Drupal 8 or MODX Revo 2 - which engine to choose first for learning and for an existing corporate website without a CMS?

Question

CMS

Good evening, dear forum users!
Short introduction:
Well, what can I say?! January 2016, and for 6 years I have not learned how to make websites on engines ((Creating turnkey websites was a part-time job for me in the evenings, weekends, etc., mostly my acquaintances who needed cheap and fast, there was no time to study engines - I sculpted as best I could, studying everything along the way.During this time I made about 15 sites, half of which are no longer there for various reasons.At the moment, I rate my skills as a web programmer on a 5-point scale approximately like this : HTML5 (4), CSS3 (4), JavaScript (3), Jquery (4-), PHP (3), MySQL (3)... I think if building websites was the main job during these 6 years , then you could safely add 1 point to each skill))
Design, layout, functionality (PHP + JS / Jquery), filling + content editing, "screwing" the plugins found in the net and ready-made solutions such as a feedback form, slider, JS pagination, photo galleries, etc. - I did everything myself using HTML -editor + Denwer. At the same time, I read books, searched the net for information ... in general, judge my current situation by the examples of sites:

• ege.kz
  
• avtokran.ege.kz
  
• photonlovol.kz
  
• sany.com.kz
  
• chicken.kz
  

and for small examples of my code, in which each character was printed consciously:
PHP

ob_start(); // включаем буферизацию 2 (это уже 2-я очередь буфуризации! Первая началась в index.php

$onlyads=1; // логическая переменная для выбора со страниц index.html только объявлений

foreach($br as $temp) {
$filename = 'pages/'.$temp.'/'.$teh.'/index.html';
  if (file_exists($filename)) include_once('./'.$filename);
}

$tempcont=ob_get_clean();   // записываем 2-ю очередь буфера в переменную $tempcont и закрываем сразу буфер 2

Jquery

// все отсортированные элементы по очереди вставляем в блок #advContainer
$.each(sortElements, function(idx, itm) { sortCont.append(itm); });

// очень важно! После сортировки перезаписать переменную (если хотим её использовать для удобства дальше),
// хранящую объект Jquery с блоками-объявлениями, т.к. сейчас он хранит блоки ДО сортировки.
var advertParents = $(".advert", sortCont).closest('div');

// удаляем все элементы из блока #advContainer, кроме блоков-объявлений
sortCont.children().not(advertParents).remove();

// теперь нужно каждые 3 блока-объявления обренуть в <div class="row half"/>
for(var i = 0, len = advertParents.length; i < len; i += 3)
advertParents.slice(i, i + 3).wrapAll('<div class="row half"/>');

// пока юзаем такой костыль, т.к. без него первая тройка объявлений из-за skeljs отображалась не корректно
sortCont.prepend('<div class="row half hidden"/>');

// влючаем/отключаем Постраничную навигацию в зависимости от пер-й advertsPages
pagination(!advertsPages);

The main question is how to live on?
For the last 2 years I have been working as a programmer in a company selling special equipment and more or less doing my favorite topic: creating, filling, promoting a corporate website (s) ( ege.kz), which I at the very least completed from scratch over these 2 years. I have always understood that an engine is needed, especially now, when there are 200-300 units of equipment models, all sorts of news, promotions, etc... making changes to the HTML code of my static pages every time is long and inconvenient, and only I I can ... Sometimes other clients also ask me to make a site on a turnkey basis, but I refuse - few people will be satisfied without an engine and an admin panel ... in my sites I'm like a fish in water, but I think it's time to go to a new one level and learn a couple of engines (I still can’t master my CMS + I don’t have time)! I read a lot of reviews and comparisons of various CMS - I came to the conclusion that the soul now lies in Drupal 8 and MODX Revo 2, I plan to study both. I understand that until you try, you won’t understand xy from xy, that everything is known only in comparison and in practice ... So I want to ask experienced developers: which of these two engines can be better and faster attached to our corporate website and, on the whole, learn and improve on its example ?! Those. what is the best starting point? Just do not advise, please, to take WordPress or Joomla as a starting point)) The choice is specifically in my situation, taking into account all of the above and specifically between these two engines.
Drupal 8 seduces with its power, popularity, documentation, community, versatility out of the box (as promised) - it seems to me that this is heavy artillery, which I just have to know if I plan to make "complex" sites in the future. But it's just this "heaviness" that scares him off, I'm afraid a lot of time and effort will be spent on studying ... for the first CMS in his life, is he (or am I for him) too early? Or maybe it is with him that we must begin, in order to quickly learn to use all his power ...
Modex literally pulls me like a magnet, it’s somehow closer to me in style, because I’m used to writing clean code, completely controlling everything on my sites, I’m used to simplicity, lightness and flexibility, it seems to me that Modex sites are the same mine sites, but only with an admin panel, as if all my self-written solutions are already in this engine in the form of ready-made plug-ins ... but something worries me, probably the fact that the Evo branch was once suspended ... which will be difficult with non-standard plugins (search for or writing them), that there is not enough documentation on the net and books, that there may be problems with the load on the server ...
PS in short, something I have already switched to my subjective impressions, fears, assumptions and emotions , probably already because it's 2 am and it's time to sleep)) I'm waiting for answers and advice, I'm sorry that there is so much text ...

Answer 1

In general, any engine can be attached to your corporate website, but the fact that it will turn out many times faster on MODX is a fact.
And so ... both engines live and develop, and have an active community, there is enough documentation and lessons on the net. In my opinion, the most logical option is to use both CMS for different sites and understand for yourself what is more convenient and faster for you to work on.

Answer 2

As for the documentation for Drupal 8, there is not much of it yet, because this version was released not so long ago. And plus some modules are still in development, but all this will be decided in a couple of months.

Answer 3

here is a webinar here to watch for newbies on MOHS. very clear.

Answer 4

talas1234 : Well, to be honest, I chose this option so far:

1. I will finish the site without an engine in the first place (I will fill it with content, optimize it, make a new design, templates and functionality, taking into account that I will try to fasten MODX over time)
   
2. in parallel, I will study MODX and in my free time try to pull the site under this engine - I think it’s still better to start with it, although after this article and in particular the comments to it, I again became thoughtful https://modx.ru/novosti-i-stati /article/196/
   
3. with Drupal 8 while an ambush ((I'll wait for "better times"
   

PS All this is very complicated by the lack of time - I understand that if the site as such without an engine was ready and filled (this is an urgent pressing issue for the company at the moment), then I would spend time on the engine. On the other hand, to fill it out without an engine, it also takes a lot of time and I can only do it in a company, or I will have to teach someone HTML at least ... in short, everything is confusing, a vicious circle ...
PPSThat's what it means, everything is NOT in its time! So to anyone who ever decides to make websites, I recommend deciding right away (not easy): whether you will make them on the engine (s) and be sure to try a couple of some popular ones OR on frameworks OR write everything from scratch yourself, becoming a mega-cool programmer, coder, designer, etc., but always be ready to invent bicycles that you once did not find the time or desire to study ...