Typo3 Enterprise Content Management

Several months ago I mentioned an experiment that I was attempting to conduct using Typo3.

The problem, as I noted at the time, was the lack of accessible documentation.
At the time the only book that I could find on the subject hadn’t been translated into English, so I was left to my own resources and those of long suffering Tom Doyle from 2Bscene. Tom develops a lot in Typo3, so both he and his team are very familiar with its functions and possibilities. We’ve been using Typo3 inhouse for over a year, as Tom developed our current site using it.
Fortunately there is now an English translation of the book available, so I got a copy of Amazon this week. Although I haven’t read it cover to cover yet (it’s close to 600 pages long) I’ve already made a lot of progress in understanding the internals of the Typo3 system. If only I’d had this book sooner.
The book’s authors are all actively involved in the continued development of Typo, so they know what they are talking about. They also do not make any assumptions of the reader, so whether you are a seasoned user or a fresh “newbie” you won’t be disappointed.
The book is divided into seven sections, which guide you from basic principles of content management systems (CMS) through to advanced topics, such as extending the system via plugins (extensions):

1. Introduction – including an introduction to CMS systems and the Typo3 project
2. Installation – fairly self-explanatory
3. TYPO3 for Editors – from a content provider’s perspective
4. TYPO3 for Administrators – more technical aspects
5. TypoScript
6. Extensions
7. Extension Development
8. Index

Chapter 2, for example, explains what the various configuration options actually mean, so you can make decisions based on your intentions, rather than blindly guessing. It explains which versions of the various php extensions you need to get the system running optimally and the criteria behind those choices.
The areas that are probably of most interest to me are with regard to the integration of functions into a typo3 powered site, as without an explanation the code in the backend can seem to be very daunting and I really do not want to spend the next six months trying to work it out.
Gaining a better understanding of how templates actually work is also extremely helpful and even if you have no intention of developing new templates it makes working with existing ones a lot easier.
Like many technical books I don’t think this one was intended to be read from cover to cover, but is more of a reference or guide to using, maintaining and developing websites using a very powerful system.
No book, however, is perfect. There are a couple of areas where this version does fall down. It is apparent from some of the book’s syntax that it was not originally written in English, as some of the turns of phrase seem a bit awkward at times. The other area which I felt was a bit lacking was with regard to the screenshots. They do tell you what you need to know, but they are anything but attractive and considering the book’s price I would have expected higher quality.
On the positive side the authors have fully integrated the online documentation with the book and provide quick reference codes throughout that you can use to access specific content on the Typo3 site. Although I’ve seen online errata and similar in the past, this is the first time I’ve seen this level of offline to online integration and it is a really nice idea. When you consider how quickly so many open source projects develop it is a pity that more of the books surrounding them don’t take this approach.
In conclusion I would say to anyone using Typo3 as their CMS that they really should get a copy. It will make your life so much easier.
If you don’t believe me download a sample chapter from the publisher’s site.

Typo3: Enterprise Content Management