Long-time MODX community member Jens Wittmann returns with his latest Field Notes—a regular look at what he's been finding useful across projects and the wider MODX community. You can check out Jens' previous MODX Field Notes entry.

MODX Field Notes – Spring 2026

Following a period of relative calm in the MODX Core in 2025, another significant release of MODX 3.2 took place at the beginning of this year. There is a huge discussion about how MODX should move forward in the coming years — feel free to join in! The community around MODX is awesome, and a lot has happened in the first few months of the year.

There is Twig for MODX, a CLI, and a cool new Inline Preview feature:

Inline Preview Image

Take a look at what's happening here too.

Tools

The MODX 3 command-line interface is now in beta and ready for testing. Some funding is also wanted.
Create a simple MODX resource edit button for use in the front end.
Thematic is a website starter kit featuring Semantic/Formantic UI with additional functionality. It is currently a work in progress.
Are you using Claude for coding? Here's a MODX skill, as well as some more information on using AI with MODX.
Modx3ProfilerToolbar is a performance toolbar for MODX3.
Use the SystemSettingsOverride extra to override the MODX system_settings without touching the database.

Extras

Use HyvorTalk to easily add commenting and paid content to your site.
Noembed Snippet and Output modifier for creating quick embeds from links to media sharing channels.
The MiniShop3 add-on for MODX3 has been released. It features Phinx migrations, a REST API and VueJS 3.
Like VueJS for your manager pages? Use VueTools for your custom manager pages and ditch ExtJS.
Use simpleFilters to easily filter MODX3 resources and MiniShop3 products.
The RecentPackagesDashboardWidget is a dashboard widget that shows recently installed packages.
Allow customers to upload files relating to their product. These files will be stored in the file system alongside the order item and can be included in outgoing emails sent to you or the customer, if desired. This is a great extension for Commerce.
The SmushIt Snippet allows you to optimise your images in MODX using the SmushIt API.
CrawlerDetect uses the user agent to identify web crawlers and provides form spam protection that does not require CAPTCHA.
mSearch is a full-text search tool with morphological analysis for MODX3.
The Sucuri plugin allows you to control the Sucuri firewall from your MODX Manager.
The scheduler has some new, nice features.
ExtraTextAreas adds extra text areas to the Resource Edit tab, storing values in separate tables.
Use the Editor.js block editor in MODX3 alongside the mxEditorJs Extra.
Twig for MODX3 is now available.
Use the MediaScanner extra to identify possible unused assets in the Media Manager.
MagicPreview now allows inline previews and drafts.
Are you using shortlinks? There is now an extra with rich functions for that.

Insights

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

See how the Wiesbaden Museum manages a large amount of content in multiple languages with MODX.
Stadt Kitzscher uses MODX with a simple backend to maximize accessibility.
See how easily you can manage bookings and an online shop within the same MODX installation.

Good to know

Is it possible to change the user group of an active front-end user via the MODX API without logging them out and back in again? Here is the answer in code (Slack) from Jako.
There are a lot of useful MODX3 tutorials on modx3.com.
All the documentation that was previously only available in Russian at docs.modx.pro has now been fully translated and updated in English. Whether you're new to MODX or an experienced developer, you'll find clear, up-to-date guides, tutorials and reference materials in English.
Did you know that you can filter by searching JSON fields or using virtual columns? Take a look at the Agenda Docs for more information.
This is a simple MODX CMP boilerplate that does not require ExtJS and uses the same stack for the front and back ends.

Get involved

What do you think the future holds for MODX? Read more here and share your opinion.
The current idea is to move from manual tags to proper GitHub releases with an auto-generated changelog. Add your feedback.
We are also looking for monthly backers and agency sponsors on Open Collective to support open-source development.

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

About Jens Wittmann

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.

Learn more about Jens Wittmann.