Version 9.2 of the open source content manager focuses on-site management and aims to “boost publishers’ productivity, push developers’ creativity and make integrators’ lives easier.”
Site Handling
The most remarkable new feature of TYPO3 version 9.2 is the site management feature. Introduced in version 9.1, the “Site Management” module in the TYPO3 administration space now contains a new “Configuration” sub-module. It allows integrators and site administrators to add and modify a global configuration for one or more sites.
Each site configuration has a unique identifier and configuration values such as root page ID, entry point, language definitions, and so on. The configuration files are stored in a YAML file under “typo3conf/sites/site-identifier/”. It is therefore easy to maintain configuration in a version control system such as Git for example.
The site management functionality already supports configurations such as domains, languages, error handling. According to the development team, this feature will be extended to long-term support version v9 later this year.
Debugging and profiling
The TYPO3 Control Panel now provides a more in-depth overview of TYPO3’s internal processes at runtime. Once enabled, TYPO3 integrators and site administrators can access performance and cache statistics and settings for a specific page. They can also simulate certain front-end access situations. It is possible, for example, to endorse the identity of a specific user group or to simulate a time stamp.
Concerning the administration panel, it will receive a significant revision to conform to the highest standards in future versions. To prepare for this development, it has been moved from the kernel to a dedicated system extension. This step also lays the foundation for other improvements, such as a new modern design and new features such as adding better profiling capabilities and the ability to add custom features via an API.
Changes to anticipate the future.
Although TYPO3 is not new to the open source CMS market, its core code is continually being reworked to adopt contemporary technologies and modern software paradigms. In particular, TYPO3 aims to support PSR-15 middleware ready for use by adopting the eponymous standard. For the development team, this approach will improve interoperability with independent libraries. As one of the first enterprise content management systems on the market, TYPO3 version 9.2 introduces PSR-15 middleware in the frontend, as well as in the backend.
TYPO3 v9 long term support version is scheduled for November 2018. This version will try to avoid constants and global variables if possible. To achieve this, a new “Environment” class has been developed, which acts as a central repository to store commonly used properties throughout the kernel. This class also contains methods relevant for all types of PHP, CLI and Web queries.
Security in Typo3
In the continuous security improvement process of the content manager, the path to the “var/” directory can now be configured as a TYPO3_PATH_APP environment variable. The Apache Web server can use the following configuration directive. This directory usually contains Install Tool session files, caching framework files, lock or log files, Extension Manager data files. Even though a correctly configured web server and a TYPO3 instance prevent access to all sensitive files in the “var/” directory, it is evident that they are non-public files. The development team can now locate these files outside the web root.
Getting TYPO3
TYPO3 can be installed in different ways. For example the traditional way by using the source package on typo3.org or the modern way by configuring a project using compose. More details via get.typo3.org/version/9