Onces finish, it will look like this:

Step 0: We’ll start with creating a simple news record:

We’re also going to need a background image for the final gifbuilder image, so we add that too.

Save the news record once your done.

Our news list will contain nothing more than just the image, since the title and subheader will be printed in there*. This means the tt_news template will look like this:

<!-- ###TEMPLATE_LIST### begin -->
  <div class="news-latest-container">
    <!-- ###CONTENT### begin -->
      <!-- ###NEWS### begin -->
        <div class="news-latest-item">
          ###NEWS_IMAGE###
        </div>
      <!-- ###NEWS### end-->
    <!-- ###CONTENT###  end -->
  </div>
<!-- ###TEMPLATE_LIST### end -->

We now have a basic news list view with nothing more than the tt_news image:

So how to transform this image into a dynamic image with title and subtitle?

Step 1: Creating a TypoScript template

Create a TypoScript template at the same page your news-list is located. We tell TYPO3 to clear all current configuration regarding the news-list image:

plugin.tt_news {
  displayList {
    # Remove all configuration
    image >
  }
}

We just removed all earlier configuration, which means we can start from the beginning.

Step 2: Import the tt_news image

Import the image we want to use as a background, from the tt_news record by inserting the following TypoScript

plugin.tt_news {
  displayList {
    # Remove all configuration  
    image >

    # Create a new image
    image {
      stdWrap.cObject = IMAGE
      stdWrap.cObject.file = GIFBUILDER
      stdWrap.cObject.file {
        # Width and height of the image
        XY = 517,177

        # First object: Our background image
        10 = IMAGE
        10 {
          offset = 0,0
          file {
            # Import the image from the tt_news record
            import = uploads/pics/
            import.data = field:image
            import.listNum = 0
            import.override.field = image

            # Determine the width and height (crop)
            width = 517c
            height = 177c

            # Set the quality of the image
            ext = jpg
            quality = 100
          }
        }
      }
    } 
  }       
}

Save the TypoScript template, and have a look at the frontend. You now have:

Step 3: Add the transparent box in which the title should be displayed

We need to create another object within our TypoScript setup, to display the transparent box:

plugin.tt_news {
  displayList {
    # Remove all configuration
    image >

    # Create a new image
    image {
      stdWrap.cObject = IMAGE
      stdWrap.cObject.file = GIFBUILDER
      stdWrap.cObject.file {
        # Width and height of the image
        XY = 517,177

        10 = IMAGE
        [.........]

        20 = BOX
        20 {
          # Offset left, Offset bottom, Width, Height
          dimensions = 10,-10,280,70
          # Start at left bottom
          align = l,b
          # Color of the box
	  color = white
          # Opacity of the box
	  opacity = 75
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Again, save the template. You now have:

Step 4: Insert the tt_news title

Create yet another object in your TypoScript setup, and get the title from the tt_news record:

plugin.tt_news {
  displayList {
    # Remove all configuration
    image >

    # Create a new image
    image {
      stdWrap.cObject = IMAGE
      stdWrap.cObject.file = GIFBUILDER
      stdWrap.cObject.file {
        # Width and height of the image
        XY = 517,177

        # First object: Our background image
        10 = IMAGE
        10 {
          offset = 0,0
          file {
            # Import the image from the tt_news record
            import = uploads/pics/
            import.data = field:image
            import.listNum = 0
            import.override.field = image

            # Determine the width and height (crop)
            width = 517c
            height = 177c

            # Set the quality of the image
            ext = jpg
            quality = 100
          }
        }
        20 = BOX
        20 {
          # Offset left, Offset bottom, Width, Height
          dimensions = 10,-10,280,70
          # Start at left bottom
          align = l,b
          # Color of the box
	  color = white
          # Opacity of the box
	  opacity = 75
        }
        30 = TEXT
        30 {
          text.data = field:title
          align = left
	  offset = 15,120
	  fontSize = 20
	  color = black
	}
      }
    }
  }
}

We’re finished:

If all went well, you should now be able to insert a subheader or any other tt_news field into the image as well. Hope you liked this tutorial, if you did please leave a comment.

GIFBUILDER can’t actually read your headertext so there’s no way it can determine when to use multiple lines by itself (at least, not without making weird cuts in the middle of your words). Therefore, we need to tell GIFBUILDER when to break the line.

Since we only use one H1 tag per seo, this snippet modifies the second header layout.

# Start overriding the second header layout.
lib.stdheader.10.2 >
lib.stdheader.10.2 = COA
lib.stdheader.10.2 {
  # Wrap the whole header
  wrap = <div>|</div>
  10 = IMAGE
  10 {
     # Wrap the first line
     wrap = <div>|</div>
     file = GIFBUILDER
     file {
        XY = [10.w] + 4, [10.h] + 8
        backColor = #FFFFFF
        10 = TEXT
        10 {
           text.field = header
           # Set the fontfile and font-properties.
           fontFile = fileadmin/fonts/customfont.ttf
           fontSize = 22
           fontColor = #000000
           offset = 0,18
           # Select the first line of our sentence.
           text.listNum = 0
           # Here we determine the break, in this case a pipe (|).
           text.listNum.splitChar = |
        }
     }
  }
  # Check if the second line is there...
  20 = COA
  20.if {
     value.field = header
     isTrue.cObject = TEXT
     isTrue.cObject.field = header
     # The second line starts after the pipe
     isTrue.cObject.listNum.splitChar = |
     # Now use the second line of our sentence
     isTrue.cObject.listNum = 1
  }
  # If the second line is there, use the same markup
  20.10 < .10
  20.10 {
     file {
        10.text.listNum = 1
        10.text.listNum.splitChar = |
     }
  }
}

Just to be clear: A header with two lines would now be like:
This is a very long header which will | be displayed over two lines.

Result:

The pipe will be the place where you split the header. Ofcourse, all the font properties used in the first line are also available in the second line, so play all you like with different fonts and markup on every other line.

1) A better pagebrowser

By default, the tt_news pagebrowser is not very nice. Nor can it be easily styled. Inside tt_news there’s a ‘hidden’ pagebrowser which is better, and much more flexible. To activate this better pagebrowser put the following into your template Setup section:

#-----------------------------------
# A better tt_news pagebrowser
#-----------------------------------

plugin.tt_news {
  usePiBasePagebrowser = 1     # This activates the better pagebrowser
  pageBrowser {                # Here you can configure the better pagebrowser
    maxPages = 7                  # Maximum browserpage links
    showResultCount = 1           # Display the sentence: ** till ** out of ** messages
    showRange = 1                 # Will look like "Items: 1-5 6-10" instead of "Page 1 2 3 4"
    showPBrowserText = 0          # Prepends "1 2 3" like "page 1 page 2 page 3", only when showRange = 0
    dontLinkActivePage = 1        # No need to link the active page
    showFirstLast = 0             # Show a first / last link, 0 since there already is a previous / next link.
  }
}

#-----------------------------------
# Locallang for the tt_news pagebrowser
#-----------------------------------

plugin.tt_news {
  _LOCAL_LANG.default {
    pi_list_browseresults_displays = Newsitem ###FROM### till ###TO### out of ###OUT_OF### newsitems.
    pi_list_browseresults_first = First page
    pi_list_browseresults_last = Last page
    pi_list_browseresults_page = Page
    pi_list_browseresults_prev = < Previous
    pi_list_browseresults_next = Next >
  }
}

2) Do not display duplicate items

If you have more than one tt_news plugin on your page, this can be nice. For example: The first plugin only shows the last newsitem, the second plugin the 5 most recent newsitems. The most recent newsitem is now shown by both the plugins. You can tell tt_news to only show newsitems once. This only works for List mode plugins. Put the following lines into your template Setup section:

#-----------------------------------
# Only show newsitems once per page.
#-----------------------------------

plugin.tt_news {
  excludeAlreadyDisplayedNews = 1
}

If “excludeAlreadyDisplayedNews” is enabled “excludeLatestFromList” and “listStartId” will be ignored. This is no problem, since both these fields are deprecated. Be aware this might break your archive links.

3) Generate a tt_news image automatically when no image is available

If your template design forces you to upload a photo with every newsitem, this can be helpful. The following code will generate a “No image” image using GIFBUILDER. Put this code in your template Setup section:

#-----------------------------------
# Generate a tt_news image automatically when no image is available.
# In this snippet: Latest mode
#-----------------------------------

plugin.tt_news.displayLatest.image.noImage_stdWrap {
  cObject = IMAGE
  cObject {
    # Wrap the image with a div tag
    wrap = <div>|</div>
    # Use GIFBUILDER to create an image
    file = GIFBUILDER
    file {
      # Define the width and height of the image.
      XY = 125,125
      # Define the background color of the image.
      backColor = #FFFFFF

      # First object in the image: TEXT
      10 = TEXT
      10 {
        # The actual text which is displayed in the image
        text = No image available
        # The fontsize
        fontSize = 16
        # niceText to make the text more natural. This can be good or bad depending on your server configuration.
        niceText = 1
        # Color of the text
        fontColor = #000000
        # Coordinates where your text should appear in the image. Width / Height
        offset = 125/2-32,125/2+4
      }
    }
  }
}

4) Load tt_news without cache; for example random news.

If you want to display newsrecords random, set the viewmode to LIST or LATEST and set the ’order by’ field to ‘randomise order’. The tricky part here is that your plugin shouldn’t be cached, since that would destroy the whole random idea. Ofcourse you can set the whole page to ‘no cache’ but this would kill your performance. Better is to just tell tt_news to use no cache. It will still cost you some performance but, it’s better than not caching the whole page. To setup tt_news without cache put the following code  into your template Setup section:

#-----------------------------------
# Run tt_news without cache, remember to unset in deeper levels!
#-----------------------------------

plugin.tt_news = USER_INT

This will load the tt_news plugin as a USER_INT object and render it without cache, outside of the main pagerendering. This way your page will be called from cache but the plugin will be non-cached. Just be sure to un-set this rendering on a deeper pagelevel since TypoScript is inherited from levels above.

5) Perfectly square tt_news images.

By default tt_news allows you to set the maximum width and height for an image in LIST or LATEST mode. Width and height are adjusted automatically when one exceeds the other. But what if you want a perfectly square image no matter what photo is being uploaded? CSS seems to be the only way to do this but there’s a solution which is better..

Ever noticed TYPO3 is able to crop images as soon as resizing isn’t posible anymore? An example: we have an image of 400 x 300 pixels, we want a picture of 30 x 30. What it does is it resizes the image to 40 x 30 pixels and than crops the width to 30 pixels. But that’s TYPO3.. not tt_news.

To enable this for tt_news you need to put the following code into your tempate Setup section:

#-----------------------------------
# Generate a perfectly square tt_news image.
# In this snippet: Latest mode
#-----------------------------------

plugin.tt_news {
    # This only affects the LATEST mode, to use LIST mode change to 'displayList'
    displayLatest {
        # Unset the default tt_news maximum width and height parameter
        image.file.maxW >
        image.file.maxH >
        # Call the TYPO3 way to render images, setting it to 90 pixels; cropping mode (c)
        image.file.width  = 90c
        image.file.height = 90c
        # Make the images SEO, using the caption as Alt tag.
        image.altText.field = imagecaption
    }
}

Now, the image will be resized untill the given width or height is reached and than be cropped. Width and height are always in pixels so there is no need to append ‘px’. The ‘c’ tells TYPO3 to crop the image.

Here’s a bit of TypoScript which produces both a graphical and a text header for the same single content element. You can display the graphical header and hide the text header using css (for example: indent: -9999). This way users will experience the nice graphical header while search engines will still be able to crawl the text header. We’ll give the text-header a H2 attribute so the importants is obvious to the search engine.

This snippets produces a H2 header with the same headertitle for both the graphical header as the text header:

lib.stdheader.10.2 = COA
lib.stdheader.10.2 {
	10 = IMAGE
	10 {
   		wrap = <span>|</span>
                file = GIFBUILDER
   		file {
   			XY = [10.w]+1,60
   			backColor = #ffffff
   			transparentBackground = 1
   			10 = TEXT
   			10 {
   				text.field = header
   				text.current = 1
   				fontSize = 52
   				offset = 0,50
   				fontFile =  path/to/your/font.ttf
   				fontColor = #000000
   				niceText = 1
    			}
   		}
   	}
	20 = TEXT
	20 {
		wrap = <h2 class="headerDesc">|</h2>
                field = header
	}
}

Maybe you would like to have a different alt and title text with the graphical header instead of the actually image text and also want this different text to show in your text-header. Since TYPO3 has no extra BE-field for this issue, you should use “Text and Image” instead of “Text”. This way you’ll have more BE-fields you can use. In this example I’ll use the “Long URL Description” field to define our alt, title and text-header content.

lib.stdheader.10.2 = COA
lib.stdheader.10.2 {
	10 = IMAGE
	10 {
   		alttext.field = longdescURL
   		titleText.field = longdescURL
   		wrap =  <span>| </span>
   		file = GIFBUILDER
   		file {
   			XY = [10.w]+1,60
   			backColor = #ffffff
   			transparentBackground = 1
   			10 = TEXT
   			10 {
   				text.field = header
   				text.current = 1
   				fontSize = 52
   				offset = 0,50
   				fontFile =  path/to/your/font.ttf
   				fontColor = #000000
   				niceText = 1
    			}
   		}
   	}
	20 = TEXT
	20 {
		wrap =  <h2 class="headerDesc">|</h2>
  		field = longdescURL
	}
}

I hope this will be useful. If you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate…

This TypoScript snippet is a latest view, but list is also posible.

Adjust the output by reading this.

plugin.tt_news.displayLatest.image.noImage_stdWrap {
  cObject = IMAGE
  cObject {
    wrap = <div class="ttnews-no-image">|</div>
    file = GIFBUILDER
    file {
      XY = {$plugin.tt_news.latestMaxW},{$plugin.tt_news.latestMaxH}
      backColor = #3f5158
    20 = TEXT
    20 {
      text = No image
      fontSize = 16
      niceText = 1
      fontColor = #ccedfb
      offset = {$plugin.tt_news.latestMaxW}/2-30, {$plugin.tt_news.latestMaxH}/2+4
      }
    }
  }
}