Freshness Abounds, Thanks to MODx

Those of you who are regular visitors to our site no doubt have noticed changes over the past few months, both in the way the site looks and, hopefully, the way it performs. We have switched the site to a content management system called MODx (http://www.MODxcms.com). It is an alternative to Joomla that is new to the scene, but has some very nice features.

MODx is open-source, which means there’s no need to spend hundreds of dollars on a custom-made solution (it’s free!), and no need to spend time on hold with technical support. The support system of MODx consists of a community forum that can be found at the official MODx site at http://www.MODxcms.com/. The software’s creators as well as other MODx VIPs visit the forums daily to assist with any troubles you may be having. They are friendly, knowledgeable, and never hesitant to help. There is also an extensive Wiki on site for additional tips and tutorials, as well as lots and lots of comprehensive documentation.

With MODx, site updates are a breeze. It’s never been simpler to create a footer or header for your site. Simply paste the HTML into a file (MODx calls them “chunks”) and call the chunk in any of your site’s pages to use your footer. This also means that if you ever want to update any of the information in the footer, all you have to do is update the code within the footer chunk, and the change will take effect on all pages using the footer chunk placeholder code. This method works not only for footers, but any pieces of information or code that you’d like to have repeated multiple times throughout your website.

Thought you needed to be an HTML expert to have a website? Nope. MODx makes it easy with an online editor that lets you type your content directly into a new document, and format it, add links, add images, and many other cool features without writing a line of code!

For developers, MODx is one of the most extensible platforms that can be found online today. There are a number of different ways you can customize every aspect of your site’s appearance and behavior:

• Chunks allow you to create custom HTML widgets you can use throughout your site.
• Snippets are blocks of PHP code you create that can do anything from display the current time to perform AJAX transactions on the fly. MODx comes equipped with several stock snippets that help make it a breeze to do things that might be more complicated in other CMSs. This means you have unlimited possibilities and the ability to create a truly great interactive website with relative ease.
• Plugins are PHP applications you can build to interact with the MODx framework and further enhance the user experience on your site.
• Templates are a standard part of any CMS worth its salt, and MODx does not disappoint. Just import your HTML, add any snippet calls and a call to the main content block, and you’re ready to go!
• Template Variables allow for yet more customization. They take user input or other variable values and can display them in anything from a ticker to a floating display box.
• Feeling left out of the Web 2.0 party? MODx comes with built in Prototype and mootools support, so you can have your Thickbox and animate it, too. Why not throw in an AJAX site search utility while you’re at it, it’s already built in!

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