Latest Publications

TYPO3: A nicer and better workspace center

NEW: You can now download this enhancement from the download page!

For a client who needed a solid and easy workspace center for multiple writers and publishers I enhanced the default versioning / workspace part of TYPO3. The code is still a bit messy but I’m working on a cleaner version.

We only needed two levels of authorisation instead of three, so in this case the reviewer is also a publisher. Since both the writers and the publisher in this case are not computer whiz kids the screen has to be as clean as posible. Futhermore it is neccessary to quickly see comments writers made for publishers. The pagebrowser now only shows when there actually are more pages neccessary. Only admins can now switch between workspaces because this can only go wrong once it’s set correctly. (The tab is still visible in the screenshot, not in real version)

Read more…

TYPO3: Attending the Dutch User Group Day 2009

I’m attending the TYPO3 User Group Day 2009 on Friday the 9th of October. The TYPO3 UG day 2009 will be held at the TU/Delft.

Although the program has not been announced yet there will be a developer track and a user/consultancy track, which will both run on the same time. Also, Benni Mack (TYPO3 4.4 release manager) will be there. The developer track involves a more technical approach while the user/consultancy track will focus on applying stuff like extensions.

Last but not least there will be a certified TYPO3 integrator exam, which I’m considering to take. (More on that later)

To get your ticket click here: (in dutch)

http://www.typo3.nl/leden/user-group-dag-2009/aanmelden/

Web Usability; 2 books reviewed

During my holiday I’ve read 2 books concerning web usability… here’s my opinion:

#1: Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krugdont-make-me-think

Wonderful book, a must read for everyone in web design. The book covers most of the usability fields and is plain and simple to read. Steve uses mostly common sense to argue usability problems and gives you a fresh look on things. I suggest you read this book when you’re new on usability or you just want a book that’s easy written with some humour along the way. Steve’s tips are really useful in everyday’s work!

201 pages, 2005

I rate this book 5/5

Read more…

TYPO3: Before field in CE limited to 50px?

Today I ran into something strange. Did you know the ‘before’ field in a content element was limited to just 50px?

I was in a hurry so I adjusted the default header layout, but so far I haven’t found a solution…

BTW: The adjustment was easy, just take an unused layout and change it to your needs:

lib.stdheader.10.5 = COA
lib.stdheader.10.5 {
10 < lib.stdheader.10.1
10.fontTag = <h1 style="margin-top:300px;">|</h1>
}

TYPO3: Robots.txt

First of all: I’m very busy at the moment so it’s been a little quite lately, but I’ll try to keep up..

I’ve done some research and I think this is a pretty good example of how to use robots.txt on a TYPO3 website:

User-Agent: *
Allow: /                                      # Allow bot to enter
Disallow: /fileadmin/website/notimportant/    # Exclude only folders with no
                                              # link from frontend, like
                                              # templates, css, js.
Disallow: /t3lib/                             # Nothing to see here
Disallow: /typo3/                             # Nothing to see here
Disallow: /typo3conf/                         # Nothing to see here
Disallow: /typo3temp/                         # Nothing to see here
Disallow: /*?id=*                             # Disable non-realurl
Disallow: /*&type=98                          # Disable print pages

Sitemap: http://www.example.tld/sitemap.xml   # Your Sitemap
Sitemap: http://www.example.tld/rss.xml       # Your RSS Feed

You’ll notice the upload folder is allowed since there are files in here, which are linked to the frontend. The same applies for files in the fileadmin. If you don’t use RealUrl keep in mind to remove that specific line or else the bot won’t index much.

If anyone knows a better setup please don’t hesitate to comment!

TYPO3: Generate all realurl path’s in one click!

A small trick when working with realurl. If you want generate all url path’s at onces just create a sitemap page (not in menu) and visted it. All pages in the sitemap do now have a realurl path generated.