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The Revolution Starts Here

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Version 2.2.7-pl | 09-Apr-2013 | Release Notes
Universal for all servers including shared hosts.*

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MODX Revo 101 Tips for Starting Out Right

MODX Revolution Features

While a checkbox in every column does not reflect the true functionality, ease of development and user friendliness of a CMS, it can provide a general overview of basic capabilities. Here’s some of ours.

For Site Owners & Companies

  • Safe & Secure

    MODX takes security quite seriously. In fact, the entire architecture of MODX Revolution was created with security in mind. Every input is filtered, and every database query using the API occurs via prepared statements which eliminates the possibility of SQL injection compromises. And the team rigorously and continuously audits MODX to make sure we’re up to date and patching any new issues that may arise.

  • Boardroom Friendly

    MODX powers hundreds of thousands of websites. This is thanks mostly to adoption by our loyal army of geeks who’ve downloaded MODX software more than 1,000,000 times and that participate in its ongoing development and our Community. Now there is also a company that backs up MODX and stands behind the software with SLA-driven Commercial Support. That means website owners not only enjoy the benefits of a thriving Open Source product, but they also can rely on the insurance of a company standing behind MODX when needed.

  • Total Creative Freedom

    There are no systems comparable to MODX when it comes to creating robust sites, exactly how you want them to look, with zero creative restrictions. MODX thinks the site building tool should fit your creative vision, not impose restrictions and force compromises.

  • Unparalleled Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

    MODX allows you to control 100% of what is output with virtually no effort. Unlike other systems that require learning complex theming engines, in MODX you work with HTML and as many custom variables for the site you need. It takes minutes to build a site that performs amazingly well in Search Engines and because site builders are in total control and can change the output at any time, making tweaks is just a few clicks away.

  • Install How You Want—Where You Wish

    Flexible setup allows for 100% custom deployments. Install the core outside of web root and with custom folder names for added security, or support multiple MODX websites from a single set of files.

  • Install Add-ons from Within the App

    The MODX Transport Package system allows site administrators to install, upgrade and migrate Content, Templates, Add-ons or even complete websites without having to worry about dependencies or missing steps. All from a simple interface inside the MODX Manager that pulls remotely from the MODX website.

  • New Manager with Built-in Customization

    A fresh new interface built using the MODX API and driven by a custom implementation of ExtJS by Sencha gives MODX developers the ability to quickly develop custom interfaces and Add-ons. Developers can build sites that show only the fields and menu items needed for daily content users.

  • Enterprise-class Security, User Model & Authentication

    Attribute Based Access Control lists (ABAC) gives site administrators granular control over every aspect of MODX Revolutions websites. Authentication can occur via the built in user system, Active Directory, LDAP, OpenID or virtually any other system that can use the MODX API.

  • Fluent in i18n and l10n

    MODX Revolution brings multiple approaches to dealing with multi-language websites—there’s sure to be a proper approach for almost any website. Cultures and Contexts can work together to provide granular internationalization settings throughout the framework. This allows developers to define language, currency and date formats, or anything else that might need to be localized in a deployment.

For Site Admins & Geeks

  • Object-Oriented Core & API

    Rewritten from the ground up using xPDO, MODX makes working with custom data sources, even from multiple database types, a breeze. Coupled with a fully Object-Oriented API with a consistent architecture, this makes geeks very happy.

  • Contexts

    Contexts allow MODX configuration settings to be overridden, extended, isolated, or shared across domains, sub-domains, sub-sites, multi-sites, cultural-specific sections, specific web applications, etc.

  • Caching that Scales

    New core and partial-page caching techniques help reduce overall cache file-size as well as server resource loads on cache directories by organizing cache files into a hierarchical folder structure. The new MODX core also allows database result sets to be cached to file, memory (via memcached), or a custom cache handler, further reducing database loads and extending the ability to comfortably serve high-traffic sites.

  • Content Filtering

    Any MODX Element (TV, Content, Chunk, Placeholder) can have complex pre- and post-processing applied via Input and Output Filters. For instance you can use them to truncate passage of text, format dates, do math or anything you can imagine with a tiny bit of code.

  • Content Parser with Partial Page Caching

    MODX features a fully recursive, source-order processing parser. Any MODX Element including Snippets, Chunks, TVs and Placeholders can be uncached for partial page caching.

  • Extend without Resorting to Hacks

    MODX’s Object-Oriented core allows you to provide your own custom implementations of many core features without ever hacking the core code. This helps protect development investment and ensures a future upgrade path.

  • Custom Everything

    Developers can define classes to implement custom Resources such as web services, Ajax processors, to rich-media content handlers, or even integrate third-party template systems. Likewise developers can define their own content Elements for integrating external data sources. They can even define and work with custom Resources using custom tag tokens; e.g. [[-bobsCustomElement]].

  • Override Everything

    With MODX you’re not stuck with just one way to do things. If you have specific needs you can customize the way MODX works by extending the core classes. This includes the content parser, request and response handling, session, error handling, partial-page caching and database result-set caching.

  • Native JSON & Message Queue

    MODX includes and leverages the native JSON processing to interact with other systems RESTfully. It’s simple, built-in Message Queue allows publishing messages and subscribing to a message bus for sophisticated interaction with external systems in Enterprise applications.

  • Database-managed Sessions

    The default session handler configuration options enable compatibility with web server clustering techniques.

  • Core Logging

    Provides various error levels and output targets including ECHO, HTML, and FILE. Developers use this functionality in Add-ons for audit logs, error logs, debugging, or other logging needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the basic differences between MODX Revolution and MODX Evolution?

MODX Evolution is our classic code base that entered stable production release in 2005. As such it has a larger base of Add-ons that provide pre-built functionality and is highly optimized to perform well for many types of websites. MODX Revolution was created over a three year period and saw it’s first public release in 2010. It is a complete rewrite to address the needs of larger websites, and to offer a more scalable, configurable and feature-rich framework.

MODX Evolution may be faster for smaller sites, but MODX Revolution can scale to much larger, multi-server environments, including customizable caching, multiple database support (MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server). In addition MODX Revolution natively supports multiple websites, secure configurations with most files stored outside of web root. While both Evo and Revo support Resources (web pages) and Weblinks (redirecting links to other pages on the internet), MODX Revolution also includes Static Resources (static files on the filesystem), Symlinks (links to other pages that can maintain their position in dynamic menus), the ability to create custom resources and Media Sources which can store files literally anywhere that is accessible via an API (like Amazon S3).

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What type of server do I need?

Please see the General Server Requirements page. In short, most modern Linux and Windows server environments running the currently released PHP and database platforms should work. MODX Revolution only supports PHP 5.1 and above (excluding 5.1.6 and 5.2.0), but strongly recommends the latest stable release. Because of its architecture and design, you’ll likely find that MODX Revolution works best on more robust server environments; we suggest VPS or non-overprovisioned shared accounts as minimal configurations.

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What skill level is needed to build sites in MODX Revolution?

MODX Revolution has a growing collection of MODX Revolution Add-ons. Designers and site builders should be able to build a fully functional, custom websites without ever having to touch a line of PHP code, using some basic Add-ons, and the CSS/HTML and Javascript they already know.

For more advanced or custom functionality, it is helpful to work with a developer who is familiar with Object Oriented PHP and using PDO.

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Who is the ideal user of MODX Revolution websites?

Anyone with a modest amount of training can maintain and create content in a MODX Revolution website. Most sites require at most 1-2 hours of training to have productive contributors, publishers and content editors.

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Where can I get support?

MODX offers MODX Complete™ for companies and organizations that need “boardroom friendly” website solutions—turn key support, maintenance and consulting backed by a Service Level Agreement (SLA).

MODX Professionals also offer an excellent outlet for assistance. MODX Professionals are expert MODX developers who create, maintain and upgrade MODX websites.

Finally, MODX is well known for its friendly and helpful Open Source Community—our army of geeks who can answer just about any question you may have about MODX. The original project founders and current developers remain active in the community as well.

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Can I hire MODX to build a website for me?

You have two options for getting help building a MODX website. You can find a MODX Professional for local assistance, or you can also reach out directly to MODX to complete our project profile for consulting and to be matched with a solution provider.

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