OK Sushi

MODx as a rapid prototyping tool

Posted on Saturday September 15, 2007 in Work

Today I thought I would write about using MODx as a rapid prototyping tool. Regular readers and those people that know me in a professional and semi-professional capacity know that I love this content management framework, and I use it wherever possible in my projects.

My current role is redeveloping the Queensland Government Internet site which is currently using Teamsite to manage it’s content (although I always feel as though it works as more of a file management system and less of a content management system!). In the development process we have engaged various companies to conduct usability testing on mockups and wireframes.

Very shortly we will be conducting usability testing on working prototypes of the site. Exciting!

We were faced with a dilemma: should we create static pages, using our different templates to be tested, or should we use the exisiting functionality of a content management tool to do all the heavy lifting for us? The choice was obvious. Enter MODx

The steps I took to replicate the website were these:

  1. Create a new site in MODx
  2. Create pages to replicate the exisiting site map
  3. Create the little HTML modules as chunks in MODx
  4. Populate the pages that would be used by users during our task-based testing
  5. Create links to child pages in the chunks using the Ditto snippet
  6. Interlink relevant documents using the MODx syntax for linking to another page whatever the number is
  7. Apply the template(s)
  8. Implement the stylesheet switcher to allow testing of different stylesheets

That’s it! MODx is really a testers dream. I just wish I could convince the powers-that-be that we could dump Teamsite!

  1. Cal, nice overview of your quick and easy steps to become functional within the MODx content management framework!

    I will say, for the more advanced (e.g. programmers), MODx will open many doors that otherwise would not have been available. From simple websites and blogs, to application development and eCommerce catalogs, MODx can do it all.

    At Pixelchutes, we leverage MODx anyway we can, often in unique and creative ways that the MODx founders would be proud of :)

    Posted by pixelchutes on Nov 9, 10:30 AM

Comment on this article

Textile help

My flickr photos