Ace

Ace (Ajax.org Cloud9 Editor) integration for MODx Revolution. Ace Provides best syntax highlighting and desktop-editors behavior (Sublime, Vim, Textmate) in your Elements, Files and Resources (when wysiwyg is disabled). It comes with 28 color schemes.

This editor is used in GitHub, Cloud9 IDE, Acebug and other projects.

For now the editor supports drag'n'drop of chunks, snippets, resources and files from MODx Tree.

This project is hosted on github here. Please feel free to leave comments/suggestions.

Here is the support forum thread for Ace.

Install via Package Management.

Set editor theme you wish in system settings (change namespace to "ace").

If you want to use this editor for resources, just set system option use_editor to false (global usage), or richtext setting of certain resource to false (specific usage).

All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.

The format is based on Keep a Changelog, and this project adheres to Semantic Versioning.

[1.9.7] - 2026-02-21

Fixed

• Installation/upgrade failing with "The location specified does not exist" and "Invalid or uninitialized Zip object" when preserving existing files (e.g. on MODX 3, SiteDash): set PREEXISTING_MODE to REMOVE_PREEXISTING so .preserved.zip is not created (#22)

[1.9.6] - 2026-02-16

Added

• Build script for MODX 2 and MODX 3 (Transport, auto-install, ClearCache)
• Readable install log: [Ace] sections, ✓/✅ messages in resolver and build output
• MODX root detection via core/config/config.inc.php when building from Extras/
• Readme: building from MODX 2 for MODX 2 installs (optional; avoids post-pack patch)

Changed

• PHP 8.1–8.5: null-safe array_merge, array key and file_get_contents handling in completions processors
• Build config: 4-space indent, search order MODX_BASE_PATH → config.inc.php → modx.class.php
• Resolver: PSR-12, structured log, recursive rmdir via closure
• Package attributes and build output use [Ace] prefix and checkmarks

Fixed

• Unable to load processor "getResourceFields" in MODX 3 (issue #16): processors path and CamelCase file names
• Auto-install in MODX 3: full class name MODX\Revolution\Transport\modTransportPackage for xPDO
• E_DEPRECATED suppressed during CLI build (dynamic property in MODX core)
• Package built on MODX 3 failing to install on MODX 2 (xPDOObjectVehicle could not be loaded): manifest vehicle class names patched to MODX 2 format (xpdo.transport.*) after pack; double-backslash and serialized manifest supported, array keys patched

[1.9.5] - 2025-10-18

Added

• Format code by Ctrl-Shift-B

[1.9.4] - 2024-02-23

Added

• Links on GitHub [#13]
• Alt+z keyboard shortcut to toggle word wrap [#15]

Fixed

• focus() triggering for undefined [#14]

[1.9.3] - 2022-05-15

Changed

• Move settings into an own file [#12]

Fixed

• Ace TV input [#11]
• PHP warning: Undefined variable $field [#10]

[1.9.2] - 2022

Added

• TV input Ace field [#9]

Changed

• Corrected search form [#8]

[1.9.1]

Fixed

• Changed fonts

Changed

• emmet.js with the support flex css styles and many other combinations

[1.9.0]

Added

• Autodetecting file mode by modelist.js [#7]
• New modes from ace-builds for version 1.2.0

[1.8.0]

Added

• Autocompletion for php functions

[1.7.0]

Added

• System setting "ace.grow"
• System setting "ace.html_elements_mime"

[1.6.5]

Added

• "Twig" syntax for support of Twig in chunks

Changed

• Plugin is not static anymore

[1.6.4]

Fixed

• Support of emmet in smarty mode. Again.

[1.6.3]

Fixed

• Support of emmet in smarty mode

[1.6.2]

Added

• "Markdown" syntax for mime type "text/x-markdown"

Fixed

• Editor mode handling

[1.6.1]

Fixed

• Work with enabled system setting "compress_js"

[1.6.0]

Added

• "Smarty" syntax for support of Fenom in chunks

Changed

• Ace updated to version 1.2.0

[1.5.1]

Fixed

• Bug with narrowing of the textarea

[1.5.0]

Added

• Editor height setting

Changed

• Assets moved back to /assets/

Fixed

• MODx tag completions (was completely broken)

[1.4.3]

Added

• MODx tag completions (Ctrl+Space)

Fixed

• Issue caused AjaxManager (MODx Manager speed booster plugin) tree drag'n'drop bug

[1.4.2]

Added

• Undo coalescing
• Drag delay for Mac (allow to start new selection inside current one)

Changed

• Mac fullscreen command bound to Command+F12

Fixed

• Use file extension of static chunks to detect code syntax

[1.4.1]

Added

• Expandable snippets support (see ace.snippets setting)
• Emmet wrap_with_abbreviation command (Alt+W)

Fixed

• Tab handling
• Emmet shortcut listing by Ctrl+Alt+H

[1.4.0]

Added

• Emmet (Zen Coding) support
• Terminal dark theme
• Hotkey table (Ctrl+Alt+H)

Changed

• Assets moved to /manager/assets/components/

Fixed

• Resource overview fatal error

[1.3.3]

Added

• PHP live syntax check
• Chaos dark theme
• Setting show_invisibles

[1.3.2]

Added

• Tab settings (tab size, soft tab)
• Full compatibility with AjaxManager extra

Fixed

• Bug while installing Ace
• Broken word_wrap setting

[1.3.1]

Changed

• Plugin content now stored in static file

[1.3.0]

Added

• German translation
• MODx tags highlighting
• Ambiance and xcode themes
• less/scss syntax highlighting
• Fullwindow mode (Ctrl+F11)

Changed

• Editor now ignores wich_editor setting. Set use_editor to false to use ACE for Resources.

[1.2.1]

Added

• Font size setting
• "GitHub" theme
• Support of html5 drag'n'drop (accepting dropped text)
• XML/HTML tag autoclosing

Changed

• Assets moved to manager folder

Fixed

• Broken en lexicon and PHP 5.3 incompatibility

[1.2.0]

Added

• Add missing "OnFileEditFormPrerender" event to MODx
• Multiline editing
• Advanced find/replace window

Changed

• Editor options moved to system settings
• Removed some unnecessary options

Fixed

• Multiple little editor bugs

[1.1.0]

Added

• File edition support
• MODx tree elements drag'n'drop support
• Auto-assigning which_element_editor to Ace

Fixed

• Fatal error on document create event
• Changing of properties has no effect

[1.0.0]

Added

• Plugin properties to adjust how Ace behaves
• Initial release