[TYPO3] Typo3 - Future Keys to Success...

[Timothy Patterson]

Hello All!

I currently work in the Web Programmer position for a mid-sized 
University in Michigan, USA.  I have been working with the Typo3 CMS for 
about 6 months now.

My primary task while working for the University is to migrate away from 
a proprietary Ektron CMS to Typo3.  I chose Typo3 because of its 
reputation, customization capabilities, and its amazing community-based 
support.

Now that I have worked with the Typo3 environment for a while I have 
noticed some things that I think could greatly benefit the Typo3 
community as a whole and help produce the "Ultimate CMS".

Before I explain myself in more detail I would like to take the 
opportunity to thank all of the developers and the community behind 
Typo3, as the end result is amazing!

Here are the changes that I feel could greatly benefit Typo3:

1.  Less content element types - better RTE support.
     - While using Typo3 for large sites, end-user content editors tend 
to get confused by having multiple content types available.  By sticking 
to one content type (text) and using a single RTE environment content 
editors are able to easily accomplish whatever task is at hand.  This 
would also help ease the learning curve required for content editors new 
to Typo3.
     - As for better RTE support, I'll give an example...  I just spent 
all morning looking for a way to get the RTE to keep my div tags and my 
span tags - even after commenting out the "remapTag.DIV=P" line!  This 
is something that should just plain work.  Also, the ability to create 
Anchors (or bookmarks) within the RTE would be a great improvement as 
well.  I understand that you can create multiple content elements and 
link directly to those, but then again it goes back to the learning 
curve.  The Typo3 backend is confusing to end-users new to Typo3 and the 
simpler we make their interface (QuickEdit only) the easier it is for them.

2.  Better workspace support & Access permissions
     - Typo3's workspaces are great for a large organization such as a 
University.  It is in our policies that all content editing must go 
through an approval process and that content editors can only see the 
pages that they are allowed to edit.  I have adapted my Typo3 setup 
using workspaces and the Backend ACLs extension (be_acl) to somewhat 
suit my needs.  It would be nice, however, if instead of giving out 
permissions based on the current method (an Access module and a 
Workspace module) if the two could be integrated - thus offering unique 
permission sets based on the current workspace.

     - Another much needed feature is the ability for content-editors to 
drag and drop pages that they have available to them in their 
workspaces.  As an admin I could not live without this feature.  It 
would be a major plus for content editors to be able to do the same.  I 
understand that there are issues with versioning/version types, but if 
the versioning that would be required behind the scenes could be 
automated that would be the cat's meow!

3.  A simplified backend for content-editors
     - I understand that this is achievable via extensions and 
TypoScript, but should maybe be considered for an out of the box setup. 
  It would be nice if Typo3 had the as-is backend for us administrators, 
a simplified content-oriented version for content-editors, and then of 
course the front-end side of things.

If these issues are taken seriously, there is no reason that Typo3 could 
not become the #1 CMS in the entire world!  I love the end product and I 
want it to be clear that I am not criticizing anyone, I just want to 
give a large organization's perspective on changes that could be made to 
Typo3 that would also benefit the community as a whole.

Thanks,
Tim Patterson