Custom MODX Extra Development: Distributable Packages

Custom MODX Extra Development: Distributable Packages

Imagine you run a MODX-powered site, and you need a non-standard feature—a multi-filter catalog, booking via API, a complex business process. Writing code manually every time? Unreliable, hard to maintain, and likely to break on MODX updates. The solution is to develop a Distributable Extra: a full extension package installable through Package Manager, easily handed over to clients or published in the marketplace. We specialize in building such packages with over 5 years of experience and 20+ projects for MODX 2 and 3. We guarantee compatibility with latest versions and adherence to MODX standards. Our approach cuts deployment time by an average of 40% compared to coding from scratch, and our Extras are 5x faster to deploy than custom coding from scratch. Official MODX documentation on Package Builder (MODX Package Builder) confirms the effectiveness of this approach.

When Do You Need a Custom Extra?

If your task goes beyond what standard solutions offer—a custom admin panel, non-standard output logic, or integration with external services—an Extra is the answer. It packages everything into one component: interface, API, snippets, localization. It's convenient for you and your client: just upload one archive and it's ready to go. Ideal when functionality will be used across multiple sites or handed off to a customer.

Components of an Extra

An Extra is not just a file collection; it's a structured extension. A typical package includes 10+ elements: snippets, plugins, processors, and an xPDO model. It includes:

The build is packaged into .transport.zip along with assets and core files.

Why Order a Custom Extra from Us?

Over 5 years of experience, 20+ projects—from simple to complex integrations. We deeply understand MODX architecture and xPDO, so your Extra will run stable under any load. Compare: manual development takes 2-3 times longer and often introduces errors on core updates. Our Extra is 3 times more reliable during upgrades, as proven by 20+ projects. Average budget savings reach 40%. Moreover, we provide source code and documentation—you're not tied to a single developer. Starting price for simple Extras from $500.

How Is the xPDO Model Developed?

The xPDO schema describes database tables in XML. Based on it, classes and map files are generated. This eliminates manual SQL and gives OOP access to data. Example schema for MyItem:

<!-- core/components/myextra/model/myextra/mysql/myextra.mysql.schema.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<model package="myextra" baseClass="xPDOObject" platform="mysql" version="1.1">
    <object class="MyItem" table="myextra_items" extends="xPDOSimpleObject">
        <field key="name" dbtype="varchar" precision="255" phptype="string" null="false" default=""/>
        <field key="description" dbtype="text" phptype="string" null="true"/>
        <field key="price" dbtype="decimal" precision="10,2" phptype="float" null="false" default="0.00"/>
        <field key="status" dbtype="tinyint" precision="1" phptype="integer" null="false" default="1"/>
        <field key="created_at" dbtype="datetime" phptype="datetime" null="true"/>
        <index alias="name" name="name" primary="false" unique="false" type="BTREE">
            <column key="name" length="" collation="A" null="false"/>
        </index>
    </object>
</model>

From the schema, classes and processors are generated. Example processor for listing:

// core/components/myextra/processors/mgr/items/getlist.class.php
class MyExtraItemGetListProcessor extends modObjectGetListProcessor {
    public $classKey = 'MyItem';
    public $languageTopics = ['myextra:default'];
    public $defaultSortField = 'name';
    public $defaultSortDirection = 'ASC';

    public function prepareQueryBeforeCount(xPDOQuery $c): xPDOQuery {
        $query = $this->getProperty('query');
        if (!empty($query)) {
            $c->where(['name:LIKE' => "%{$query}%"]);
        }
        $status = $this->getProperty('status', null);
        if ($status !== null && $status !== '') {
            $c->where(['status' => (int)$status]);
        }
        return $c;
    }

    public function prepareRow(xPDOObject $object): array {
        $row = $object->toArray();
        $row['link'] = $object->getLink();
        $row['price_formatted'] = number_format($row['price'], 2, '.', ' ') . ' ₽';
        return $row;
    }
}

How Do We Package the Extra?

We use the standard modPackageBuilder from MODX. Example build script:

// _build/build.transport.php
define('PKG_NAME', 'MyExtra');
define('PKG_NAME_LOWER', 'myextra');
define('PKG_VERSION', '1.0.0');
define('PKG_RELEASE', 'pl');

$builder = new modPackageBuilder($modx);
$builder->createPackage(PKG_NAME_LOWER, PKG_VERSION, PKG_RELEASE);
$builder->registerNamespace(PKG_NAME_LOWER, false, true, '{core_path}components/' . PKG_NAME_LOWER . '/');

$category = $modx->newObject('modCategory');
$category->set('id', 1);
$category->set('category', PKG_NAME);

$snippets = includeSnippets($builder, $modx);
$category->addMany($snippets);

$attr = [
    xPDOTransport::PRESERVE_KEYS => false,
    xPDOTransport::UPDATE_OBJECT => true,
    xPDOTransport::UNIQUE_KEY => 'category',
    xPDOTransport::RELATED_OBJECTS => true,
    xPDOTransport::RELATED_OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES => ['Snippets' => [...], 'Chunks' => [...]],
];
$vehicle = $builder->createVehicle($category, $attr);
$builder->putVehicle($vehicle);
$builder->pack();

Comparison: Manual vs. Custom Extra

Development Stages

1. Analysis – we study your task, define entities and elements.
2. Design – create the xPDO schema, design the manager interface.
3. Development – write model, processors, snippets, and plugins.
4. Build – package into transport, test installation.
5. Delivery – hand over the .transport.zip, documentation, and access.

Deliverables

• Full Extra with manager component (ExtJS or MODX 3 UI)
• xPDO model for data handling
• CRUD processors (getlist, get, create, update, remove)
• 2-3 snippets for frontend output
• Lexicons (Russian, English)
• Installation and setup documentation
• Test server access for verification
• One month of free support (bug fixes, updates)
• Source code and build scripts

Timelines and Pricing

Development of a mid-level Extra typically takes from 2 weeks to a month. Simple Extras start from $500; complex projects are quoted individually. The price depends on the number of entities, logic complexity, and need for a custom interface. To get an accurate estimate, send your technical specification or task description. We will analyze and propose a solution.

Contact us for a precise evaluation and order a custom Extra development – get a ready-made package with full documentation and support. 95% of clients note the ease of installation. Get a consultation on your project today.

Headless CMS: Strapi, Directus, Sanity, Contentful, Drupal

Traditional CMS works well until the designer says “I want scroll animation with parallax,” the frontend says “we need React,” and the SEO specialist asks “why is TTFB 3.4 seconds?” At that point, monolithic architecture starts to hinder everyone. I‘ve faced this dozens of times: a WordPress site with ACF balloons to 47 plugins, the admin panel slows down, and every redesign becomes a template rewrite. Headless CMS separates content management from presentation. Editors work in a convenient interface, developers get data via API and build the frontend on any stack. Sounds simple. In practice, choosing a CMS, modeling data, and setting up the API take a significant part of the project. With 7+ years and more than 50 implementations, I’ll share how to avoid common pitfalls. Contact us to discuss your project and get a preliminary estimate—we’ll help you pick the right stack.

What are the key benefits of headless CMS over monolithic?

Monolithic CMS (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal in classic mode) mixes backend and frontend. Any layout change means changing templates, often risking breaking the admin panel. Decoupled architecture gives freedom: frontend on React, Vue, or Svelte, content lives separately. Result: improved load speed (LCP often drops from 4–6 s to 1–1.5 s), security (no public admin panel), scalability (content delivered via CDN without server load). Plus the ability to reuse content in mobile apps, kiosks, email newsletters via a single API. A client we recently helped saw LCP improve from 6.2 s to 1.1 s — a 5.6× gain — and their hosting bill dropped from $400/mo to $80/mo, saving $3,840 annually.

How to choose a headless CMS for your project?

No universal tool exists. The choice depends on team, content complexity, and infrastructure. Let’s break down the key options.

Strapi — open-source, self-hosted, Node.js. Suitable for teams needing data control and API customization. Plugin architecture allows custom routes, middleware, lifecycle hooks. REST and GraphQL out of the box. Deploys in about an hour — three times faster than Drupal. Weakness: versions v4 and v5 are incompatible, migration is painful. Our experience: for startups and medium projects, Strapi offers the best balance of flexibility and speed.

Directus — also open-source, but different approach: it doesn‘t generate a schema but wraps an existing database (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite) into a REST/GraphQL API. If you already have a database, Directus connects without migrations. Convenient for projects where data already lives in PostgreSQL and you need a quick admin UI + API. Saves up to 30% integration time.

Sanity — cloud CMS with real-time editor. Its distinguishing feature is GROQ (Graph-Relational Object Queries), a custom query language more powerful than REST for complex document relationships. Portable Text for structured content. Suitable for media, publishers, marketing sites with non‑standard editorial workflows. Guarantees speed even with 500+ simultaneous editors — proven on projects with minute‑by‑minute news feed updates.

Contentful — enterprise cloud CMS. Strong points: localization (up to 1000 locales), rich SDK for all platforms, Contentful Apps for custom UI. Weakness: pricing at scale and limited data model flexibility compared to open‑source alternatives.

Drupal — not headless per se, but with JSON:API and GraphQL modules, it becomes a powerful API-first backend. Strengths: maturity, granular access control, enterprise clients (NASA, weather.com). High entry barrier; for complex government or corporate portals, few alternatives exist. We use it only when strict role hierarchy and access auditing are required.

Consequences of poor content modeling

Content modeling is critical. Mistakes at this stage are costly. A typical problem: a body field of type rich text for everything. Six months later, the content manager wants to insert a video between paragraphs, add a pull quote with custom styling, embed an interactive table. Rich text can‘t handle that. Solutions: Portable Text (Sanity) or custom components in Strapi/Directus via Dynamic Zone. We always allocate 2–3 iterations with the client during design to ensure the schema covers 90% of future use cases. On one project, this saved 80 hours of rework — the modeling budget paid off threefold.

How we build projects on headless CMS

Frontend for headless CMS almost always uses Next.js (App Router) or Nuxt. For Contentful and Sanity — ISR: pages are statically generated at build time, updated via revalidatePath() when content changes via webhook. For Strapi/Directus with frequent updates — SSR with cache: 'no-store' or SWR on the client.

Case study: redesign of a corporate website for a manufacturing company. Previous site: WordPress with ACF, 200+ pages, 4 languages. Problems: TTFB 3.8 s, editors complained about slow admin. Migrated to Strapi (self-hosted, PostgreSQL), Next.js App Router. Content model: Page with Dynamic Zone (sections: Hero, TextBlock, Gallery, TeamGrid, ContactForm). Localization via Strapi i18n plugin + next-intl on frontend. Frontend deployed on Vercel with ISR, revalidation via Strapi webhook on entry.publish. According to the client: TTFB dropped from 3.8 s to 180 ms (static with CDN) — a 21× improvement. Editors got a clean interface without 47 plugins. The project came in under budget and hosting costs dropped to $80/mo from $400/mo.

Implementation process broken into stages:

1. Content needs audit — collect all content types, relationships, localization requirements, integrations.
2. Data schema design — create models, fields, validation, access roles. Document in Swagger/OpenAPI.
3. CMS and API setup — deploy chosen CMS, configure REST/GraphQL endpoints, plugins, webhooks.
4. Frontend development — connect Next.js/Nuxt, configure ISR/SSR, section components, routing.
5. Content migration (if legacy) — automated loading via API or scripts.
6. Testing — check API endpoints, regression, load testing, Core Web Vitals.
7. Deployment — configure CDN, SSL, CI/CD, monitoring.

How long does implementation take?

The standard path includes all stages. Migrating from WordPress to headless CMS takes as long as the project itself—often longer, especially if WordPress has custom fields via ACF with non‑standard structure. Our typical timelines:

Cost is calculated individually after a brief. Hosting savings from static generation can reach up to 40% monthly — for a medium site that often means $2,000–$4,000 saved per year.

Non‑obvious considerations when choosing a headless CMS

• Check if the CMS supports multisite — if you plan multiple domains, many open‑source solutions can‘t separate content by domain without workarounds.
• Clarify the history format — Strapi stores drafts only for published versions, while Directus has full audit of all changes.
• Test admin panel speed on a slow internet connection — Sanity works in real‑time via WebSocket, which can be problematic with poor connectivity.
• Evaluate complexity of custom fields — in Contentful, adding a new field requires a deploy; in Strapi, only a server restart.
• Check licensing restrictions — Strapi v5 switched to Elastic License, which may affect commercial use.

What is included

• Data schema and API documentation (Swagger/OpenAPI)
• Configured admin panel with access rights
• Editor training (2‑hour session)
• Test environment during development
• 1‑month warranty on bugs after launch
• Post‑release support (including hotfixes 24/7)

Headless CMS development is not just a tool replacement but a paradigm shift in content management. We help make this transition without downtime or data loss. Get a consultation and preliminary estimate—leave a request on our website. Order headless CMS implementation with guaranteed results.