MODx review

Rating: 7.5/10
Release version: 0.9.5
License: GNU/GPL, Open Source
Homepage: http://modxcms.com/
OpenSourceCMS.com demo
CMSMatrix.org listing

When I first heard of MODx I was impressed by something: the developers claimed it is a true SEO (search engine optimization) CMS. Although something like 80% to 85% of SEO work is done off-site, a good CMS will allow you to make all the changes you need to the content - a very rare thing in the content management world.

Did MODx stand up to the test? Well, yes, sort of. Read on for more details.

MODx requirements:

Linux or Windows.
Apache server with mod_rewrite.
PHP 4.3.10 or above.
MySQL 4.1.x or above.

MODx learning curve and usability:

Well, as with any content management system, there is a learning curve and MODx has a steep one.

First of all, the way everything works is mixed (or should I say messed) up. Unlike Drupal it does have a traditional back-end but the way it is organized doesn't make sense to me, as well as some of the terms (chunks are what other CMS call blocks, snippets are modules although MODx also has modules).

Let's say you want to add a form on a page: you have to create a page, go to the snippets section (which is in Resources -> Manage Resources -> Snippets; hard to remember the first couple of times), grab the code ( [[$code]] ) and then paste it in the page you created earlier and add a few variables for configuration.

One very annoying thing is the meta-tag input and use. In the back-end you have a special section where you define the type of meta-tags and their possible values. This means that when I create a new page that needs a new keyword I first have to go add it to the list and just then assign it to the page. Really uncomfortable if you ask me.

There are other things, but what I'm trying to say is that you'll need a day to get used to the system (if you don't have extensive experiences with content management systems it might take a little bit longer). It's not complicated, it's just unusual and you have to think what steps are necessary to achieve something.

MODx security:

From the user management point of view MODx made a good impression. There are 2 types of users: manager users and web users.

Web users are only able to log in to the site but not the back-end while manager users are able to log in to the back-end too. Also, you can specify roles that have certain permissions and then assign users to those roles and you aren't locked in to certain roles like in Wordpress.

MODx plugins and applications:

MODx is actually very flexible and this shows in what kinds of sites you can build. If you take a look over the resource listings on the official site you'll see a lot of extensions (298 at the moment) that you can use to customize your site. Plus, there are a few applications included in the distribution that are worth mentioning:

File manager - it's amazing that some content management systems don't have file managers included with the file distribution. Content management shouldn't be limited to what information is in the database, you should be able to manage the scripts and uploaded files as well.
Backup - this is a wonderful utility, especially considering the reliability of some hosting companies.
Import and Export static HTML - very useful when switching from or to another content management system.

Other applications, in the form of snippets:

AjaxSearch - ajax enabled search form with results highlighting.
Ditto - summarizes and lists pages to create blogs, catalogs, PR archives, bio listings and more.
eForm - robust form parser/processor with validation, multiple sending options, chunk/page support for forms and reports, and file uploads.
NewsPublisher - publish news articles directly from the web.
many others...

MODx documentation and support:

This is where I was a little bit surprised: although the forums are extremely active and there are few questions that don't get answered, the documentation is lacking a lot. Very unusual for a wiki to be underdeveloped when the forums are that active.

Still there is hope: the info that is there is easy to understand and apply, and I don't have a doubt that the wiki will gain some ground pretty soon.

In conclusion: MODx is not the Holy Grail of the content management world, but it is a very powerful and search engine friendly CMS. The reason I gave it a 7.5 out of 10 is because of the usability issues, making it a little bit more cumbersome to use than any CMS should be.