Web Development Blog

This post started out titled Pros and Cons of MODx CMS, but today I’m rewriting it because I’m really not in the mood to give you a bunch of fluff about why MODx is great and then give you the bad stuff. Flat out, I think MODx is the best CMS for my projects at this point in time. Now on with things that suck…

<rant>
It says its a Framework, but I use it as a CMS
If you have used frameworks in the past, MODx is not going to feel like a true framework. My personal fav framework is CodeIgniter and there is just no comparison between the two. The MODx API is very poorly documented, small, and weak compared to all of the functionality included in CodeIgniter, and CodeIgniter is a simple framework. I just don’t see the structure there to really call it a framework, and I would prefer to call it a CMS with an open or pluggable architecture. When I need extensive custom database functionality I bring in CodeIgniter to do it because MODx lacks features that would make it easy (CRUD tools, a data editor, dynamic data module, etc).

Membership Management sucks
This is probably the thing I hate most about MODx. The Membership Management for Web Users and Manager Users is really difficult to work with, doesn’t fit most workflows, and is counter to how easy the rest of the system is to use. I need a member management system that allows for one manager user to manage one page if need be, and this is just a nightmare to set up with the groups and document groups system. What I really want is a system that allows me to set up roles (controls what they can do), create a user with that role, and then select individually what pages that user can edit, or what group of pages they can edit. I also want the functionality to make all pages have some kind of default level of security, like all pages can only be seen by the administrator, who can then give users permission to see specific pages (MODx is works pretty much opposite to this). IMO this has to be totally rewritten to function better.

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Here’s a fun post that was prompted by my last one. It really is easy to make millions online and here’s six ways how to do it..

1. Steal It
   These guys made millions of dollars stealing peoples identities and selling them online. I bet it was easy, but did they really think they wouldn’t get caught?
2. Spam
   Spam enough people and you are bound to make some cold hard cash. What’s easier than sending out billions of emails filled with affiliate links and stock scams?
3. Be a genius
   The guy that runs this site must be a genius. Being a genius is a pretty easy way to make millions online.
4. Gamble
   Do feel lucky? Crap, online slots has got to be one of the easiest ways to make millions. You don’t even have to pull a real lever!!
5. Win it!
   Hey if gambling is too much work for you, then you can just buy a lottery ticket. Sure the odds are way against you, but does it really get any easier than picking six numbers?
6. Lie
   Why not? The Nigerians do it all the time!

There you have it, six super easy ways to make millions online, and you didn’t even have to buy an ebook!

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I read the post on John Chow’s blog Earn Money Online Just By Showing Up and just felt like poking some fun at it. After all, why are people sill posting this crap?

Here is the list of things the author recommends as the secret to making a “few thousand dollars a month in earnings”…

1. Blog or write content for your web site every day. If you can’t do this, then just flip burgers for a living and get out of the way of the rest of us.

On second thought, don’t. Blog or write quality posts on a consistent basis. Period. No one wants to hear the same crap like this over and over again. If you can put out quality every day, then you’re awesome. But don’t try to live up to this standard if you know you can’t. You don’t know your limits until you try.

2. Leave 10 comments on blogs in your niche every day and especially try to find blogs that award top commentators with links back to their sites. I also prefer not to be too negative or crude in my commenting, but some creative disagreement might bring a good amount of traffic to your site from people wanting to know more about your perspective.

Someone must subscribe to Yaro Starak’s email newsletter. Instead of writing comments and basically wasting your time trying to kiss ass on other people’s blogs, just email the authors and try to get to know them. Better yet, send them a guest post. Nobody likes a comment whore.

3. Write 1 article a week related to one of your niches and submit it to 3 article directories for additional links back to your site. My top article directory is ezineArticles.com.

Holymoly my fingers are tired from all of this writing. Just fill the world with your spam, we all appreciate it.

4. Leave at least 5 forum replies or new threads each day in forums like the DigitalPoint Forums or Bloggeries.com.

Make sure you leave replies like, “Way to go”, and “LOL”.

5. Grab some sort of attention for your blog at least once a month by ordering a review, writing a guest post, sending a blogger a pic of yourself in their logo t-shirt hoping they will blog about it, paying for a quality ad spot or something else to get featured in a major blog.

#5 is good advice, do much more of #5 than than any of the rest of these things and you’ll either get famous or go to jail for stalking.

Seriously, while much of this advice is ok (ie. try to get links back to your site, try to network, etc), I’m getting really tired of seeing the same advice given out by so called experts. This stuff is so basic and what the author is implying is that if you just do your hard work, the money will come in. If I have learned anything in my search for the holy grail of making money online it is that there is no list of things to do to be successful, and if there was, it sure as hell wouldn’t be 5 things.

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