Further links

• Open Hub

Stackoverflow

Please use Stackoverflow to get the best support and tag your question with typo3 and tx-news.

Slack

The dedicated channel #ext-news of the TYPO3 Slack Workspace can be used to get in direct contact with other users!

If you are not registered yet, follow this guide.

Personal support

If you need private or personal support, ask one of the developers for it.

Be aware that this support may not be free of charge!

Contribution workflow

(1) Please always create an issue on Github before starting a change. This is very helpful to understand what kind of issue the pull request will solve and if your change will be accepted.

(2) Bug fixes: Please describe the type of bug you want to fix and provide feedback on how to reproduce the problem. We will only accept bug fixes if we can reproduce the problem.

(3) Features: Not every feature is relevant to the majority of the users. In addition: We do not want to make this extension more complicated in usability for a marginal feature. It helps to have a discussion about a new feature before opening a pull request.

(4) Please always create a pull request based on the updated release branch.

Patreon

Support me on patreon.com and get access to additional extensions and snippets as a reward.

PayPal

Support me by a donation on paypal.com. It is just one click away.

Amazon Wishlist

If you would like to send me a small gift - feel free to choose from my Amazon Wishlist where I have collected some smaller and medium wishes that wait to be sponsored by someone :-)

Let's have a coffee

If you're in the region of Linz, just let me know. I'm always looking forward to meeting new and known faces and to talk about various topics.

I also attend meetings of the TYPO3 Usergroup Austria.

Update the database scheme

Open your TYPO3 backend with system maintainer permissions.

In the module menu to the left navigate to Admin Tools > Maintanance, then click on Analyze database and create all.

Clear all caches

In the same module Admin Tools > Maintanance you can also conveniently clear all caches by clicking the button Flush cache.

Include TypoScript template

It is necessary to include at least the basic TypoScript provided by this extension.

Go module Web > Template and chose your root page. It should already contain a TypoScript template record. Switch to view Info/Modify and click on Edit the whole template record.

Switch to tab Includes and add the following templates from the list to the right: News (news). It is possible to include additional templates provided by the news extension depending on your use case. For example you can additionally chose News Styles Twitter Bootstrap V5 (news) to use templates for the css framework Bootstrap in version 5.

Read more about possible configurations via TypoScript in the Reference section.

Further reading

• Global extension configuration
• TypoScript, mainly configuration for the frontend
• TsConfig, configuration for the backend
• Routing for human readable URLs
• Templating customize the templates

Recommended page structure

Create at least the following pages:

• "Home": Root page of the site, containing the root TypoScript template record and the start page content: Normal page.
• "News Storage": A folder to store the news in: Folder

Usually you will also need

• "News list": A list page to display all news on: Normal page
• "News display": A single page to display the news detail view on: Normal page, hidden in menu

Your page tree could, for example look like that:

Home
├── Some page
├── ...
├── News list
│  └── News display
├── ...
└── Storage
   ├── Other storage
   ├── ...
   └── News Storage

Create news records

Before any news record can be shown in the frontend those need to be created.

1. Go to the module Web > List
2. Go to the "News Storage" Folder that you created in the first step.
3. Use the icon in the topbar Create new record and select the entry News.
4. Fill out all desired fields and click Save.

More information about the records can be found here: news record, category record, tag record.

Add plugins: display the news in the frontend

A plugin is used to render a defined selection of records in the frontend. Follow these steps to add a plugin respectively for detail and list view to a page:

List page

1. Go to module Web > Page and to the previously created page "News list".
2. Add a new content element and select the entry News article list (incl. detail view)..

3. Switch to the tab Plugin where you can define the plugins settings. The most important settings is Startingpoint.

   1. Fill the field Startingpoint by selecting the sysfolder you created in the beginning of the tutorial.

   2. Switch to tab Additional and fill the field PageId for single news display with the page you just created before.

      

   3. Save the plugin.

Read more about the plugin configuration in chapter Plugin.

Have a look at the frontend

Load the "News list" page in the frontend and you should now see the news records as output. A click on the title should show the news record on the detail page. You want to change the way the records are displayed? Have a look at the chapter Templating

Add a news record

Click the button Create new news record on the top of the News Administration module.

Fill in all necessary fields. In a standard setup only the title is a required field. Depending on your project there might be other required fields defined (for example at least on category chosen, author filled out etc..).

All required fields are marked in red and with an exclamation mark as is standard in TYPO3 backend forms.

When you are done, click the Save button.

If enabled by your integrator you are able to use the View button to preview your results. The integrator can follow this tutorial to enable the view button.

Depending on the settings of your project you might have to empty the cache before the news will be displayed in the list views. Your integrator can follow this tutorial, to automate the cache clearing.

Search for news record

Use the filter symbol on the top of the module to open the search. You can use multiple fields to filter the news.

Create a category

The category records are provided by the TYPO3 Core. They are however closely integrated into EXT:news. You can create a category by clicking the button Create a new category on the top of the News Administration module.

Fill in a title and possible a parent category and some other fields and click the Save button. Once you have created categories you can select them when editing news records.

You can also chose categories in the plugin to filter by categories. Or you can display a category menu.

Create a tag

You can create a tag by clicking the button Create a new tag on the top of the News Administration module. Fill in a title and click the Save button.

Once you created some tags you can add to your news records on editing them.

Support & Donate

You can find some information about how to support the main author of this extension on this page. Click the Support & Donate button on the top right of the module.

Create a news storage folder

News records are usually stored in pages of the type folder. A folder itself cannot be displayed in the frontend. Its content can however be displayed on other pages through a plugin or TypoScript configuration.

Create a page of type folder by dragging a the folder symbol on top of the page tree into the desired position. Then give it a name and enable the folder in the context menu.

The folder can be displayed with a certain symbol such that folders containing news can be easily recognized.

Open the page properties by choosing Edit from the context menu.

Then go to the field Behaviour > Contains Plugin and chose News. After saving the folder record the symbol of the folder changes. If this field is not visible to you, you might lack permissions. In this case an administrator needs to set the field.

Add the first news record to a new folder

When there is no news record found in the folder yet, the table News is not visible yet. In that case click the plus button Create a new record on the top left of the list module area.

Chose News system > News from the list. Edit and save the news record as usual. The same strategy can be used to add News system > Tags and News system > Tags.

Add subsequent news records to a folder

When a folder contains at least one news record it displays a table called News in the list module.

At the top of this table you can find the New record button. Click this button to create a news record directly.

Edit a news record

At the right of each listed news record you can edit, hide / unhide or delete a record by clicking the corresponding button. By clicking on the icon of the news you can also find a context menu with more options.

Download news as CSV or JSON

Starting with TYPO3 version 11 you can conveniently download all or a selection of news records to a comma-separated (CSV) file format that can be easily imported into excel. Click the Download button on the top right of the news table in the list module, make your choice click Download.

Mass editing

Mass editing can come handy when you want to change many news records at once. The process differs between TYPO3 11.5 and older versions however.

Read the chapter on mass editing in the T YPO3 editors manual and chose the version of TYPO3 you are using from the top left version chooser.

List

The list action displays a list of defined records. The filters can be defined either in the plugin or by using TypoScript and are described here.

2 different list modes are available.

Detail

There are 2 typical use cases for this action:

• Use this action to show a full news record which is linked by a list view.
• Provide a specific news record to output that one. This is very useful to embed a news record e.g. in a newsletter.

Date menu

Use this action to show a list of news items grouped by the date. A typical output can look like:

2015
   January: 13 entries
   February: 9 entries
   March: 6 entries
   June: 4 entries
   ...
2014
   March: 81 entries
   April: 32 entries
   May: 1 entry

If you define a specific page id in field PageId for list display (inside the tab Additional) and placing a news plugin with the type List there, it is possible to create a date filter.

Search form

Use this action to show a basic search inside news records.

Search result

The search result action is based on the list action including an additional filter provided by the search form.

Category menu

Use this action to show a list of categories. The categories are listed as tree.

If you define a specific page id in field PageId for list display (inside the tab "Additional") and placing a news plugin with the type List there, it is possible to create a category filter.

Tag list

Use this action to show a list of tags.

If you define a specific page id in field PageId for list display (inside the tab "Additional") and placing a news plugin with the type List there, it is possible to create a tag filter.

Add news record

News can be added in the News administration or List module.

By default there are three types of news records:

• Standard news: These contain the content directly as text or content elements
• Internal links: The content is stored on a standard typo3 page
• External page: The content is found outside of the news installation

Standard news

In most projects when you create a new news record it will be automatically a standard news record. To confirm this check that the field Type is set to News. Standard news should usually have a text in the field Text field, some content elements in the Content elements tab and or some media in the Media tab.

News as internal link

In some projects the text of the news itself is stored on a standard page. The news can still be listed in the list view of the news plugin.

Click the button Create new news record on the top of the News Administration module. Then switch the select filed Type to Internal link. Fill in the title field and other required or desired fields.

Then click the button to edit the Internal link.

When you are done, click the Save button. Depending on the settings of your project you might have to empty the cache before the news will be displayed in the list views.

News as external page

In some projects the text of the news itself is stored on an external page. The news can still be listed in the list view of the news plugin.

Creating an external page works just like an internal link. However you chose the type External page and enter the external link in the field Link to External URL.

News record

The visible fields depend on

• The news type (see above)
• Your user permissions
• The configuration of your project
• Third party extensions if applicable

Add a category

Categories can be added in the News administration or List module.

Properties

<f:if condition="{categories.0.title}">
   <n:titleTag>
      <f:format.htmlentitiesDecode>{categories.0.title}</f:format.htmlentitiesDecode>
   </n:titleTag>
</f:if>

<f:if condition="{categories.0.description}">
   <n:metaTag name="description" content="{categories.0.description -> f:format.stripTags()}" />
</f:if>

<f:if condition="{categories.0.headline}">
   <f:then>
      <h1>{categories.0.headline}</h1>
   </f:then>
   <f:else>
      <h1>News Category</h1>
   </f:else>
</f:if>

<f:if condition="{categories.0.text}">
   <f:format.html>{categories.0.text}</f:format.html>
</f:if>

Add a tag

Tags can be added in the News administration or List module.

Properties

Page title for single news

EXT:news implements a custom pageTitleProvider \GeorgRinger\News\Seo\NewsTitleProvider which is called through the controller.

It can be configured using TypoScript:

plugin.tx_news.settings.detail {
   pageTitle = 1
   pageTitle {
      # Register alternative provider
      provider = GeorgRinger\News\Seo\NewsTitleProvider
      # Comma separated list of properties which should be checked, 1st value is used
      properties = teaser,title
   }
}

It is also possible to set the page title through the template by using:

<n:titleTag>
   <f:format.htmlentitiesDecode>{newsItem.title}</f:format.htmlentitiesDecode>
</n:titleTag>

Please disable the usage of the page title provider by using

plugin.tx_news.settings.detail.pageTitle = 0

XML Sitemap

The sitemap includes links to all news records. This makes it easier for search engines to find all news records and to index those.

Depending on your requirements you can either use the simple sitemap provider from the Core or a custom one shipped with EXT:news.

plugin.tx_seo.config {
    xmlSitemap {
        sitemaps {
            news {
                provider = TYPO3\CMS\Seo\XmlSitemap\RecordsXmlSitemapDataProvider
                config {
                    table = tx_news_domain_model_news
                    # exclude internal & external news
                    additionalWhere = {#type} NOT IN(1,2)
                    sortField = sorting
                    lastModifiedField = tstamp
                    changeFreqField = sitemap_changefreq
                    priorityField = sitemap_priority
                    pid = 26
                    recursive = 2
                    url {
                        pageId = 25
                        fieldToParameterMap {
                            uid = tx_news_pi1[news]
                        }

                        additionalGetParameters {
                            tx_news_pi1.controller = News
                            tx_news_pi1.action = detail
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

routeEnhancers:
  Sitemap:
    type: Simple
    routePath: 'sitemap/{sitemap}'
    aspects:
      sitemap:
        type: StaticValueMapper
        map:
          pages: pages
          news: news
  PageTypeSuffix:
    type: PageType
    default: '/'
    index: ''
    map:
      '/': 0
      sitemap.xml: 1533906435

plugin.tx_seo {
      ## enable next line to generate a Google News sitemap
      # view.templateRootPaths.191 = EXT:news/Resources/Private/Templates/News/

      config {
          xmlSitemap {
              sitemaps {
                  news {
                      provider = GeorgRinger\News\Seo\NewsXmlSitemapDataProvider
                      config {
                          # exclude internal & external news
                          excludedTypes = 1,2
                          additionalWhere =
                          ## enable these two lines to generate a Google News sitemap
                          # template = GoogleNews
                          # googleNews = 1

                          sortField = datetime
                          sortDirection = ASC
                          lastModifiedField = tstamp
                          pid = 218
                          recursive = 2
                          url {
                              pageId = 10
                              useCategorySinglePid = 1

                              hrDate = 0
                              hrDate {
                                  day = j
                                  month = n
                                  year = Y
                              }

                              fieldToParameterMap {
                                  uid = tx_news_pi1[news]
                              }

                              additionalGetParameters {
                                  tx_news_pi1.controller = News
                                  tx_news_pi1.action = detail
                              }
                          }
                      }
                  }
              }
          }
      }
  }

plugin.tx_seo {
   config {
      xmlSitemap {
         sitemaps {
            news {
               provider = GeorgRinger\News\Seo\NewsXmlSitemapDataProvider
               config {
                  # ...
               }
            }
         }
      }
      googleNewsSitemap {
         sitemaps {
            news < plugin.tx_seo.config.xmlSitemap.sitemaps.news
            news {
               config {
                  template = EXT:news/Resources/Private/Templates/News/GoogleNews.xml
                  googleNews = 1
               }
            }
         }
      }
   }
}

seo_sitemap_news < seo_sitemap
seo_sitemap_news {
   typeNum = 1533906436
   10.sitemapType = googleNewsSitemap
}

routeEnhancers:
  PageTypeSuffix:
    map:
      news_sitemap.xml: 1533906436

Language menu on news detail pages

If a language menu is rendered on a detail page and the languages are configured to use a strict mode, the following snippet helps you to setup a proper menu. If no translation exists, the property available is set to false - just as if the current page is not translated.

10 = language-menu
10 {
   as = languageMenu
   addQueryString = 1
}

11 = disable-language-menu
# comma separated list of language menu names
11.menus = languageMenu

See also chapter LanguageMenuProcessor.

Hreflang on news detail pages

If using languages with the language mode strict, the hreflang tag must only be generated if the according news record is translated as well!

EXT:news reduces the rendered hreflang attributes by using this event and checking the availability of the records.

<ul>
    <f:for each="{LanguageMenu}" as="item">
        <f:if condition="{item.available}">
            <n:check.pageAvailableInLanguage language="{item.languageId}">
                <li class="language-switch {f:if(condition:item.active, then:'active')}">
                    <a href="{item.link}">{item.navigationTitle}</a>
                </li>
            </n:check.pageAvailableInLanguage>
        </f:if>
    </f:for>
</ul>

Robots: allow indexing of news records, but set 'noindex' to the detail page

By default, the detail page will be listed in the SEO sitemap. But in most cases, you don't want the page itself to be indexed by search engines (means: without a news record to be shown by the plugin).

If you just disable Index this page (no_index) in the page properties, the robots meta tag with noindex value will also be applied to the news records.

Solution: You can use the following TypoScript condition to allow search engines to index the page again, if a news record is rendered:

[request && traverse(request.getQueryParams(), 'tx_news_pi1/news') > 0]
    page.meta.robots = index,follow
    page.meta.robots.replace = 1
[END]

An important part is the replace option. The MetaTag API of TYPO3 will then replace tags which were set before.

Setting default values

It is possible to set default values for each field in the backend:

TCAdefaults.tx_news_domain_model_news {
    author = Jon Doe
    notes = Someone forgot to change the notes....
}

Categories

TCAdefaults.tx_news_domain_model_news {
    categories = 9
}

TCEFORM.tx_news_domain_model_news.categories.config.treeConfig.startingPoints = 8,42

TCEFORM.tx_news_domain_model_news.categories.config.treeConfig.rootUid = 42

TCEFORM.tt_content {
   CType {
      # Remove all CTypes from allowed additional news content field 'content_elements'
      removeItems = *

      # allow
      keepItems = mask_news_text, mask_news_video
   }
}

TCAdefaults {
   tt_content {
      CType = mask_news_text
      colPos = 1
   }
}

Quick start

This section explains in short how to rewrite the URLs for the detail page in a project where there is only one detail view page on the whole site and where rewriting of things like pagination is not desired or needed.

Open the configuration of the site. You should find it at /config/sites/<your_identifier>/config.yaml.

At the bottom of the file include the following:

routeEnhancers:
  News:
    type: Extbase
    limitToPages:
      - <uid of single page>
    extension: News
    plugin: Pi1
    routes:
      - routePath: '/{news-title}'
        _controller: 'News::detail'
        _arguments:
          news-title: news
    aspects:
      news-title:
        type: NewsTitle

Save the file, delete all caches and try it out

Detailed explaination and advanced use cases

routeEnhancers:
  News:
    type: Extbase
    extension: News
    plugin: Pi1
    # routes and aspects will follow here

routeEnhancers:
  News:
    type: Extbase
    limitToPages:
      - 8
      - 10
      - 11
    extension: News
    plugin: Pi1
    # routes and aspects will follow here

routeEnhancers:
  News:
    type: Extbase
    limitToPages:
      - 8
      - 10
      - 11
    extension: News
    plugin: Pi1
    # etc.
  NewsEvents:
    type: Extbase
    limitToPages:
      - 17
      - 18
    extension: News
    plugin: Pi1
    # etc.

https://www.example.com/news/detail?tx_news_pi1[action]=detail&tx_news_pi1[controller]=News&tx_news_pi1[news]=5&cHash=

https://www.example.com/news/detail/5?cHash=

https://www.example.com/news/detail/title-of-news-article

routeEnhancers:
  News:
    type: Extbase
    extension: News
    plugin: Pi1
    routes:
      - routePath: '/{news-title}'
        _controller: 'News::detail'
        _arguments:
          news-title: news
    aspects:
      news:
        type: NewsTitle

routeEnhancers:
  News:
    type: Extbase
    extension: News
    plugin: Pi1
    routes:
      - routePath: '/'
        _controller: 'News::list'
      # Pagination
      - routePath: '/page-{page}'
        _controller: 'News::list'
        _arguments:
          page: 'currentPage'
      # Category + pagination:
      - routePath: '/{category-name}/page-{page}'
        _controller: 'News::list'
        _arguments:
          category-name: overwriteDemand/categories
          page: 'currentPage'
      # Category
      - routePath: '/{category-name}'
        _controller: 'News::list'
        _arguments:
          category-name: overwriteDemand/categories
      # Tagname + pagination
      - routePath: '/{tag-name}/page-{page}'
        _controller: 'News::list'
        _arguments:
          tag-name: overwriteDemand/tags
          page: 'currentPage'
      # Tagname
      - routePath: '/{tag-name}'
        _controller: 'News::list'
        _arguments:
          tag-name: overwriteDemand/tags
      # Detail
      - routePath: '/{news-title}'
        _controller: 'News::detail'
        _arguments:
          news-title: news
    defaultController: 'News::list'
    defaults:
      page: '0'
    aspects:
      news:
        type: NewsTitle
      page:
        type: StaticRangeMapper
        start: '1'
        end: '100'
      category-name:
        type: NewsCategory
      tag-name:
        type: NewsTag
  PageTypeSuffix:
    type: PageType
    map:
      'feed.xml': 9818
      'calendar.ical': 9819

routeEnhancers:
  News:
    type: Extbase
    extension: News
    plugin: Pi1
    routes:
      - routePath: '/{page-label}-{page}'
        _controller: 'News::list'
        _arguments: {'page': 'currentPage'}
    defaultController: 'News::list'
    defaults:
      page: ''
    requirements:
      page: '\d+'
    aspects:
      page:
        type: StaticRangeMapper
        start: '1'
        end: '100'
      page-label:
        type: LocaleModifier
        default: 'page'
        localeMap:
          - locale: 'da_DK.*'
            value: 'side'
          - locale: 'de_DE.*'
            value: 'seite'

routeEnhancers:
  DateMenu:
    type: Extbase
    extension: News
    plugin: Pi1
    routes:
       # Date year/month + pagination:
      - routePath: '/{date-year}/{date-month}/page-{page}'
        _controller: 'News::list'
        _arguments:
          date-month: 'overwriteDemand/month'
          date-year: 'overwriteDemand/year'
          page: 'currentPage'
      # Date year/month:
      - routePath: '/{date-year}/{date-month}'
        _controller: 'News::list'
        _arguments:
          date-month: 'overwriteDemand/month'
          date-year: 'overwriteDemand/year'
          page: 'currentPage'
      # Date year + pagination:
      - routePath: '/{date-year}/page-{page}'
        _controller: 'News::list'
        _arguments:
          date-year: 'overwriteDemand/year'
          page: 'currentPage'
      # Date year:
      - routePath: '/{date-year}'
        _controller: 'News::list'
        _arguments:
          date-month: 'overwriteDemand/month'
          date-year: 'overwriteDemand/year'
          page: 'currentPage'
      # Pagination:
      - routePath: '/'
        _controller: 'News::list'
      - routePath: '/page-{page}'
        _controller: 'News::list'
        _arguments:
          page: 'currentPage'
      - routePath: '/{news-title}'
        _controller: 'News::detail'
        _arguments:
          news-title: news
    defaultController: 'News::list'
    defaults:
      page: '0'
      date-month: ''
      date-year: ''
    requirements:
      date-month: '\d+'
      date-year: '\d+'
      page: '\d+'
    aspects:
      news:
        type: NewsTitle
      page:
        type: StaticRangeMapper
        start: '1'
        end: '25'
      date-month:
        type: StaticValueMapper
        map:
          january: '01'
          february: '02'
          march: '03'
          april: '04'
          may: '05'
          june: '06'
          july: '07'
          august: '08'
          september: '09'
          october: '10'
          november: '11'
          december: '12'
      date-year:
        type: StaticRangeMapper
        start: '2000'
        end: '2030'

plugin.tx_news.settings.link {
    hrDate = 1
    hrDate {
        day = j
        // 'n' for 1 through 12. 'm' for 01 through 12.
        month = m
        year = Y
    }
}

protected function generateUrl(SiteInterface $site, int $recordId, int $detailPageId): string
    {
        $additionalQueryParams = [
            'tx_news_pi1' => [
                'action' => 'detail',
                'controller' => 'News',
                'news' => $recordId
            ]
        ];
        return (string)$site->getRouter()->generateUri(
            (string)$detailPageId,
            $additionalQueryParams
        );
    }

Breadcrumb based on data processing and Fluid

To use the data processor AddNewsToMenuProcessor add the following TypoScript to the setup section in your site package extension. We assume here that your main FLUIDTEMPLATE can be found in page.10.

page.10 = FLUIDTEMPLATE
page.10 {
    # [...] template settings
    dataProcessing {
        # [...] Other data processors
        50 = menu
        50 {
            as = breadcrumbMenu
            special = rootline
        }
        60 = add-news-to-menu
        60.menus = breadcrumbMenu
    }
}

The property menus of the AddNewsToMenuProcessor must contain the key of the MenuProcessor containing your breadcrumb. If you You can use more then one menu here by supplying several keys as comma-separated list. For example: 60.menus = breadcrumbMenu,myOtherBreadcrumb.

The data array containing your breadcrumb will now contain an additional entry if you are on a news detail page. You can debug this data with the following Fluid snippet:

<f:debug>{breadcrumbMenu}</f:debug>

The array will then contain something like that:

array(4 items)
   0 => array(7 items)
   1 => array(7 items)
   2 => array(7 items)
      data => array(84 items)
      title => 'All News' (17 chars)
      link => '/portal/news/' (34 chars)
      target => '' (0 chars)
      active => 1 (integer)
      current => 0 (integer)
      spacer => 0 (integer)
   3 => array(6 items)
      data => array(87 items)
      title => 'Test news' (13 chars)
      active => 1 (integer)
      current => 1 (integer)
      link => 'https://my-page.ddev.site/portal/news/articel/test-news' (101 chars)
      isNews => TRUE

You can use code like the following in your sites Fluid template.

<div class="container">
    <nav aria-label="breadcrumb">
        <ol class="breadcrumb">
            <f:for each="{breadcrumbMenu}" as="item" iteration="iterator">
                <li class="breadcrumb-item ">
                    <a href="{item.link}" title="{item.title}">
                        <f:if condition="{item.isNews}"><i class="fas fa-newspaper"></i></f:if>
                        {item.title}
                    </a>
                </li>
            </f:for>
        </ol>
    </nav>
</div>

The result (using Bootstrap 5 and Fontawesome 5 Free) could use like this:

See also chapter AddNewsToMenuProcessor.

Breadcrumb based on TypoScript (legacy)

If you already have a breadcrumb menu based on TypoScript in your project, you can continue to use it and add the news record to it.

lib.navigation_breadcrumb = COA
lib.navigation_breadcrumb {
    stdWrap.wrap = <ul class="breadcrumb">|</ul>

    10 = HMENU
    10 {
        special = rootline
        #special.range =  1

        1 = TMENU
        1 {
            NO = 1
            NO {
                wrapItemAndSub = <li>|</li>
                ATagTitle.field = subtitle // title
                stdWrap.htmlSpecialChars = 1
            }

            CUR <.NO
            CUR {
                wrapItemAndSub = <li class="active">|</li>
                doNotLinkIt = 1
            }
        }
    }

    # Add news title if on single view
    20 = RECORDS
    20 {
        stdWrap.if.isTrue.data = GP:tx_news_pi1|news
        dontCheckPid = 1
        tables = tx_news_domain_model_news
        source.data = GP:tx_news_pi1|news
        source.intval = 1
        conf.tx_news_domain_model_news = TEXT
        conf.tx_news_domain_model_news {
            field = title
            htmlSpecialChars = 1
        }
        stdWrap.wrap = <li>|</li>
        stdWrap.required = 1
    }
}

The relevant part starts with 20 = RECORDS as this cObject renders the title of the news article.

RSS feed by TypoScript

A very simple way to generate the RSS feed is using plain TypoScript. All you need is to use the given TypoScript and adopt it to your needs.

pageNewsRSS = PAGE
pageNewsRSS {
   # Override the typeNum if you have more than one feed
   typeNum = {$plugin.tx_news.rss.channel.typeNum}
   config {
      disableAllHeaderCode = 1
      xhtml_cleaning = none
      admPanel = 0
      debug = 0
      disablePrefixComment = 1
      metaCharset = utf-8
      additionalHeaders.10.header = Content-Type:application/rss+xml;charset=utf-8
      absRefPrefix = {$plugin.tx_news.rss.channel.link}
      linkVars >
   }
   10 < tt_content.news_pi1.20
   10 {

      settings < plugin.tx_news.settings
      settings {
         categories = 9
         categoryConjunction = notor
         limit = 30
         detailPid = 25
         startingpoint = 24
         format = xml
         # Override the typeNum if you have more than one feed, must be the same as above!
         #list.rss.channel.typeNum = {$plugin.tx_news.rss.channel.typeNum}
      }
   }
}

This example will show all news records which don't have the category with the uid 9 assigned and are saved on the page with uid 24. The single view page is the one with uid 25.

The RSS feed itself can be found with the link /?type=9818.

RSS feeds by using a normal plugin

Sometimes it is more convenient to generate the RSS feed using the normal plugin. The biggest advantage is that the complete configuration can be done within the backend without touching TypoScript.

To create a RSS feed based on a plugin follow this steps:

1. Create a new page.
2. Add the news plugin and define the configuration you need. E.g. startingpoint, page with the single view, ...

3. Define a new TypoScript template and use a code like below. Very important: Use config.absRefPrefix = http://www.yourdomain.tld/ to produce absolute urls for links and images!

   page = PAGE
   page.10 < styles.content.get
   
   config {
      # deactivate Standard-Header
      disableAllHeaderCode = 1
      # no xhtml tags
      xhtml_cleaning = none
      admPanel = 0
   
      # define charset
      metaCharset = utf-8
      additionalHeaders.10.header = Content-Type:application/rss+xml;charset=utf-8
      disablePrefixComment = 1
      linkVars >
   }
   
   # set the format
   plugin.tx_news.settings.format = xml
   
   # delete content wrap
   tt_content.stdWrap >
   tt_content.stdWrap.editPanel = 0
   
   # Use custom template for List.html of EXT:fluid_styled_content
   lib.contentElement.templateRootPaths.5 = EXT:news/Resources/Private/Examples/Rss/fluid_styled_content/Templates

   Copied!

Automatic RSS feeds - based on plugins

There are usecases where many different list views are needed and each list view should also get its own RSS feed without any additional configuration.

The TypoScript code looks like this.

[getTSFE() && getTSFE().type == {$plugin.tx_news.rss.channel.typeNum}]
   lib.stdheader >
   tt_content.stdWrap.innerWrap >
   tt_content.stdWrap.wrap >
   tt_content.stdWrap.editPanel = 0
   # get away <div class="feEditAdvanced-firstWrapper" ...> if your logged into the backend
   styles.content.get.stdWrap >

   # Use custom template for List.html of EXT:fluid_styled_content
   lib.contentElement.templateRootPaths.5 = EXT:news/Resources/Private/Examples/Rss/fluid_styled_content/Templates

   pageNewsRSS = PAGE
   pageNewsRSS.typeNum = {$plugin.tx_news.rss.channel.typeNum}
   pageNewsRSS.10 < styles.content.get
   pageNewsRSS.10.select.where = colPos=0 AND CType = "news_pi1"
   pageNewsRSS.10.select {
      orderBy = sorting ASC
      max = 1
   }

   config {
      # deactivate Standard-Header
      disableAllHeaderCode = 1
      # no xhtml tags
      xhtml_cleaning = none
      admPanel = 0
      # define charset
      metaCharset = utf-8
      # you need an english locale to get correct rfc values for <lastBuildDate>, ...
      locale_all = en_EN
      # CMS 8 (adjust if using ATOM)
      additionalHeaders.10.header = Content-Type:application/xml;charset=utf-8
      disablePrefixComment = 1
      baseURL = {$plugin.tx_news.rss.channel.link}
      absRefPrefix = {$plugin.tx_news.rss.channel.link}
      linkVars >
   }

   # set the format
   plugin.tx_news.settings.format = xml
[END]

Some explanations The page object pageNewsRSS will render only those content elements which are in colPos 0 and are a news plugin. Therefore all other content elements won't be rendered in the RSS feed.

Misc

plugin.tx_news.rss.channel {
   title = Dummy Title
   description =
   link = http://example.com
   language = en-gb
   copyright = TYPO3 News
   category =
   generator = TYPO3 EXT:news
   ttl =
}

<n:headerData>
    <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS 2.0" href="{f:uri.page(pageType: settings.list.rss.channel.typeNum)}" />
</n:headerData>

routeEnhancers:
  PageTypeSuffix:
    type: PageType
    default: .html
    map:
      calendar.ical: 9819
      feed.xml: 9818
      sitemap.xml: 1533906435

Troubleshooting

pageNewsRSS.10.stdWrap.replacement {
   10  {
      search =  
      replace =  
   }
}

Configuration for the backend

PageTsConfig is used to configure the link browser in the backend.

Also have a look at TYPO3 documentation about the RecordLinkHandler at https://docs.typo3.org/m/typo3/reference-coreapi/12.4/en-us/ApiOverview/LinkHandling/Linkhandler/RecordLinkHandler.html#recordlinkhandler

# tx_news is an identifier, don't change it after links have been created
TCEMAIN.linkHandler.tx_news {
   handler = TYPO3\CMS\Backend\LinkHandler\RecordLinkHandler
   # A translatable label can be used with LLL:EXT:theme/locallang.xml:label
   label = News
   configuration {
      table = tx_news_domain_model_news
      # Default storage pid
      storagePid = 123
      # Hide the page tree by setting it to 1
      hidePageTree = 0
   }
   scanAfter = page
}

Configuration for the frontend

The links are now stored in the database with the syntax <a href="t3://record?identifier=tx_news&amp;uid=456">A link</a>. By using TypoScript, the link is transformed into an actual link.

config.recordLinks.tx_news {
   typolink {
      # Detail page
      parameter = 123
      additionalParams.data = field:uid
      additionalParams.wrap = &tx_news_pi1[controller]=News&tx_news_pi1[action]=detail&tx_news_pi1[news]=|
   }
}

config.recordLinks.tx_news {
    typolink {
        # Detail page
        parameter.cObject = USER
        parameter.cObject {
            userFunc = GeorgRinger\News\Service\LinkHandlerTargetPageService->process
            news.data = field:uid
            # Page used if no detail page is set in the category
            fallback = 123
        }
        additionalParams.data = field:uid
        additionalParams.wrap = &tx_news_pi1[controller]=News&tx_news_pi1[action]=detail&tx_news_pi1[news]=|
    }
}

Add news by TypoScript

If EXT:news should be integrated by using TypoScript only, you can use this code snippet:

lib.news = USER
lib.news {
  userFunc = TYPO3\CMS\Extbase\Core\Bootstrap->run
  extensionName = News
  pluginName = Pi1
  vendorName = GeorgRinger

  settings < plugin.tx_news.settings
  settings {
   //categories = 49
   limit = 30
   detailPid = 31
   overrideFlexformSettingsIfEmpty := addToList(detailPid)
   startingpoint = 13
  }
}

Now you can use the object lib.news.

List and detail on the same page using TypoScript

This is the example of how to display list and detail view on the same page.

# Basic plugin settings
lib.news = USER
lib.news {
      userFunc = TYPO3\CMS\Extbase\Core\Bootstrap->run
      pluginName = Pi1
      vendorName = GeorgRinger
      extensionName = News
      controller = News
      settings =< plugin.tx_news.settings
      persistence =< plugin.tx_news.persistence
      view =< plugin.tx_news.view
}

Configure list and detail actions:

lib.news_list < lib.news
lib.news_list {
      # Use the line below to sue the sticky list
      # pluginName = NewsListSticky
}
lib.news_detail < lib.news
lib.news_detail {
      pluginName = NewsDetail
}

Insert configured objects to wherever you want to use them, depending on the GET parameter of detail view:

[traverse(request.getQueryParams(), 'tx_news_pi1/news') > 0]
   page.10.marks.content < lib.news_detail
[else]
   page.10.marks.content < lib.news_list
[end]

Add news to breadcrumb menu

This example has been moved to the Tutorial: Breadcrumb menus.

Add HTML to the header part in the detail view.

There might be a use case where you need to add specific code to the header part when the detail view is rendered. There are some possible ways to go.

lib.newsTitle = RECORDS
lib.newsTitle {
  dontCheckPid = 1
        tables = tx_news_domain_model_news
        source.data = GP:tx_news_pi1|news
        source.intval = 1
        conf.tx_news_domain_model_news = TEXT
        conf.tx_news_domain_model_news {
            field = title
            htmlSpecialChars = 1
        }
        wrap = <h3>|</h3>
}

lib.categoryTitle = CONTENT
lib.categoryTitle {
    if.isTrue.data = GP:tx_news_pi1|news
    table = tx_news_domain_model_news
    select {
        uidInList.data = GP:tx_news_pi1|news
        pidInList = 123
        join = sys_category_record_mm ON tx_news_domain_model_news.uid = sys_category_record_mm.uid_foreign JOIN sys_category ON sys_category.uid = sys_category_record_mm.uid_local
        orderBy = sys_category.sorting
        max = 1
    }
    renderObj = TEXT
    renderObj {
        field = title
        htmlSpecialChars = 1
    }
}

<n:headerData><script>var newsId = {newsItem.uid};</n:headerData>

<n:titleTag>{newsItem.title}</n:titleTag>

Fallback in Detail view if no news found

If the detail view is called without a news uid given, an error is thrown (depending on the setting settings.errorHandling). If the desired behaviour is to show a different news record this can be set in the plugin with the field "singleNews".

The drawback would be that the alternative news record would be always the same. If this should be kind of dynamic, take a look at the given TypoScript snippet:

plugin.tx_news.settings {
   overrideFlexformSettingsIfEmpty = singleNews,cropMaxCharacters,dateField,timeRestriction,orderBy,orderDirection,backPid,listPid,startingpoint
   useStdWrap = singleNews

   singleNews.stdWrap.cObject = CONTENT
   singleNews.stdWrap.cObject {
      table = tx_news_domain_model_news
      select {
         max = 1
         orderBy = datetime desc
         pidInList = 3
      }
      renderObj = TEXT
      renderObj.field = uid
   }
}

By using the field useStdWrap it is possible to call the full range of stdWrap on any setting. In this case the first news record from the page with uid 3 is used as fallback.

Show news items with same category in Detail.html

If you want to show in the detail action articles with the same category as the current one, you can use a snippet like this one:

Add this to the Detail.html which will pass the first category uid to the TypoScript object lib.tx_news.relatedByFirstCategory.

<f:if condition="{newsItem.firstCategory}">
   <f:cObject typoscriptObjectPath="lib.tx_news.relatedByFirstCategory">{newsItem.firstCategory.uid}</f:cObject>
</f:if>

lib.tx_news.relatedByFirstCategory = USER
lib.tx_news.relatedByFirstCategory {
    userFunc = TYPO3\CMS\Extbase\Core\Bootstrap->run
    extensionName = News
    pluginName = NewsListSticky
    vendorName = GeorgRinger

    mvc {
        callDefaultActionIfActionCantBeResolved = 1
    }

    settings < plugin.tx_news.settings
    settings {
        relatedView = 1
        detailPid = 31
        useStdWrap := addToList(categories)
        categories.current = 1
        categoryConjunction = or
        overrideFlexformSettingsIfEmpty := addToList(detailPid)
        startingpoint = 78
    }
}

Important is the line categories.current = 1 which will set the category configuration. Of course you need to adopt the snippet to your own needs, like setting the detailPid, startingPoint, ...

By defining a custom property like relatedView = 1 you can differ in the List.html if it is called by this snippet or by a regular plugin.

Show news items with same tags in Detail.html

Similar to the example above it is also possible to render news records with the same tags as the current one.

lib.tx_news.relatedByTags = USER
lib.tx_news.relatedByTags {
    userFunc = TYPO3\CMS\Extbase\Core\Bootstrap->run
    extensionName = News
    pluginName = NewsListSticky
    vendorName = GeorgRinger

    mvc {
        callDefaultActionIfActionCantBeResolved = 1
    }

    settings < plugin.tx_news.settings
    settings {
        # custom tag to use in List.html
        relatedView = 1
        # limit number of news
        limit = 6
#        startingpoint = 1

        useStdWrap := addToList(tags)
        tags.current = 1
        categoryConjunction = or
        overrideFlexformSettingsIfEmpty := addToList(detailPid)
        excludeAlreadyDisplayedNews = 1
    }
}

In your overridden Detail.html template place the following code after displaying detailed news.

<f:if condition="{newsItem.tags}">
     <f:cObject typoscriptObjectPath="lib.tx_news.relatedByTags">{newsItem.tags->v:iterator.extract(key:'uid')->v:iterator.implode(glue: ',')}</f:cObject>
</f:if>

The Fluid tags supply comma-separated list of tags' UIDs to the Typoscript code.

Either write custom ViewHelper or install vhs extension and add its namespace xmlns:v="http://typo3.org/ns/FluidTYPO3/Vhs/ViewHelpers" to the Detail.html template.

Show Category Menu with Typoscript

lib.categoryMenu = USER
lib.categoryMenu {
   userFunc = TYPO3\CMS\Extbase\Core\Bootstrap->run
   extensionName = News
   pluginName = CategoryList
   vendorName = GeorgRinger

   settings < plugin.tx_news.settings
   settings {
      listPid = 11
   }
}

Some further explanations

• The TypoScript condition will only be true if a news record path is in the URL
• It overrides the used page template to be able to use a custom one
• It set the variable lib.dynamicContent to contain the rendered news detail view
• The dedicated page template can be fully adopted
• If needed, the News detail template can be adopted by either use a settings variable or by providing a custom view path.

Templating

The following template can be used as a replacement of Templates/News/List.html

<html xmlns:f="http://typo3.org/ns/TYPO3/CMS/Fluid/ViewHelpers"
      data-namespace-typo3-fluid="true">
<f:layout name="General" />

<f:section name="content">
    <!--TYPO3SEARCH_end-->
    <f:if condition="{news}">
        <f:then>
            <div class="news-list-view" id="news-container-{contentObjectData.uid}">
                <f:if condition="{settings.hidePagination}">
                    <f:then>
                        <f:for each="{news}" as="newsItem" iteration="iterator">
                            <f:render partial="List/Item" arguments="{newsItem: newsItem,settings:settings,iterator:iterator}" />
                        </f:for>
                    </f:then>
                    <f:else>
                        <f:if condition="{settings.list.paginate.insertAbove}">
                            <f:render partial="List/Pagination" arguments="{pagination: pagination.pagination, paginator: pagination.paginator}" />
                        </f:if>
                        <div class="articles" data-infinite-scroll='{ "path": ".f3-widget-paginator .next a", "append": ".article", "hideNav": ".f3-widget-paginator", "button": ".view-more-button", "scrollThreshold": false}'>
                            <f:for each="{pagination.paginator.paginatedItems}" as="newsItem" iteration="iterator">
                                <f:render partial="List/Item" arguments="{newsItem: newsItem,settings:settings,iterator:iterator}" />
                            </f:for>
                        </div>
                        <f:if condition="{settings.list.paginate.insertBelow}">
                            <f:render partial="List/Pagination" arguments="{pagination: pagination.pagination, paginator: pagination.paginator}" />
                        </f:if>
                    </f:else>
                </f:if>
            </div>
            <button class="view-more-button">View more</button>
        </f:then>
        <f:else>
            <div class="no-news-found">
                <f:translate key="list_nonewsfound" />
            </div>
        </f:else>
    </f:if>
    <!--TYPO3SEARCH_begin-->
</f:section>
</html>

Configuration

All options are described at https://infinite-scroll.com/.

After the inclusion of the library the configuration can either take place in HTML directly

<div class="articles" data-infinite-scroll='{ "path": ".f3-widget-paginator .next a", "append": ".article", "hideNav": ".f3-widget-paginator"}'>

or by using JavaScript

let elem = document.querySelector('.articles');
let infScroll = new InfiniteScroll( elem, {
  // options
  path: '.f3-widget-paginator .next a',
  append: '.article',
  hideNav: '.f3-widget-paginator'
});

Clearing the cache after changing news records

News has a built-in mechanism that takes care of clearing the cache after manipulation of News records.

When a list or detail view is rendered on a page, a cache tag in format tx_news_pid_PID (where PID is the uid of the news storage folder) is added. Each time a news record is edited, deleted or created, this cache entry is flushed. No additional cache configuration is needed if only the News plugins are used.

If you use other ways of displaying news records (e.g. an RSS feed created by TypoScript on a page without a News plugin), the cache is not flushed automatically.

This can be done automatically by using this command in the PageTsConfig: :

TCEMAIN.clearCacheCmd = 123,456,789

The code needs to be added to the sys folder where the news records are edited. Change the example page ids to the ones which should be cleared, e.g. a page with an RSS feed. You can use:

TCEMAIN.clearCacheCmd = pages

to clear the complete caches as well:

TCEMAIN.clearCacheCmd = cacheTag:tx_news

to clear all caches of pages on which the news plugins are used but beware of performance issues when news records are edited often.

Cache lifetime and auto publishing (by setting start date)

By default the cache of TYPO3 pages is invalidated every 24 hours. If you set a specific date and time for the news record to be published in the tab Access:

The news will be published next time the cache is deleted which is usual after midnight.

When you are using the Publish Date field you can use the following TypoScript setup configuration: config.cache

Let us assume you have a news plugin on page 42 and store your news records in a sysfolder with the uid 27 then the following setting will take the publish date of your news records into account when calculating the time when the cache should expire:

config.cache.42 = tx_news_domain_model_news:27

If there is more then one page containing a news plugin that might display the news you have to make a setting for each page:

config.cache {
   42 = tx_news_domain_model_news:27
   43 = tx_news_domain_model_news:27
   365 = tx_news_domain_model_news:27
}

If you use a news plugin on every page it is also possible to define the cache clearing for all pages:

config.cache.all = tx_news_domain_model_news:27

You can also define serveral tables for one page, for example to include categories:

config.cache.42 = tx_news_domain_model_news:27,sys_category:26

Default values

If you want to use some default values, you can use this code inside the TSconfig (tab:Resources) of the folder containing the News records:

# Syntax is always TCAdefaults.<tablename>.<fieldname> = value
TCAdefaults {
   tx_news_domain_model_news {
      author =  John Doe
      categories = 9
   }
}

# Change the showinpreview default behaviour
TCAdefaults {
   sys_file_reference {
      showinpreview = 1
   }
}

Select fields

If you want to preselect a value from a select field, you need to set the value of the option field as value. In this example the language with the uid 3 will be preselected:

TCAdefaults.tx_news_domain_model_news {
        sys_language_uid = 3
}

If you want to remove an option from a select field you can take a look at this example which removes the option "Images" from the media selection dropdown:

TCEFORM.tx_news_domain_model_media {
   type.removeItems = 0
}

Author name & email

By using the following code in the PageTsConig, the fields Author and Author Email are prefilled with the name and email address of the current backend user

tx_news.predefine.author  = 1

Archive date

EXT:news allows you to use an improved syntax to predefine the archive date by using this Page TSconfig:

tx_news.predefine.archive = <value>

As value you can use anything which can be interpreted by the php function strtotime. For example:

• +1 day
• next Monday
• +1 week 2 days 4 hours

Add the characters counter below an input field

If you want to give a hint to editors so they know how many chars they can use for the Teaser field, you simply add this TSconfig to the folder:

TCEFORM.tx_news_domain_model_news.teaser.config.max = 200

Modify flexform values

The flexform values can be modified by using TSconfig.

TCEFORM {
    tt_content {
        pi_flexform {
            news_pi1 {
                sDEF {
                  settings\.orderDirection.disabled = 1
                  settings\.orderBy.addItems {
                    teaser = teaser
                  }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

To identify the key of the tab (e.g. sDEF) and the field name (e.g. settings.orderBy) look either in the source code while checking the flexforms or look into the configuration itself which can be found at EXT:news/Configuration/FlexForms/flexform_news.xml.

iCalendar feed by TypoScript

A very simple way to generate the iCalendar feed is using plain TypoScript. All you need is to use the given TypoScript and adopt it to your needs.

[getTSFE() && getTSFE().type == 9819]
config {
   disableAllHeaderCode = 1
   xhtml_cleaning = none
   admPanel = 0
   metaCharset = utf-8
   # For 7 LTS
   additionalHeaders = Content-Type:text/calendar;charset=utf-8
   # Since 8 LTS
   additionalHeaders.10.header = Content-Type:text/calendar;charset=utf-8
   disablePrefixComment = 1
   linkVars >
}
pageNewsICalendar = PAGE
pageNewsICalendar {
   typeNum = 9819
   10 < tt_content.news_pi1.20
   10 {
      settings < plugin.tx_news.settings
      settings {
         categories = 9
         categoryConjunction = notor
         limit = 30
         detailPid = 25
         startingpoint = 24
         format = ical
         domain.data = getEnv:HTTP_HOST
         useStdWrap = domain
      }
   }
}
[END]

This example will show all news records which don't have the category with the uid 9 assigned and are saved on the page with uid 24.

The iCalendar feed itself can be found with the link /?type=9819.

[getTSFE() && getTSFE().type == 9819]
   lib.stdheader >
   tt_content.stdWrap.innerWrap >
   tt_content.stdWrap.wrap >
   # get away <div class="feEditAdvanced-firstWrapper" ...> if your logged into the backend
   styles.content.get.stdWrap >

   pageNewsICalendar = PAGE
   pageNewsICalendar.typeNum = 9819
   pageNewsICalendar.10 < styles.content.get
   pageNewsICalendar.10.select.where = colPos=0 AND CType = "news_pi1"
   pageNewsICalendar.10.select {
      orderBy = sorting ASC
      max = 1
   }

   config {
      # deactivate Standard-Header
      disableAllHeaderCode = 1
      # no xhtml tags
      xhtml_cleaning = none
      admPanel = 0
      metaCharset = utf-8
      # you need an english locale to get correct rfc values for <lastBuildDate>, ...
      locale_all = en_EN
      # define charset
      additionalHeaders = Content-Type:text/calendar;charset=utf-8
      disablePrefixComment = 1
      linkVars >
   }

   # set the format
    plugin.tx_news.settings.format = ical
    # set the domain for real unique uids
    plugin.tx_news.settings.domain.data = getEnv:HTTP_HOST
    plugin.tx_news.settings.useStdWrap = domain

    # delete content wrap
    tt_content.stdWrap >
[END]

Misc

<n:headerData>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/calendar" title="iCalendar 2.0" href="{f:uri.page(additionalParams:{type:9819})}" />
</n:headerData>

<n:link newsItem="{newsItem}" configuration="{additionalParams:'&type=9819'}">ical</n:link>

routeEnhancers:
  News:
  PageTypeSuffix:
    type: PageType
    map:
      'feed.xml': 9818
      'calendar.ical': 9819

Setup of the extension

As a demonstration, a new extension with the extension key news_filter will be created. The following files and its content is required.

<?php

$EM_CONF[$_EXTKEY] = [
   'title' => 'News Filter',
   'description' => 'News filtering',
   'category' => 'fe',
   'author' => 'John Doe',
   'author_email' => 'john@doe.net',
   'author_company' => '',
   'state' => 'stable',
   'uploadfolder' => 0,
   'clearCacheOnLoad' => 1,
   'version' => '1.0.0',
   'constraints' => [
      'depends' => [
         'typo3' => '7.6.0-8.9.99',
      ],
      'conflicts' => [],
      'suggests' => [],
   ],
];

<?php
defined('TYPO3') or die();

$boot = function () {
    \TYPO3\CMS\Extbase\Utility\ExtensionUtility::configurePlugin(
        'NewsFilter',
        'Filter',
        [
            \GeorgRinger\NewsFilter\Controller\FilterController::class => 'list',
        ]
    );
};

$boot();
unset($boot);

<?php
defined('TYPO3') or die();

/***************
 * Plugin
 */
\TYPO3\CMS\Extbase\Utility\ExtensionUtility::registerPlugin(
   'NewsFilter',
   'Filter',
   'Some demo'
);

<?php

namespace GeorgRinger\NewsFilter\Controller;

use GeorgRinger\News\Domain\Model\Dto\NewsDemand;
use GeorgRinger\News\Domain\Repository\NewsRepository;
use TYPO3\CMS\Extbase\Mvc\Controller\ActionController;

class FilterController extends ActionController
{
    protected NewsRepository $newsRepository;

    public function __construct(NewsRepository $newsRepository)
    {
        $this->newsRepository = $newsRepository;
    }

    public function listAction()
    {
        $demand = $this->createDemandObject();
        $this->view->assignMultiple([
            'news' => $this->newsRepository->findDemanded($demand)
        ]);
    }

    protected function createDemandObject(): NewsDemand
    {
        $demand = new NewsDemand();
        $demand->setLimit(10);

        return $demand;
    }
}

<f:if condition="{news}">
   <f:then>
      <div class="row">
         <f:for each="{news}" as="newsItem">
            <div class="col-md-3">
               <h5>{newsItem.title}</h5>
            </div>
         </f:for>
      </div>
   </f:then>
   <f:else>
      <div class="alert alert-danger">No news found</div>
   </f:else>
</f:if>

Setup

After enabling the extension in the Extension Manager and creating a plugin "Filter" on a page, you will see up to 10 news records of your system.

"autoload": {
   "psr-4": {
      "GeorgRinger\\NewsFilter\\": "path/to/news_filter/Classes/"
   }
}

Configuration

There are multiple ways how to configure which news records should be shown. The fastest way is to hardcode the configuration.

protected function createDemandObject(): NewsDemand
{
    $demand = new NewsDemand();
    $demand->setStoragePage('123');
    $demand->setAuthor('John');
    $demand->setHideIdList('12,45');

    return $demand;
}

<?php
defined('TYPO3') or die();

/***************
 * Plugin
 */
\TYPO3\CMS\Extbase\Utility\ExtensionUtility::registerPlugin(
   'news_filter',
   'Filter',
   'Some demo'
);

$GLOBALS['TCA']['tt_content']['types']['list']['subtypes_excludelist']['newsfilter_filter'] = 'recursive,select_key,pages';
$GLOBALS['TCA']['tt_content']['types']['list']['subtypes_addlist']['newsfilter_filter'] = 'pi_flexform';
\TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\ExtensionManagementUtility::addPiFlexFormValue('newsfilter_filter',
   'FILE:EXT:news_filter/Configuration/FlexForms/flexform_news_filter.xml');

<T3DataStructure>
   <sheets>
      <sDEF>
         <ROOT>
            <sheetTitle>LLL:EXT:news/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_be.xlf:flexforms_tab.settings</sheetTitle>
            <type>array</type>
            <el>
               <settings.startingPoint>
                  <label>LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.startingPoint</label>
                  <config>
                     <type>group</type>
                     <allowed>pages</allowed>
                     <size>3</size>
                     <maxitems>50</maxitems>
                     <minitems>0</minitems>
                     <wizards>
                        <suggest>
                           <type>suggest</type>
                           <default>
                              <searchWholePhrase>1</searchWholePhrase>
                           </default>
                        </suggest>
                     </wizards>
                  </config>
               </settings.startingPoint>
            </el>
         </ROOT>
      </sDEF>
   </sheets>
</T3DataStructure>

protected function createDemandObject(): NewsDemand
{
    $demand = new NewsDemand();
    // Because of the naming "<settings.startingPoint>", you can use $this->settings['startingPoint']
    $demand->setStoragePage($this->settings['startingPoint']);
    $demand->setLimit(10);

    return $demand;
}

Selectbox "Sort by"

The sorting can be extended by adding the value to

$GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['EXT']['news']['orderByNews']

Default values are: tstamp,datetime,crdate,title

Additional Template Selector

If you need a kind of template selector inside a plugin, you can add your own selections by adding those to

$GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['EXT']['news']['templateLayouts']['myext'] = ['My Title', 'my value'];

You can then access the variable in your template with {settings.templateLayout} and use it for a condition or whatever.

Extend FlexForms with custom fields

If you need additional fields in the FlexForm configuration, this can be done by using a hook in the Core.

Register the Event

Add this to Services.yaml of your extension:

services:
    Vendor\ExtKey\EventListener\ModifyFlexformEvent:
        tags:
            - name: event.listener
              identifier: 'flexParsing'
              event: TYPO3\CMS\Core\Configuration\Event\AfterFlexFormDataStructureParsedEvent

Add the hook

Create the class ModifyFlexformEvent in your extension in Classes/EventListener/ModifyFlexformEvent.php and add the path to an additional FlexForm file.

<?php

namespace Vendor\ExtKey\EventListener;

use TYPO3\CMS\Core\Configuration\Event\AfterFlexFormDataStructureParsedEvent;
use TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\ArrayUtility;
use TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\GeneralUtility;

class ModifyFlexformEvent
{
    public function __invoke(AfterFlexFormDataStructureParsedEvent $event): void
    {
        $dataStructure = $event->getDataStructure();
        $identifier = $event->getIdentifier();

        // $identifier['dataStructureKey'] depends on the selected plugin!
        if ($identifier['type'] === 'tca' && $identifier['tableName'] === 'tt_content' && $identifier['dataStructureKey'] === '*,news_pi1') {
            $file = GeneralUtility::getFileAbsFileName('EXT:extKey/Configuration/Example.xml');
            $content = file_get_contents($file);
            if ($content) {
                ArrayUtility::mergeRecursiveWithOverrule($dataStructure['sheets'], GeneralUtility::xml2array($content));
            }
        }

        $event->setDataStructure($dataStructure);
    }
}

Create the FlexForm file

Create the FlexForm file you just referenced in the hook. This can look like that. (Syntax for TYPO3 12 LTS+)

<sheets>
    <extra>
        <ROOT>
            <sheetTitle>Fo</sheetTitle>
            <type>array</type>
            <el>
                <settings.postsPerPage>
                    <label>Max. number of posts to display per page</label>
                    <config>
                        <type>input</type>
                        <size>2</size>
                        <eval>int</eval>
                        <default>3</default>
                    </config>
                </settings.postsPerPage>
            </el>
        </ROOT>
    </extra>
</sheets>

Available events

Check out the Events reference.

Examples

services:
  Vendor\Extension\EventListener\YourListener:
    tags:
      - name: event.listener
        identifier: 'your-self-choosen-identifier'
        method: 'methodToConnectToEvent'
        event: GeorgRinger\News\Event\NewsListActionEvent

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace Vendor\Extension\EventListener;

use GeorgRinger\News\Event\NewsListActionEvent;

class YourListener
{
    /**
     * Do what you want...
     */
    public function methodToConnectToEvent(NewsListActionEvent $event): void
    {
        $values = $event->getAssignedValues();

        // Do some stuff

        $event->setAssignedValues($values);
    }
}

YourVendor\YourExtkey\EventListener\ModifyDemandRepositoryEventListener:
  tags:
    - name: event.listener
      identifier: 'eventnews-modifydemandrepository'
      event: GeorgRinger\News\Event\ModifyDemandRepositoryEvent

<?php

namespace YourVendor\YourExtkey\EventListener;

use TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\GeneralUtility;
use GeorgRinger\News\Event\ModifyDemandRepositoryEvent

class ModifyDemandRepositoryEventListener
{
    public function __invoke(ModifyDemandRepositoryEvent $event) {
        $constraints = $event->getConstraints();
        $constraints[] = $query->like('title', '%' . $subject . '%');
        $event->setConstraints($constraints);
    }
}

YourVendor\YourExtkey\EventListener\NewsControllerOverrideSettingsEventListener:
  tags:
    - name: event.listener
      identifier: 'eventnews-modifysettings'
      event: GeorgRinger\News\Event\NewsControllerOverrideSettingsEvent

<?php

namespace YourVendor\Extkey\EventListener;

class NewsControllerOverrideSettingsEvent
{
    public function __invoke(\GeorgRinger\News\Event\NewsControllerOverrideSettingsEvent $event): array
    {
        $settings = $event->getSettings();
        $settings['categories'] = '2,3';

        $event->setSettings($settings);
    }
}

URL Parameter

The URL parameter overwriteDemand can be used to override properties of the demand.

You can set this parameter in a Fluid link (see Set overwriteDemand in Frontend) or via TypoScript in a typolink (See TypoScript reference: typolink).

It would even be possible to configure a LinkHandler for this parameter.

Via TypoScript

TypoScript can be used to define a class containing a custom implementation of the demand object. This can be achieved by the TypoScript setting settings.demandClass.

Custom controllers

The demand object can be used in a custom controller used in an extension extending EXT:news. Read more about using a demand object in a custom controller: Extension based on EXT:news: FilterController.php.

Events

Multiple events can change or use demand objects. For example the events of the main actions in the NewsController, for example NewsListActionEvent and NewsDetailActionEvent. For more information refer to the chapter Events.

Custom demand class

All custom frontend news demand classes must extend \GeorgRinger\News\Domain\Model\Dto\NewsDemand. The demand object is a simple configuration object. It should contain no business logic. For each property there must be a setter and a getter.

Example:

<?php

namespace Vendor\MyNews\Domain\Model\Dto;

use \GeorgRinger\News\Domain\Model\Dto\NewsDemand;

class MyNewsDemand extends NewsDemand {

   /**
   * @var string
   */
   protected $myCustomField = '';

   /**
   * Set myCustomField
   *
   * @param string $myCustomField
   * @return NewsDemand
   */
   public function setMyCustomField(string $myCustomField): NewsDemand
   {
      $this->myCustomField = $myCustomField;
      return $this;
   }

   /**
   * Get myCustomField
   *
   * @return string
   */
   public function getMyCustomField(): string
   {
      return $this->myCustomField;
   }
}

Usage

10 = menu
10 {
    as = breadcrumbMenu
    special = rootline
    # [...] further configuration
}
20 = add-news-to-menu
20.menus = breadcrumbMenu,specialMenu

The property menus is a comma-separated list of MenuProcessors that shall have the currently displayed news record attached as fake menu entry.

Examples

See Tutorial: Breadcrumb based on data processing and Fluid.

Usage

10 = language-menu
10 {
    as = languageMenu
    addQueryString = 1
}

11 = disable-language-menu
11 {
    if.isTrue.data = GP:tx_news_pi1|news
    menus = languageMenu
}

The property menus is a comma-separated list of MenuProcessors.

If a language menu is rendered on a detail page and the languages are configured to use a strict mode this data processor can be used:

If no translation exists, the property available in the LanguageMenuProcessor is set to false - just as if the current page is not translated.

Examples

See SEO: Language menu on news detail pages.

1) Add a new field in the backend

To add new fields, use either the extension extension_builder or create the extension from scratch.

The extension key used in this examples is eventnews.

<?php

$EM_CONF[$_EXTKEY] = [
   'title' => 'news events',
   'description' => 'Events for news',
   'category' => 'plugin',
   'author' => 'Georg Ringer',
   'author_email' => '',
   'state' => 'alpha',
   'uploadfolder' => false,
   'createDirs' => '',
   'clearCacheOnLoad' => true,
   'version' => '1.0.0',
   'constraints' => [
      'depends' => [
         'typo3' => '7.6.13-8.7.99',
         'news' => '6.2.0-6.9.99',
      ],
      'conflicts' => [],
      'suggests' => [],
   ],
];

# Table structure for table 'tx_news_domain_model_news '
#
CREATE TABLE tx_news_domain_model_news (
   location_simple varchar(255) DEFAULT '' NOT NULL
);

<?php
defined('TYPO3') or die();

$fields = [
   'location_simple' => [
      'exclude' => 1,
      'label' => 'My location',
      'config' => [
         'type' => 'input',
         'size' => 15
      ],
   ]
];

\TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\ExtensionManagementUtility::addTCAcolumns('tx_news_domain_model_news', $fields);
\TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\ExtensionManagementUtility::addToAllTCAtypes('tx_news_domain_model_news', 'location_simple');

2) Register the class

Until now, EXT:news won't use the new field because it doesn't know about it. To change that, you need to register your new model.

<?php
defined('TYPO3') or die();

$GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['EXT']['news']['classes']['Domain/Model/News']['eventnews'] = 'eventnews';

<?php

namespace GeorgRinger\Eventnews\Domain\Model;

class News extends \GeorgRinger\News\Domain\Model\News
{
   protected string $locationSimple;

   public function getLocationSimple(): string
   {
      return $this->locationSimple;
   }

   public function setLocationSimple(string $locationSimple)
   {
      $this->locationSimple = $locationSimple;
   }
}

3) Exclude the class from dependecy injection

As the class you define will be added to a new generated class, the class needs to be excluded from dependency injection in Configuration/Services.yaml:

services:
  _defaults:
    autowire: true
    autoconfigure: true
    public: false

  GeorgRinger\Eventnews\:
    resource: '../Classes/*'
    exclude: '../Classes/Domain/Model/*'

1) Class Mapping

Create a file Configuration/Extbase/Persistence/Classes.php

<?php
return [
 \GeorgRinger\News\Domain\Model\News::class => [
     'subclasses' => [
         3 => \Vendor\ExtName\Domain\Model\MyCustomNewsType::class,
     ]
 ],
 \Vendor\ExtName\Domain\Model\MyCustomNewsType::class => [
     'tableName' => 'tx_news_domain_model_news',
     'recordType' => 3,
 ]
];

2) TCA

In this example, the new type is configured to show the fields bodytext and title. Therefore, create the file Configuration/TCA/Overrides/tx_news_domain_model_news.php.

<?php
  defined('TYPO3') or die();

  $GLOBALS['TCA']['tx_news_domain_model_news']['columns']['type']['config']['items']['3'] =
    ['myCustomNewsType', 3] ;

  $GLOBALS['TCA']['tx_news_domain_model_news']['types']['3'] = [
    'showitem' => 'title, bodytext'
  ];

3) Custom class

<?php

namespace Vendor\ExtName\Domain\Model;

class MyCustomNewsType extends \GeorgRinger\News\Domain\Model\News {

}

Use a site package extension

It is recommended to always store overwritten templates in a custom TYPO3 extension. Usually this is done in a special extension called the site package.

If you do not have a site package yet you can create one manually following this Official Tutorial: Site Package.

There is also a site package generator available (Provided by Benjamin Kott).

Create a directory called EXT:mysitepackage/Resources/Private/Extensions/News for example and create 3 directories therein called Templates, Partials and Layouts. In these directories you can store your version of the Fluid templates that you need to override.

As any Extbase based extension, you can find the original templates of the extension news in the directory EXT:news/Resources/Private/.

If you want to change a template, copy the desired files to the directory in your site package. If the template is in a sub folder you have to preserve the folder structure.

For example the template:

EXT:news/Resources/Private/Templates/News/Detail.html

would have to be copied to

EXT:mysitepackage/Resources/Private/Extensions/News/Templates/News/Detail.html

Since your site package extends the extension news you should require news in your composer.json:

{
   "require": {
      "georgringer/news": "^9.0"
   }
}

And / or ext_emconf.php:

$EM_CONF[$_EXTKEY] = [
    // ...
    'constraints' => [
        'depends' => [
            'news' => '9.0.0-9.99.99',
        ],
        // ...
    ],
];

Changing paths of the template

In the most common case, where you want to override the standard news template with your own templates you can use the TypoScript constants to set the paths:

plugin.tx_news {
    view {
        templateRootPath = EXT:mysitepackage/Resources/Private/Extensions/News/Templates/
        partialRootPath = EXT:mysitepackage/Resources/Private/Extensions/News/Partials/
        layoutRootPath = EXT:mysitepackage/Resources/Private/Extensions/News/Layouts/
    }
}

If needed, multiple fallbacks can be defined with TypoScript setup:

plugin.tx_news {
    view {
        templateRootPaths >
        templateRootPaths {
            0 = EXT:news/Resources/Private/Templates/
            10 = EXT:mynewsextender/Resources/Private/Templates/
            15 = EXT:myothernewsextender/Resources/Private/Templates/
            20 = {$plugin.tx_news.view.templateRootPath}
        }
        partialRootPaths >
        partialRootPaths {
            0 = EXT:news/Resources/Private/Partials/
            10 = EXT:mynewsextender/Resources/Private/Partials/
            15 = EXT:myothernewsextender/Resources/Private/Partials/
            20 = {$plugin.tx_news.view.partialRootPath}
        }
        layoutRootPaths >
        layoutRootPaths {
            0 = EXT:news/Resources/Private/Layouts/
            10 = EXT:mynewsextender/Resources/Private/Layouts/
            15 = EXT:myothernewsextender/Resources/Private/Layouts/
            20 = {$plugin.tx_news.view.layoutRootPath}
        }
    }
}

It is recommended to always include the path from the TypoScript constants last (with the highest numeral) so that the site package can still override the templates.

plugin.tx_news {
    view {
        widget.GeorgRinger\News\ViewHelpers\Widget\PaginateViewHelper {
            templateRootPath = EXT:mysitepackage/Resources/Private/Extensions/News/Templates/
        }
    }
}

Layouts, templates & partials

If using Fluid, the templates are structured by using Layouts, templates and partials.

<div class="myFancyNews">
    <f:render section="content" />
</div>

<f:layout name="General" />

<f:section name="content">
    This will be rendered
</f:section>

<f:render
   partial="List/Item"
   arguments="{
      newsItem: newsItem,
      settings: settings,
      className: className,
      view: 'list'
   }"
/>

<html xmlns:f="http://typo3.org/ns/TYPO3/CMS/Fluid/ViewHelpers"
    xmlns:n="http://typo3.org/ns/GeorgRinger/News/ViewHelpers"
    xmlns:x="http://typo3.org/ns/Vendor/SomeExtension/ViewHelper"
    data-namespace-typo3-fluid="true">
...
</html>

Show FAL properties in fluid

Every property of a file, e.g. the copyright (available via EXT:filemetadata) can be rendered in templates by using e.g. {file.originalResource.properties.copyright}.

A full example can look like this

<f:for each="{newsItem.mediaNonPreviews}" as="mediaElement">
    <div class="thumbnail">
        <f:media file="{mediaElement}" class="img-fluid" />
        <f:if condition="{mediaElement.originalResource.properties.copyright}">
            <small>{mediaElement.originalResource.properties.copyright}</small>
        </f:if>
    </div>
</f:for>

Use <f:debug>{mediaElement.originalResource.properties}</f:debug> to get all available properties

Improved back links

The back link on a detail page is a fixed link to a given page. However it might be that you use multiple list views and want to change the link depending on the given list view.

A nice solution would be to use this JavaScript jQuery snippet:

if ($(".news-backlink-wrap a").length > 0) {
    if(document.referrer.indexOf(window.location.hostname) != -1) {
        $(".news-backlink-wrap a").attr("href","javascript:history.back();");
    }
}

Creating links with Fluid

Besides the ViewHelper <n:link /> you can also use the ViewHelpers of Fluid itself:

<f:link.page pageUid="13" additionalParams="{tx_news_pi1: {controller: 'News',action: 'detail', news:newsItem.uid}}">{newsItem.title}</f:link.page>
<a href="{f:uri.page(pageUid:13,additionalParams:'{tx_news_pi1:{controller:\'News\',action:\'detail\',news:newsItem.uid}}')}">{newsItem.title}</a>

Creating links in PHP

If you want to create links within PHP you can usw the following snippet as inspiration:

public function createLink(int $pageId, array $arguments = [], bool $absolute = false): string
{
    $site = GeneralUtility::makeInstance(SiteFinder::class)->getSiteByPageId($pageUid);
    return (string)$site->getRouter()->generateUri(
        (string)$pageUid,
        $arguments,
        '',
        ($absolute ? RouterInterface::ABSOLUTE_URL : RouterInterface::ABSOLUTE_PATH)
    );
}


$pageId = 123;          // news detail page uid
$newsRecordUid = 1234;  // news record uid
$absolute = true;       // full url or relative url
$arguments = [
    'tx_news_pi1' => [
        'action' => 'detail',
        'controller' => 'News',
        'news' => $newsRecordId,
    ],
];
$newsDetailPageUrlForNews = createLink($pageId, $arguments, true);

Set n:link target page in Fluid

If the detail page should not be set in the plugin or by a category, it can also be set within the template:

<n:link
   newsItem="{newsItem}"
   configuration=“{parameter:settings.somePid}"
   settings="{settings}" title="{newsItem.title}"><f:translate key="more-link"/></n:link>

The setting settings.somePid can e.g. set with plugin.tx_news.settings.somePid=123.

Render category rootline

If you want to show not only the title of a single category which is related to the news item but the complete category rootline use this snippets.

<f:if condition="{category:newsItem.firstCategory}">
    <ul class="category-breadcrumb">
        <f:render section="categoryBreadcrumb" arguments="{category:newsItem.firstCategory}" />
    </ul>
</f:if>

and

<f:section name="categoryBreadcrumb">
    <f:if condition="{category}">
        <f:if condition="{category.parentCategory}">
            <f:render section="categoryBreadcrumb" arguments="{category:category.parentCategory}" />
        </f:if>
        <li>{category.title}</li>
    </f:if>
</f:section>

Use current content element in the template

If you ever need information from the content element itself, you can use {contentObjectData.header}.

Use current page in the template

If you ever need information from the current page, you can use {pageData.uid}.

Sort tags

If you want to sort the tags of a news item, you can use a custom ViewHelper or EXT:vhs:

<ul>
    <f:for each="{newsItem.tags->v:iterator.sort(order: 'ASC', sortBy: 'title')}" as="tag">
        <li>{tag.title}</li>
    </f:for>
</ul>

<f:for each="{news -> n:iterator.chunk(count: 3)}" as="col" iteration="cycle">
    <div class="row">
        <f:for each="{col}" as="newsItem">
            <div class="col-md-4">
                <f:render partial="List/Item" arguments="{newsItem: newsItem, settings:settings}"/>
            </div>
        </f:for>
    </div>
</f:for>

plugin.tx_fluid {
    _LOCAL_LANG {
        // default for default = english language
        default {
            widget.pagination.next = my custom next
        }
        de {
            widget.pagination.next = nächste Seite
        }
    }
}

<a href="...">
   {f:translate(key:'widget.pagination.next', extensionName: 'yourSitePackage')}
</a>

See also

• EXT:news ViewHelper reference
• Core ViewHelper reference

Custom Templates by using TypoScript

You can define a custom TypoScript setting which you can check in the view later on.

The TypoScript could look like:

plugin.tx_news {
    settings {
        isLatest = 1
    }
}

And then you can use a condition like this:

<f:if condition="{settings.isLatest}">
    <f:then>
        do something if it is set
    </f:then>
    <f:else>
        do something if it is not set
    </f:else>
</f:if>

Using TypoScript

This is the default way in EXT:news. A basic TypoScript configuration is used to render those. This look like this:

lib.tx_news.contentElementRendering = RECORDS
lib.tx_news.contentElementRendering {
    tables = tt_content
    source.current = 1
    dontCheckPid = 1
}

If you need to extend this, the best way is to introduce your own TypoScript which can be saved anywhere. This needs then to be referenced in the template.

<f:if condition="{newsItem.contentElements}">
    <f:cObject typoscriptObjectPath="lib.yourownTypoScript">{newsItem.contentElements}</f:cObject>
</f:if>

Using TypoScript with nested content from b13/container

If nested content should be rendered as news content elements with b13/container the lib.tx_news.contentElementRendering should be adapted.

With the default lib.tx_news.contentElementRendering using the RECORDS CObject (see Using TypoScript) all content elements are fetched from the database and nested child content in containers is rendered twice. One time as standalone element and a second time in the container column.

To fix this the following lib can be used to fetch the content which will exclude all child content in containers:

lib.tx_news.contentElementRendering = CONTENT
lib.tx_news.contentElementRendering {
    table = tt_content
    select {
        pidInList = 0
        uidInList.current = 1
        where = {#tx_container_parent}<1
        orderBy = sorting
        languageField = sys_language_uid
    }
}

Changing lib.tx_news.contentElementRendering = RECORDS to lib.tx_news.contentElementRendering = CONTENT can have some side effects for the sorting of translated content elements. You can also fix this by using Fluid only:

<f:if condition="{newsItem.contentElements}">
    <!-- content elements -->
    <f:cObject typoscriptObjectPath="lib.tx_news.contentElementRendering">{newsItem.nonNestedContentElementIdList}</f:cObject>
</f:if>

Using Fluid

You can also use Fluid render the content elements. As an example:

<f:if condition="{newsItem.contentElements}">
    <f:for each="{newsItem.contentElements}" as="element">
        <h3>{element.title}</h3>
        <f:if condition="{element.CType} == 'text'">
        {element.bodytext -> f:format.html()}
        </f:if>
    </f:for>
</f:if>

Keep an eye on performance!

To be able to group the records, Fluid will load every record itself and groups those afterwards.

If you plan to group many records just for getting something like a count, maybe it is better to fire the query directly and don't use Fluid for that.

However if the result is on a cacheable page, the issue is only relevant on the first hit.