[Typo3-doc] How to get started? Analyses of the steep learning curve

[JoH]

>>> I think you missed one big point: TV is not complex to use
>>> compared to TypoScript!
>
> And you just missed it again:
> It is easier to get started with TV. You can´t avoid TypoScript,
> but you can start with learning a minimum - and then learn more
> when you have the time and need.
>
> When you start with Typo3 there are enought complexity even
> without TypoScript, so if you can keep TS to a minimum at first,
> it makes it easier to get started.
>
> And that´s why we should use TV in our documents for beginners!

The minimum you need to get started is:

Install CSS_styled.content (4 clicks) and insert just 3 lines of TS to the
TS-Setup of your rootpage.

page = PAGE
page.typeNum = 0
page.10 < styles.content.get

Nothing more nothing less.
Everything else can be done with simple content elements, if you just want
to create a basic website.

Don't try to tell me that any approach using TV can be easier than this.
And there is something you seem to miss:
Who will setup a working TV for the beginner?
Surely not the beginner himself.
I tried it, and it took me much more time to setup a working configuration
than it would have taken to setup the whole website using these 3 lines.
In fact I would have been able to create all content elements _and_ the 3
lines in the same time.
And another fact is, that the website we are currently building simply
didn't work with TV, since the HTML code (even though it validates
perfectly) was partly cropped and some parts simply were not available for
mapping.
A bug or a feature? - I don't know.
And if it was that complicated for me as advanced TYPO3 user, how difficult
must it be for somebody who has never seen TYPO3 before?

It's just like producing websites with dreamweaver without any knowledge of
HTML and CSS.
It might be working, but if it comes to things you have to change manually
you will be running into lots of trouble.

And this is where the nightmare for every TYPO3 supporter (be it here in the
NGs or at any professional TYPO3 help desk) begins.

User: "I am using TV and now I want to change my headers to use different
CSS classes, how can I do that?"
Supporter: "Go and change lib.stdheader to your needs"
User: "lib.stdheader - what's that?"
Supporter: "It's a part of the TS-Setup of your site"
User: "What is TS-Setup?"
Supporter: "It's the place where you setup the TypoScript snippets for the
different things you want to use in your website"
User: "TypoSript? Never heard of it. Can I click it somewhere in my TV?"
Supporter starts banging his head on the table ...

Believe me, it's just like everything in real life: You should start with
the basics. And the basics of TYPO3 (be it with or without TV) are
definitely TypoScript and TS-Templates.

And there's another good reason why TV should not be part of a "getting
started" manual/tutorial: It's not part of the source package (at least not
for 3.8.0)
A basic "getting started" manual should be based on things that are
available without additional importing, updating or installing only.
Take the source package, install it on your server and start with your first
TYPO3 based website.

But if you think that TV is a better thing to start with, feel free to write
your own "getting started with TV" tutorial instead.

Joey

-- 
Wenn man keine Ahnung hat: Einfach mal Fresse halten!
(If you have no clues: simply shut your knob sometimes!)
Dieter Nuhr, German comedian
openBC: http://www.openbc.com/go/invuid/Jo_Hasenau