The first step is to login into the MODX Content Manager typically found at www.yourdomain.com/manager. Are logged in now? Good. Let's keep rolling.
Underneath the Resources tab on the left-hand side of the screen you will see a "tree" of your website. These are all of the pages (or resources) that are within your website.
Ahhhh! Folders! This is getting complicated.
If your website is large and has many pages there may be folders within this tree. These folders are main "pages" that then have a "sub-pages" underneath them. If you click on the triangle next to a folder it will expand showing you all of the "sub pages" that live beneath it. These pages will sometimes appear inside a secondary navigation feature on the main page so users can navigate easily and make sense of pages with related information.
What the heck, why are some pages grayed out?
Don’t panic. Your website isn’t going to blow up. Trust us. If a page is grayed out that means the pages is not listed in the main navigation of the website. If a page is grayed-out and italic, it means the page is unpublished and not available for the public to view.
Alright Three Eyed Bird, some pages have a paper clip like icon - what does that mean?
That means the resource is simply a weblink. Here are two case examples of them in use:
- A link within your website:
Say you have a main navigation item of "Resort Info", and living underneath Resort Information you have serval pages, one of which is "Resort Policies". When you move onto figuring out the main navigation of "Cabins", you think to yourself, "Hmmm, if a web user is looking at a cabin page, they may also want to access the 'Resort Policies' page quickly". So you decide to have that resource live underneath "Cabins" as well as "Resort Info". Now you could have a duplicate page underneath "Cabins", but that sounds like extra work. Who wants to stay up until 2am duplicating pages? Not us. The solution? We create a weblink. While technically the "Resort Policies" page lives underneath "Resort Info", it can now also exist in the sub-navigation of "Cabins" as a weblink resource. - A link to another website:
Let's ay you really want to sell banana-scented t-shirts, but you don't want to do it directly off your own website. Understandable. You would rather let your partner, Gorilla Joe, deal with collecting and filling orders. You could have a main navigation item called "Buy an Awesome Code Monkey Shirt" that links to Gorilla Joe's scented t-shirt website. No problem. Just create a weblink in your resource tree, set the URL and you're good to go!
Whats with the numbers after my pages?
The number listed in parentheses after a page name is the page id. The page id is used in a variety of ways, but the most common use is in creating a link from that page to another page in your website.
I need to be fancy and move one of my pages into another area of the navigation. Is that possible?
Yes it is. The great thing about MODX Revolution is that you can drag and relocate any of your pages within the Resource Tree. Simply click and hold the page you want to move, then drag it to its new location.
One more thing before we sign off.
Right-clicking on any page will bring up a menu of options. Many of these you probably won't use too much, but here are the ones to note as they may be helpful in your managing of content adventures:
- Edit Resource
This opens the editor for the page, you can also access this by just clicking on the page. - Duplicate Resource
This creates a copy of the page. I find this helpful when creating new pages that are similar. It helps to save some time, as the settings are already set up and ready to go. - View Resource
Clicking this brings up the page in a new window, making it a quick and easy way to see what the page looks like currently.
As always, Three Eyed Bird is here to help. Do you feel like you need a little more one-on-one help in learning how to better manage your web content in MODX? No problem! We offer hourly tutoring to get you off and editing in no time. Can't find the time to sit down and do it? Three Eyed Bird also offers maintenance plans that are customized for you and your needs. Contact us today to discuss how we can help you manage your online presence and business better.
Categories
