[TYPO3-UG Australia] Newbie question - How do you start with Typo3 4.0?

[Tyler Kraft]

Hi, Welcome to typo3!

Well you've already done the hard part - lots of reading. Now be 
prepared to be truely lost for a while as you start to get 'going' going.

Perhaps start with the basics of a good page - good html and css. I know 
that seems like common sense but you will not beleieve the number of 
time we hear - "it looks different to and typo3 is messing up my 
design". Please realise that typo3 is simply a mechanism, albiet a 
complex mechenism, but still just a mechanism to output html - nothing 
more nothing less.

After that then set out a list of all the little step by step things you 
want to do to integrate that page into typo3 (replace this div with a 
left hand menu, replace this div with a bread crumb menu, replace this 
part with the page content.)

Then install a copy of typo3 to play with (a local WAMP install is dead 
easy onto a laptop, as is a LAMP install for a test drive).

Next download and have a copy of TSref at hand - this is your new 
bible!!! Don't leave home without it so to speak - the mailing lists 
will always tell you to research and look in tsref (as a newbie we all 
understand that this learning process hard because we've been there, but 
some questions are so commonly asked that they will get ignored or a 
cold reply of "read tsref and search the lists!")

Then simply down load and have a look at the different templating 
methods - I prefer the modern template building route, but many others 
prefer the futuristic template building method. Try both, it will only 
help you to learn. (Also look at documents listed below)

Then once you've done those and feel comfortable that you kind of know 
what's happening at each stage, just repeat the process for your own 
html. And when it all feels frustrating and tiring,a s invariably it 
will, realise that it is worth it. Once the basics are in place it will 
only take you about an hour or two (sometimes a day) to have a 
semi-complex site up and running from html to nearly finished product.

hth and good luck ;-)

Tyler

Additional reading:
First and foremost is the mailing lists
Then tsconfig - help you set up the cms and users for your site editors
TSbyExample - old and seems a bit cluncky but you will still gain 
invaluable understanding through it
typoscript syntax an in-depth study - good background




Steve Atkins wrote:
> Hi,
>  
> I run a software development company in Sydney and we have a requirement
> to come to grips with Typo3. 
>  
> I have trawled the Net and read a good deal of the documentaion.
>  
> The general advice is to start with 'Getting Started' and the quickstart
> package. The problem is that this package is no longer available in
> release 4.0 and the tutorial is dated 2003.
>  
> There has been an attempt to make quickstart available as an extension
> loaded through the extension manager. I tried this approach and failed
> as the mininews extension failed to load. This is a known problem and
> has seen no action since April.
>  
> So, where do I start? I don't mind putting in the hard yards but I don't
> like to waste time.
>  
> Steve