MODX Field Notes: Summer 2025

A curated collection of MODX extras, updates, and tools from developer Jens Wittmann.

By Jens Wittmann  |  September 22, 2025  |  5 min read
Community Insights MODX CMS
MODX Field Notes: Summer 2025

Once again, Jens Wittmann has pulled together some of his recent finds and other things he's come across while working on projects and participating in the community. Enjoy Jens' Field Notes for Summer 2025. You can check out his previous Field Notes entry.

As the summer heat winds down and we head into early autumn, the MODX ecosystem continues to buzz with fresh tools, ideas, and updates. Here’s a roundup of what’s been happening in and around the MODX community recently.

Tools

  • Finetuned is working on a MODX CLI to speed up development tasks. Take a look and contribute to make it the official CLI!
  • When developing a MODX site locally and deploying to production and staging environments, you often need different system settings for each environment. SystemSettingsOverride v2 allows you to override system settings from the file system like SMTP details, point to a different Elasticsearch server or change the error_reporting level.
  • Want to find out about the latest Extras to the MODX world? Already using SiteDash? Great. Then subscribe to extras notifications in your settings to receive the latest updates directly in your inbox.
  • ModxRevolutionFileEventsPlugin running files corresponding to the event name. Simplify the management of plugins through version control systems and provide low coupling with the database for storing code.
  • PageBlocks is growing with Virtual Pages and a Form Controller.
  • Do you have all your content on Medium and want to switch to MODX? Mat Dave Jones can help with Medium Import.
  • Gitify has some new features, such as the ability to ignore tables when backing up and upgrading packages via the command line interface.

Extras

  • IskWaf is a component for MODX3, representing a simple yet flexible Web Application Firewall (WAF).
  • UniversalEventBus Component for sending server events to the front and front events to the server.
  • Sweep helps you scan for and safely remove unused files from your website. It provides a convenient way to identify which files are no longer referenced in your MODX content and clean them up directly from the interface.
  • TinyMCE Rich Text Editor 6 for MODX is here.
  • Thumb3x brings modern Image Processing to MODX 3.
  • pbAuth is a flexible authentication solution based on PageBlocks.
  • Login As makes logging into front-end accounts without a password much easier.
  • Agenda and Cursus have received some cool new features, such as hourly repeats and improved ACL permissions.
  • Dashboards is a tool that allows you to switch between all dashboards available to your user groups.

Good to know

  • The showLog property of the pdoTools has changed. Take a look here.
  • Find inspiration for your next MODX project with Jens Gists.

Insights

I like to explore other backends for inspiration. Here are some screencasts showing what's possible with MODX.

  • Pino Küchen uses ContentBlocks with special fields in MODX, including one field for all languages. This means you can manage everything in one place and don't have to copy layout changes to every language resource via Babel. It also uses xPDO to connect to a third-party database for dealer information.
  • The Filmkunstmesse Leipzig website and movie management system are both powered by MODX. It is not necessary to use the manager interface for movie management. The MODX API and Processors handle creating users and entries. As little JavaScript as possible is used. Pages are rendered by Fenom and replaced via AlpineJS AJAX.
  • The Löwenzahn Grundschule in Großpösna, Germany, has a new accessible website. Thanks to headless MODX, we were able to fine-tune the template for widespread accessibility. There is also an integrated accessibility checker to assist with editing. The news section is managed by the students themselves.

Support

  • Jako has developed more than 30 active extras for MODX. I am aware that you are using at least one of these. If you have some spare cash, buy him a coffee.
  • I took a look at other CMS, such as Statamic and Kirby. When it comes to user permissions in a block editor, ContentBlocks has a lot to offer. So, if you use ContentBlocks a lot, please support the development of ContentBlocks 2!
  • We are also looking for monthly backers and agency sponsors on Open Collective to support open-source development.
  • Susan Ottwell is looking for someone to take over MODX Cookbook.
  • The great Fenom template engine, which is used in pdoTools, is also looking for maintainers. By the way, I started a discussion about using more Twig in MODX.

Get in touch if you have any news or insights to share about your MODX development.

Jens Wittmann is an accessibility and sustainability developer from Leipzig, Germany. He has been a MODX enthusiast since 2006 and publishes his daily learnings as CurlyFramework and also maintains the JoliTypo Extra.