[Typo3-dev] Next version, kick off

[Jean-Baptiste RIO]

> > - Extension Kickstarter : Enhance this function to a real Extension
> > Developpement tool. I know it's a big amount of work but it will be
> > really useful.
>
> What do you have in mind what's not already there?
> Or do you want to replace a PHP IDE with textareas?

As I know, the kickstarter tool is able to :
- Create a new extension
- Read the wizard file of an extension in order to make a new extension
based on the first one or modify the first one.

In both cases the result is an "empty" extension in which you have to import
your php files if it is the second version of your extension. If, by
mistake, you forget your php files in the extension and create the
extension, bye bye the php files. This is really boring, for example, when
you try to build an extension based on an external tool (typically a RTE
tool for example...) : all the tool files are deleted.

My wish is to be able to :
- keep a selection of existing files  : at least, for example, to have a
check box per file to upgrade only a selection of files,
- extend kickstarter in order to manage contant and setup configuration
files by a wizard tool (not only flat text file) (see why below)
- extend kickstarter to manage backend / BE menu extensions configuration

- extend kickstarter to improve extension icons management
- add kickstarter the possibility to manage "php-func" $TCA array field
I have several other little improvements but the goal is to improve the
kickstarter in order that it is able to really manage extension versionning.
It's not to be able to code PHP ;)

> > - Backend modules and extensions : Better integration of configuration
> > leaving the ASCII format file to, for example, XML format or something
> > similar to $TCA array. Maybe we can imagine to design something user
> > friendly which converts the webmaster installation choices to
> > TypoScript... At the moment, only the emconfig file asks for
> > user-friendly configuration. Could be interesting to have same for
> > template, constants and setup ?
>
> I don't get it, please specify.

For the moment, it seems to me that sometimes configuring Typo3 is too
programmer-oriented, and not enough webuser-oriented. Extension installation
is somewhere a good example. When you install one, my point of view is that
this installation has to be accessible to non-programmers, I suppose that
the extension is well-designed. I think it's not the case for the moment. In
most cases, you have to configure some TS to make the extension working. We
have to keep this powerful way of configuring the extension, but maybe, we
can try to help people to master extension configuration by having a easier
tool to enter their configuration choice.
So my idea (maybe not a good one  ;)) is to change extension setup and
constant files format to an XML ?  $XXX array ? ... ? structured file,
managed by the new version of kickstarter extension, and to offer at the
extension installation the possibility to key in the values of
configuration. A sort of improvement at the same time of the Typoscript
Object Browser and the Constant editor BUT at installation and a bit more
friendly. Is it more understandable ?


> > - User configuration : Enhancement of BE User self configuration. If i'm
> > not wrong, it's not possible to easily configure the User Configuration
> > tool.
>
> What exactely do you miss?
Dimitri has given a good example. It's the possibility to manage the user
configuration you offer the BE users, depending on group roles or granted
access, but without extending BE php classes.


> > - General BE display : Possibility to manage the frames sizes user per
> > user. Ideally, add the possibility to resize the tree frame.
>
> Possible via UserTSConfig
I was meaning, dynamically, when you use the BE, as a file explorer offers.
You're looking for a specific page, upsize the tree frame, you want to map a
Template Object, downsize the tree frame to get more space :)

Hope it is clearer,

Regards,

JB