[TYPO3-english] THEMES - the tool for Designers, Template Builders and Content Creators

[Jigal van Hemert]

Hi,

On 14-6-2013 9:49, Xavier Perseguers wrote:
>> Personally I never understood the hype about FCE, since this is
>> something you can do with some TCA within just a few minutes and you
>> will need at least some TypoScript for each of them anyway.
>
> I do as as I remember when I started that creating FCE was exactly as
> easy as mapping page templates. You don't need any TS to start with,
> just as you don't for TV. OK this is only for "basic" operations but
> with default TS created when you have TV installed, you can easily
> create a page template and a few FCEs (again, basic such as mapping 3
> columns of content with hardcoded width ratio) without any need to
> configure something in TS.

Even for rather complex FCEs you don't need a single line of TS and no 
need to modify the form XML. For example: a lot of websites want a list 
of links that the editors can build. If you have the HTML for a bullet 
list with links you can use TV to create such a flexible list. It is a 
more complex task, but by setting up a container, section, etc. the 
editor gets an IRRE interface in the backend.

For other things such as building an image based on several fields in 
the FCE you do need some TypoScript.

Editors love it when the FCEs are simply listed in the new content 
element wizard and have an easy to recognize thumbnail/icon next to them.

FCEs are not there to make the live of the developer easy, but they were 
conceived to make the live easier for the editor and the integrator.
I would love to see the concept (not the technical part, but the ease of 
use part) expanded and be able to create content elements with a 
completely new record type. Lists of these flexible content records 
would be possible, etc. This all from a nice UI without the need for any 
high-tech settings.

Most of the TV bashing was IMO because of the use of XML. Instead of 
expanding the number of columns (colPos) like BE layouts did Kasper 
chose to use XML to store the structures. This also meant that content 
elements that were placed in a content area had to be connected to that 
area in another way then by setting the colPos.
It complicated a lot of operations for many developers. OTOH TV comes 
with a very nice API that makes it very easy to manipulate pages and 
content.

-- 
Jigal van Hemert
TYPO3 CMS Active Contributor

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