[TYPO3-project-4-3] TYPO3 Distribution Concept for 4.3

[Michael Stucki]

Hi Benni,

> For a new freesite / starter package, it'd be great to do some basic 
> tasks already taken care of. We thought of these steps that should be 
> necessary:
> 
>  * Adding some additional files / DB data to the package
>  * Having some optional latest extensions installed out-of-the-bx

A new freesite is a nice idea. However, that would be quite static, 
means every freesite will look the same. Right?

I would like to have things more modular. Actually there's two parts in 
your proposal:
- Templates
- Extensions that run out-of-the-box

For templates, see my proposal in the "New static templates?" thread.
And the preconfigured extensions could be implemented as extensions, 
too. Example: "tt_news_out-of-the-box" depends on tt_news and provides 
an example news site structure with template and archive, etc.

> These steps should be automated and be done right after the 
> 1-2-3-installer without any further notification, just as an addon to 
> step 3. Through this "hook", companies and organizations can easily pack 
> their own distribution as well.
> 
> Basically we imagine something like a distrib/ directory that contains
>  * a distrib_install.php file and
>  * a distrib_insall.sql file.

Installer integration sounds great! Maybe this can be combined with the 
other proposal?

I would just prefer if installing a new site does not depend on a 
freesite package but rather integrates nicely into every (also existing) 
site. That may be more difficult, but I think it would be much more 
powerful the other way (e.g. you could easily switch a template by 
downloading a new template extension and just click to say on which site 
it should be applied).

> The cool thing about this is that the distrib_install.php script allows 
> a lot of flexibility as it's pure PHP (e.g. for companies and 
> organizations to get out-of-the-box working solutions done) and does not 
> require a lot of changes in the Core itself (that's why I'm still aiming 
> for a 4.3 inclusion).

Extensions provide a similar functionality.

> If no one comes up with a better idea and is willing to code this, I'll 
> probably get my hands dirty to see what changes are needed for the Core. 
> How the freesite package itself will look like then, what will be 
> included and when it will be released, does not really matter for now. 
> The most important thing for now is that the 1-2-3 installer will be 
> ready for this.

There was a nice proposal for a similar feature at the GSoC. However, 
due to the lack of more slots, the project was not accepted.

- michael
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