Why I think modx beats all other CMS that I have tried to far (I built sites using more than 5 other popular CMS)
January 13, 2021

Why I think modx beats all other CMS that I have tried to far (I built sites using more than 5 other popular CMS)

Philipp Schmidt | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with MODX

Great system, really flexible, really fast, really secure especially when hardened (which only takes a few minutes and no plugins are required unlike other CMS)...

Content creation is easy, however this often depends on how it was implemented, a bad implementation (like in any other CMS) will make content creators dislike the system, hence good implementation is key. This would also be the case in any other CMS. If implemented correctly it is way easier [and is] more enjoyable to use than WordPress. For example have had client that came from a WP as well as a typo3 background and they preferred MODX.

As a designer you are not limited to anything. No html code is generated by the CMS. Hence anything goes, we have even build apps that only output json, and the client edits the pages all the same on the backoffice. Very few limits.

Writing custom code is easy using "snippets" hence it is extremely scalable.

It is also fast, really fast, faster than most out of the box, even faster than many flat-file CMS.

Bad things are, that the learning curve is higher than in other cms, and that the community is not as big. However they are very active on slack and questions get answered very fast.

Hosting can be done by MODX directly using their cloud (for a monthly fee), or on your own server.

And it is mature, all in all it is our fav CMS out there.

Pros

  • Customize, no limits anything is possible in terms of design and output.
  • Scalable, can grow fast in terms of page numbers and still serve them faster than most CMS out there.
  • Security - its really secure esp if you harden it. Knock on wood, but we never had a MODX site hacked.
  • Fast - caching is great really great speeds
  • Quality add ons - instead of 1000000 plugins MODX has a few that are written really well and do everything you need, fast and optimized.

Cons

  • Releases - MODX 3 is taking long to get released
  • Small community
  • Bigger learning curve but well worth it
After having built sites with WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, october cms, craft cms, magento, presstashop, opencart, os commerce and more it is my number 1 (october cms is 2).

Once you know what you are doing it is faster and easier to build amazing sites that have really clean good code, great SEO, are scalable and are fast, compared to he other systems.

Problem is most people only try 1 CMS which is usually wordpresss and then stick to it without testing others and what advantages they yield, its a bit sad but thats human nature I guess......

Do you think MODX delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with MODX's feature set?

Yes

Did MODX live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of MODX go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy MODX again?

Yes

Great and easy to use for both the coder and the end user. Especially if setup correctly by the coder.
Great community support on slack.
If you have a paid plugin great support also esp from modmore
If you have cloud hosting MODX support is fast and all servers are optimized for MODX
[MODX is well suited for] all websites, from blogs to corporate sites. It is fast scalable and really good. A small site can be build really fast, and a large site can be made extremely scalable. A website redesign is easy to implement with a new template, without having to redo the content. It got great user groups and users and back-office access can be completely customized.

While ecommerce is possible with some really good plugins I would only use MODX with ecommerce for sites where ecommerce is not the primary role. For pure ecommerce sites rather use a dedicated system like e.g. PrestaShop (i would say the same thing with other ecommerce plugins e.g. WP woo commerce don't do it unless its a site add on.)


MODX Feature Ratings

WYSIWYG editor
10
Code quality / cleanliness
10
Admin section
9
Page templates
10
Library of website themes
7
Mobile optimization / responsive design
10
Publishing workflow
10
Form generator
10
Content taxonomy
10
SEO support
10
Bulk management
9
Availability / breadth of extensions
9
Community / comment management
10
API
6
Internationalization / multi-language
10
Role-based user permissions
10

Using MODX

4 - We all use [MODX] to both create and manage websites.
1 - We have 1 person doing support
  • Provide us with a really good CMS solution
  • Provide clients and content creators with a excellent CMS solutions
  • Output just json and then use jasonelle to build native mobile apps in record time
  • Hopefully [MODX] 3 will make everything faster, better and future proof the CMS
It is the CMS we use the most, not because we know it well but because we literally tried many of other CMS and this one did it for us.

However having said we really do not like the one shoe fits all approach. E..g for eCommerce we usually use PrestaShop etc. if a specialized CMS can do a task rather use that.
However for a general CMS [MODX] is hard to beat.

Evaluating MODX and Competitors

Yes - 

clutterd, bad security not scalable , or complicated. the best out of the 3 above is Drupal. We decided [MODX] works much better for us
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Product Reputation
no clutter / bloat, great security, fast, scalable, customizable
try even more CMS if and when time allows

MODX Implementation

Change management was minimal - No change management needed. Just a little training
  • Back-office needs to be setup well and easy for inexperience content editors to be happy

MODX Training

Lots of tutorials if someone builds a [MODX] site for you then you will get training.
There are also great videos and books

Configuring MODX

Literally everything can be configured which is really great
However it does take time.....
Harden it
Slight manager changes to make it easier for content editors

Some - we have done small customizations to the interface - Just small changes, like adding client logos and sometimes colors
Some - we have added small pieces of custom code - You can write snippets and plugins and customize everything

MODX Support

ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
No - It is available but I do not host in the [MODX] cloud because my clients are in south africa and our sites need to be hosted locally to optimize speed.
Yes - Report on github like any opensource software
On slack, people explained exactly how CMP with MIGX worked very helpful

Using MODX

ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Convenient
Feel confident using
None
  • Template variable
  • CMP migx need better tutorial for lower learning curve

MODX Reliability

Very scalable. e.g. in the [MODX] manager you can manage multiple websites at once without having to login else where. it is very convenient and this way resources and be easily managed and shared.
We have not had it go down due to bugs etc. especially when comparing it to other cms out there.
Damn its fast. really good page speed out of the box.

Integrating MODX

None were a problem all were fast to do
  • jsonette
  • ecwid
You can customize the output of [MODX] hence there is ALOT that can be done.

However one thing that is not that great is the [MODX] api, however I have not played enough with it to really give a good opinion on it
  • File import/export
  • Single Signon
  • API (e.g. SOAP or REST)
  • Javascript widgets
All integration work easy
Simple integration are really straight forward. For more complex stuff writing a snipped is not that difficult

Relationship with MODX

Ended up not signing up to the [MODX] cloud because it will not work for us in south africa. however you can host it on your own server.
Ended up not signing up to thee [MODX] cloud because it will not work for
us in south africa. however you can host it on your own server.
Did not attempt to neg
If in EU or US, and not at the end of the world like use then the cloud system makes good sense

Upgrading MODX

Yes - Very easy both manually and via a snippet (which auto upgrade)
  • Bug fixes
  • New features
  • Bug fixes
  • New features
  • MODX 3 release cool new stuff I hope

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