Skip to content

TYPO3 now goes to 11!

TYPO3 v11 LTS brings many improvements to the backend. This is my pick of the most important changes for integrators. Remember: Eleven is one better! ⚡

Published

Summary

Share functionality for the TYPO3 backend

"Copy URL" function in the TYPO3 backend

Backend URLs now are human-readable, and even better: you can share them! A new "Copy URL" button was added in many backend modules, content elements, and other records. You can use it to copy the current link and share it with your colleagues:

  • Opens the content element with ID 131:
    www.example.org/typo3/record/edit?edit[tt_content][131]=edit
  • Opens the page with ID 91:
    www.example.org/typo3/record/edit?edit[pages][91]=edit
  • Opens the Info module, showing the SEO fields in the Pagetree overview:
    www.example.org/typo3/module/web/info?id=91&SET[pages]=seo

If a user is not logged in at the time, the login page is shown. After successful login, the user is redirected to the original link. Of course, access rights cannot be bypassed with this.

This feature can significantly improve the work between editors as well as customer support.

The .htaccess must be updated for the new backend routing to work! If your file does not differ much from the original, this can occur automatically during the upgrade process. You can also find the necessary change in the Changelog.

Multi-Factor Authentication

Overview of Multi-Factor Authentications
The TYPO3 core provides the Time-based One-time Password (TOTP). You can find more MFA providers in the TER.
Setting up the TOTP authentication
With the provided QR code, the authentication setup is quickly accomplished.

The backend login can now be protected by an additional measure. The TYPO3 core ships with the commonly used "Time-based One-time Password" (TOTP): You can connect an App such as Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, or 1Password via QR code. The App will then generate a new, synchronized token every 30 seconds.

Every user can set up Multi-factor authentication in their User settings.

Further MFA providers are available in the TYPO3 Extension Repository. It is recommended to always add the "Recovery Codes" provider as a fallback.

You can configure MFA to be mandatory for editors, admins, system maintainers, or all users. It's best to have a look at the changelog entry, which explains all available configuration options ($GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS'] and User TSconfig) in detail.

User Experience in the backend

The primary goal of this TYPO3 release was to improve the backend for editors and integrators alike. Or, as Benni Mack (TYPO3 Core Project Lead) called it at the TYPO3 Usergroup Lake Constance: "We're making things better that have been bugging people about TYPO3 for a long time."

Besides some new features, many minor improvements will make daily work easier. The following is just a personal selection.

"Show columns" in Web>List and Filelist

The new "Show columns" modal in TYPO3
The filter function allows you to quickly find and (de)activate the desired field even in extensive tables.
Filelist with "Show columns" modal
Additional columns can now be displayed in the file list, too.

Most of you will be familiar with the Single Table View in the List module, even though it is quite hidden. Here there has long been the possibility to show and hide additional fields of the table.

From now on, the "Show columns" button is available in the regular list view, which makes this feature easily accessible. Via Page TSconfig, the button can be hidden for individual or all tables if required:

// Disable the column selector for system categories:
mod.web_list.table.sys_category.displayColumnSelector = 0

// Disable the column selector for all tables:
mod.web_list.displayColumnSelector = 0

The Single Table View remains unchanged! You can still use it to edit selected fields of several records at the same time.

Improved page tree

  1. Variable width: In TYPO3 v11, the width can again be adjusted as needed. The last defined width is saved - even for future logins and when switching browsers.
  2. Collapse all page trees with a corresponding button. This can be quite useful for larger page structures.
  3. Page filter and selection of new page types are now displayed among one another.

Useful hints and small features

Appearance tab in the page properties
The name of the inherited backend layout is now shown in the page properties.
Info module in the TYPO3 backend
The new sub-module "Layouts" lists all pages with their assigned backend layouts. It also indicates invalid values (if a backend layout cannot be found).
Filelist in the TYPO3 backend with opened context menu
You can now create new Filemounts directly in the Filelist by clicking on the folder icon. This simplifies the setup, especially for large directory structures. Until now, you had to scroll through a large dropdown of all folders.
Filelist with download functionality
The entire Filelist has been revised and now looks very similar to the web list view. Among other things, a download button was added. It allows downloading files and entire directories conveniently as a ZIP archive.

Helpful field descriptions for records

TYPO3 backend with a field description

The property description in the TCA exists since TYPO3 v9. You can use it to add a hint text for editors to a field. I find this quite useful to explain certain features briefly.

With TYPO3 v11, this description can now be set (or overwritten) with Page TSconfig. This also works for selected record types, e.g. for content elements:

// Global description of a field with monolingual label:
TCEFORM.pages.title.description = Visible in the browser tab, unless overwritten by the SEO title.

// Description of the header field only for CType "textmedia", using a localization file:
TCEFORM.tt_content.header.types.textmedia.description = LLL:EXT:my_sitepackage/Resources/Private/Language/locallang.xlf:textmedia.header.description

Prevent mistakes when setting up editor rights

You want to properly set up the TYPO3 backend for your editors. And when it comes to assigning access rights, one or two stumbling blocks are waiting for you.

For instance, write permissions for the colPos of content elements and the slug field of the pages are important. An example: If an editor is missing the rights for the slug field, all new subpages will be created by him with an empty slug. If you try to open these pages, the homepage will be called instead.

To prevent this, the fields tt_content.colPos and pages.slug are no longer configured as exclude fields in TYPO3 v11. This means: the editor always has access to them.

However, these fields can still be hidden via page TSconfig. This makes them invisible for the editor without affecting the functionality.

What else?

We finally say goodbye to the outdated, Marker-based templating. The cObject TEMPLATE has been removed from the TYPO3 core. ###FAREWELL##!

A lot has happened under the hood with Workspaces. I always found the staging possibilities a neat feature and unique selling point of TYPO3. Unfortunately, Workspaces had its quirks in the past, so it was rarely used in my projects. In TYPO3 11, it may be worth trying the feature again.

Some new configurations were added: Data processors and conditions, an excludePagesRecursive option for the XML sitemaps, …

It is, therefore, worthwhile to have a look at the official "What's New" slides. You can find a complete overview with further information in the TYPO3 changelog.

If you're a programmer using Extbase, I can recommend the current article on usetypo3.com. The application framework was modernized in several aspects, making adjustments necessary in custom extensions.

A big thank you to everyone involved!

"... goes to eleven" is, of course, a reference to the guitar amp of Spinal Tap's guitar legend Nigel Tufnel.

Back to news list