MODx is more flexible IMHO. Though both are extremely awesome! :)

  6. Content Management Systems (CMS) Reviews : Voodoochilli Design Blog Content Management Systems (CMS) Reviews content custom cms’s, website, would, 03.03.07 / 5am

    […] found a very positive, and more detailed review where by the author says “It blows me away that I still even hear about Joomla and Mambo while […]

  7. Web Development Forums 09.10.07 / 4pm

    MODx is my professional CMS of choice.

    Even though it’s not defined as a “CMS” … but a “framework” since you can build anything you want from it.

    MODx FTW!

  8. Debbie 09.27.07 / 10pm

    Hi there! I also enjoy using MODx and created a one page overview with links to free MODx templates, examples of sites powered by MODx, and other reviews comparing MODx to Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla and Expression Engine.
    http://www.squidoo.com/modxcms

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