Development of websites on CMS MODX in 2023

Pros and cons of developing websites on CMS MODX REVOLUTION in 2023

MODX has been in all possible ratings of popular CMS-systems for many years. In this article we tell you about the main content management system which we use for website development and also about the reasons why we choose it.

Technical requirements are the same as of the majority of modern CMS. You can use almost any hosting or web server supporting PHP version 7 and MYSQL database.

MODX REVO is a multifunctional system with a very wide range of applications. Over the years of development our team tried different CMS in search of the best tool for creating websites but all systems have their advantages and disadvantages. That's why let's deal with the advantages and disadvantages of MODX.

To begin with we'd like to talk about the disadvantages of the system:

1. The interface of the control system, and especially its mobile version. In recent versions have been made a lot of steps to fix this flaw, but the work of the admin is still not a delight. Here I am talking primarily about the speed of its work, after moving on to the page management, often you have to wait for a few seconds until it will load all the fields. Also, it is not possible to use tabs to edit multiple pages simultaneously, as it is implemented, for example, in OctoberCMS and Evolution CMS. This is due to the use of outdated ExtJS library version 3.4 in the interface of the admin panel. Oddly enough, this shortcoming has forced the developers of the system, as well as the community, to squeeze all the juice out of the available resources. Since 2019, many tweaks have been made to the interface, both fixing bugs and improving the user experience.
2. Knowledge Requirement. This point applies specifically to website developers, but not to users and customers. To develop a site on MODX need to have at least a basic knowledge of programming. The more universal the tool, the more difficult it is to use, and MODX is fully applicable. Unlike constructors or CMS WordPress, create a site on which it is possible for a day, not having knowledge in programming, to repeat the same trick with MODX will not work. The result, however, will also be significantly different.
3. Difficulty in working with GIT repositories and source code editors. MODX has limitations in the out-of-the-box functionality, making it difficult for large teams to work together on projects. Missing features can be added by using third-party packages, but that comes with extra complexity and makes sense in the case of a large team and a complex project.
4. Few ready-made templates that can be installed in the system.  MODX is not designed to work with ready-made themes. Those themes that you can find in the repositories are primarily designed to educate programmers and popularize the system. It follows that if you want to quickly create a typical site on a ready-made template, you should look in the direction of a simpler system. Creating a site on MODX is better to use the services of a professional designer, which means that such a solution in the first place is suitable for business.

Now for the good stuff:

1. Community and Documentation. MODX is very popular in the CIS countries, which means that if you are a customer and want to finalize your project, you can easily find a performer among the freelancers or web studios, and if you are a developer - you will find an answer to your question. In addition, translation of the documentation into Russian has been recently completed, which greatly facilitates the solution of complex tasks.
2. The price policy of stores add-ons. Unlike Wordpress, in which paid components are often not only expensive, but also distributed on a subscription model, add-ons for MODX (those that are paid) are distributed by the one-time purchase system.
3. SEO-optimization. Google and Yandex are paying more and more attention to the speed of the site, introducing new requirements and suggesting new ways of speeding up the work. MODX allows you to easily adapt your website to the search engines, and the control panel features allow you to easily adjust the website to meet the requirements of your SEO specialists.
4. Add-ons. There is a huge catalog of add-ons and modules, which allow you to speed up the development of your site. About add-ons, which we use, we will tell in separate article.
5. Design and work with templates. As we have already written for MODX there are practically no ready-made templates, but if you want to save money, you can use any free html template you find in Internet. Installing such a template will take more time than in other CMS, but making changes will be much easier and faster, so that in the long run, this approach seems to be more successful.

The order of site creation:

Select the type of site.

• Determine the tasks that need to be solved by the site. Single-page site, business card site, corporate website, store or catalog is the best way to solve these or other problems.
• Determine how to attract traffic to the site. Contextual advertising and / or seo, targeting and smm. It is necessary to assume in advance who is the core of your audience and how you are going to attract them to your site. There is no doubt that the distribution of forces on different sources of traffic will have to be adjusted already during the work.

SEO preparation.

• Analysis of competitors. We look for the most successful sites of your competitors, analyze successful and unsuccessful solutions.
• Collecting the semantic core.

Determining the optimal technologies for the site.

• Choosing a domain name.
• Choosing a hosting.
• Choosing a platform for development.

Writing the terms of reference. It is necessary to discuss and get comments from all persons involved in the design.

• Determine the structure of the site. The structure of the site should be appropriate and suitable for the task and the desired ways to attract traffic to the site
• Determine the structure of the pages of the site. Write out of what blocks will consist of pages of sites. How to give a user the information he wants most quickly and comfortably. Collect contact information to create leads.
• Describe in detail the functionality of the typical blocks of the site and describe how certain mechanics will work.
• Collect visual references and requirements for site design.
• Specify the technical requirements for code validation and speed.

 Creation and approval of the design concept of the site.

• At this stage, UI / UX designer creates the look of the site using the terms of reference as the basis.
• After creating the design concept it is checked for compliance with the terms of reference. It is checked whether it correctly reflects the desired functionality of the blocks.

Layout layout. The stage in which the drawing is turned into a semblance of a website. At this stage, you need to pay attention to several things:

• Code cleanliness. Despite the fact that in the browser site may display correctly, the code of the page may contain errors that affect the successful promotion of the site and the response to the search engines.
• The speed of the page. The abundance of scripts and non-optimized graphical effects can have a negative impact on the speed of the site, and thus also interfere with its promotion in search engines.

Programming. At the beginning of this stage is the installation and configuration of CMS, then templates are installed in it and the functionality of the blocks is programmed. This stage is the result of the previous ones. Poorly or inaccurately written terms of reference and created design concept can lead to the fact that some of the functionality of the site will be useless or not work as intended. At this stage it is very important that the customer promptly responded to all the questions of the Executive, as practice shows, to describe all the nuances of the site in the terms of reference is impossible.

Preparation of content for the site.

• Preparation of texts. Texts are prepared taking into account the previously collected semantic core. The ideal text is well read by both the user site, and a search robot.
• Graphic materials for the site are prepared. If necessary, special photo shoots for employees or products.

Testing and filling the site.

• All of the functionalities of the site are tested. Mistakes and inaccuracies that might have crept in during the programming phase are searched for.
• Validation of the code is carried out once again.
• The site is filled with materials, according to the planned structure.

Internal SEO optimization.

• Site code, images and scripts are optimized for speed.
• All service meta tags and service fields are filled according to the collected semantic core.

The site is put into battle mode, but the work does not end there. Your site is launched and now it's time to attract users to it.

• Setting up contextual advertising. Allows you to quickly attract users very quickly.
• Creation of a plan and calculation of a budget for SEO promotion, in case SEO is chosen as one of the sources of traffic.

SEO works. Performed according to the plan.

• External optimization.
• Creation of additional materials for the site and the integration of the desired search terms.

Summing up the results and analysis of the work. Performed periodically at the request of the customer.

• Analysis of user behavior on the site. With the help of special tools checks what the user is doing on the site and compares it to the desired behavior.
• The effectiveness of contextual advertising is checked.
• Positions in search engines are checked.

Work on site optimization (if required).

• Revision of the site to correct user behavior.

A separate item should be noted Warranty and technical support. After completing the project we have a warranty and are responsible for the quality of work performed. If you find an error within a year after the launch site is not related to finalization of your site by third-party specialists, we will fix it for free.
We are ready to support and modify our projects, in case you need additional functionality.