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Understanding modUser and extUser in MODX Projects
User data in MODX is often split across core identity records and extended profile data, and that distinction matters when you start building real workflows.
The donor for this post was a short question about the difference between modUser and extUser. The terminology came up often because many projects assumed user data lived in one place, while real account workflows usually needed both a core identity and some form of extended profile or domain-specific data.
Why the distinction matters
- authentication data and business profile data rarely belong in the same structure
- projects often need extra fields, roles, or external references beyond the core user table
- custom account logic becomes cleaner when profile data is modeled explicitly
For Evolution developers looking at the broader MODX ecosystem, this was an important architectural lesson: treat user identity and application-specific profile data as related but distinct layers.
Takeaway
If your project is heading toward membership, partner dashboards, or account-area workflows, design the user model intentionally instead of forcing every requirement into the base authentication record.
Source: Evolution CMS on GitHub.
Planning a Revo Commerce Stack with miniShop2 and mSklad
A historical ecosystem note on combining MODX Revo, miniShop2, and external inventory systems such as mSklad for more serious commerce projects.
TreeTabs 1.1: Improving Tabbed Navigation in the Manager
A short ecosystem note on TreeTabs 1.1 and why manager-side navigation helpers remained valuable on larger Evolution CMS sites.