[TYPO3-templavoila] Re: TemplaVoila future...

[Ron Hall]

Hello all,

As a disclaimer, let me say that I have not thoroughly read every post in this thread. So, if I repeat some thought that has been beaten to death, forgive me.

First, Tolleiv, thank you for your diligent work on this very complex extension. Both you and Dmitry before you have faithfully kept the extension running and improving. Many have benefitted from your work, and millions have used and will continue to use websites based on TemplaVoila.

We currently use TemplaVoila for all of our TYPO3 CMS sites. The reason we use it has nothing to do with it being easy nor is it because we are not technically competent.

In fact, I take issue with the notion that TemplaVoila is made for non-technical people. It is not. You cannot build TYPO3 sites without having at least competence in TypoScript regardless of the templating method you use. You can build TYPO3 sites (to a point) without being a PHP developer, but you still must be a technical person with skills in front-end code and TypoScript.

I originally started building sites in TYPO3 with marker-based templates. This approached served me well, but I decided to move to TemplaVoila because of one feature. That feature was Flexible Content Elements. At the time, it was the only way for a site integrator to build custom content elements without building PHP-based extensions.

Later we came up with the TemplaVoila Framework which some of you use. The overall strategy of the Framework is really based on front-end concepts centered around columns and modules, but at the time (and until recently) TemplaVoila was the only way to implement it. 

Last year, we looked briefly at fedext / fluidpages as a second possibility for our Framework concepts, but decided to defer a decision until it was given more time to mature. As mentioned in this thread, Kay is doing some interesting work along those lines now. We will certainly implement the Framework concepts in NEOS at some point.

Currently we depend on TemplaVoila as the base for our templating, and expect to do so for some time. But we rarely actually use the mapping interface of TemplaVoila since our Framework feeds TemplaVoila the page templates and most of our custom content elements are done with the API from WEC Content Elements. This combination gives our site integrators a lot of flexibility to build custom functionality without involving our capable but overworked PHP developer.

Fortunately, we do not require TemplaVoila to have new features. For us it has been feature complete for some time, but it will be important to find a way for the extension to be maintained so it will work with future TYPO3 versions at least through version 6.2 LTS and ideally beyond. Even with an adequate replacement for new development, the needs of legacy sites will keep it important for some time.

Looks like laying down a few thoughts ended up being a lot of words.

Thanks,
Ron Hall

On a site note, version 2 of the TemplaVoila Framework is ready as well as our new adaptive profiles extension, but neither are in the TER yet. I will be sending a note within a week to our mailing list on how to access them.