Time to Upgrade to the New MODX? Over the past year, we’ve been busy converting a number of websites to the new branch of MODX, version 3, and we’ve been setting up all new websites with this version. The previous branch, MODX 2.8, will continue to be supported for some time, although only for things like bug fixes and security updates, not new features. MODX 3 has become pretty reliable at this point, and just about all plugins have been updated to work with it. So whereas in the past we have told most clients to hold off on upgrading, at this point we are whole-heartedly behind transitioning to keep our clients’ websites current going well into the future. The new version definitely looks more visually appealing and has new features that are pretty great. It’s also much better for programmers, using up-to-date coding capabilities. Need Extra-Secure Login? For clients needing extra security on the back end of their websites, we’ve been installing a two-factor authentication (2FA) plugin. None of our websites have had cases of hackers logging in via the website manager, but with the rise in hacking in general, 2FA gives extra peace of mind. Let us know if you would like this feature; it's pretty easy to set up. FYI, this plugin does not send out text messages; users would need to use a dedicated 2FA app, like 2FAS (our personal favorite), Microsoft Authenticator, Google Authenticator, etc.  Website Spotlight: Collaborative for Health & Environment We recently completed implementation of a complete redesign for our client, Collaborative for Health & Environment (CHE). We worked with the team at CHE and a designer they brought on board. Customize Your Wordpress Site Need to customize your Wordpress website? We do custom coding and database setup. One of our recent projects was setting up and customizing a local news site using a newspaper-style theme and adding features to manage donors and add custom sections. Take a look! New Year, New Phone Number Well, it’s not really a NEW phone number. We’ve using our new number, 845-262-0332, for quite a while now. But we are now retiring our old number, 845-228-8821. Please update your contact info for us.  Vacation Time We’ll be on vacation from December 14 through Christmas weekend, and will be working to tie up any loose ends before we leave. We’ll be back in the office on December 26. Website Spotlight We love partnering with other designers to bring their visions to life on the web. This past year, we’ve been brought onboard to create sites and programming for two different electric vehicle–oriented projects. It’s great to see the explosion of interest in transitioning to a cleaner world. One of these clients produces conferences of all kinds, and sent us a custom design for their series of EV-related trainings. Visit the site at evchargingsummit.com. New Year, New Version of MODX MODX 3 has been out for a while now, and has already been updated twice. It’s a major upgrade, including a massive update to the code base to bring it up to contemporary standards (good for programmers!), as well has interface improvements and new features (good for our clients!). We’ve been evaluating what needs to be in place before recommending an upgrade to our clients. Just about all the plugins we use have been updated for compatibility now. There are a few updates that will need to be applied to some of the custom plugins and coding we’ve created. We’ll be starting with the simpler websites first, then move on to the more complex ones later in the year. In the meantime, the current branch of MODX (version 2.8) will continue to be updated with bug fixes and security patches. Google Analytics Update The current Google Analytics system (called “Universal Analytics”) will stop working in July 2023, so everyone will need to upgrade by then. In most cases, the upgrade is very simple. For those who use a lot of advanced Analytics features, it may take a little more work. We’ve been transitioning our clients to this new system, and will continue into the new year. If you use a different service to manage your Google Analytics, make sure they get you transitioned in the next few months. Find out more about GA4 here.   Tools for Managing Your Website Content Over the years, we’ve seen clients switch to a different platform, like Wordpress, because they want a certain type of content management tool that they don’t see in the site we set up for them in MODX. Often this happened because a new person came on board and was familiar with Wordpress and not MODX, was used to working a certain way, and didn’t see that in MODX.  Like editing your website on the front end, without having to switch to a backend editor? Wordpress has tools like Elementor that let you do this. No need for Wordpress here. MODX has FRED (“FRontend EDitor”), which works much the same way; you edit your site while browsing normally through it, and you see the actual page layout as you work on pages.  Want to use a block-editing system instead? Wordpress, for example, has tools like WP Bakery so people can insert blocks of content, instead of editing an entire page in one long window. This is nice for people who want to do more advanced layout without having to deal with HTML. Once again, no need to switch to Wordpress. MODX has a plugin called Content Blocks that does the same thing. It comes with lots of preset types of layout, just like WP Bakery, and it’s easy for us to add any sort of custom block type you need. Google Analytics Update Just about all of our clients use Google Analytics to keep track of how their websites are being accessed, see which content is being accessed, and what needs improvement to keep their SEO (search engine optimization) ranking as high as possible. Google has come out with an update to this system, called Google Analytics 4 (“GA4”). The current system (called “Universal Analytics”) will stop working in July 2023, so everyone will need to upgrade by then. In most cases, the upgrade is very simple. For those who use a lot of advanced Analytics features, it may take a little more work. We’ll be helping everyone transition to this new system over the coming year. Find out more about GA4 here.   MODX 3 Is Out! Great news: MODX 3 has been released! Actually, it has already gotten its first update, so it’s at version 3.0.1. A good deal of the update is in the code base, to make things a lot easier for developers and make it compatible with current coding practices. The site manager has also been totally revamped, with a new look and layout. Don’t worry, much of it works the same way as before, so editors will be able to easily adapt to the new features. We’ll be compiling a list of updates of interest to our clients so you’ll have a sense for what this upgrade would mean for you. There are still plugins that aren’t totally compatible yet, so we’re holding off on recommending upgrading until we’re sure every plugin we typically use for our sites works properly. There are also more core updates in the works that we’d be love to be in place before switching our clients to the new version.  Stay tuned!