June 2010

Categories: Community Created by ben van 't ende
This month's focus was almost entirely on the release of TYPO3 version 4.4, that was released on June 22nd.
The motto for TYPO3 version 4.4 is “Easier then ever before”. TYPO3 version 4.4 ships with a brand-new skin which includes updated icons, a better color scheme, and hundreds of changes under the hood to speed up the TYPO3 Backend. The new version comes with an introduction package that gives a broad overview of the common features of a TYPO3 installation. When setting up a new TYPO3 installation, the user is guided through an installer, which integrates nicely in the look and feel of the new TYPO3 Backend styles. Plus, it is possible to setup TYPO3 using a different DBMS than MySQL in the very first step of the 1-2-3 Installer. The built-in editor „HTMLarea“ is now completely based on ExtJS, the framework that TYPO3 includes since version 4.3. The change from the underlying JavaScript framework allows for tighter integration in the rest of TYPO3. All CSS files for the backend have been reorganized into structural and visual parts. This restructuring process also paves the way to modify the TYPO3 Backend so that the CSS is kept manageable, and to allow for web designers to create their own TYPO3 Backend skin easier than ever. At the annual core team meeting, preceding the Developer Days, a new release team was elected for version 4.5 to be released in Januari of 2011. TYPO3 version 4.5 will be the first TYPO3 version that has Long Time Support. The month of July started with the annually returning Developer Days in Elmshorn Germany. This years Developer Days was focused on "Getting Things Done". The overall impression is that the workshops sparked of a lot of enthusiasm and also started new collaborations.