Content Elements & Plugins

Content elements in TYPO3

A content element is a standard unit for managing and displaying content, such as text, images, videos, tables, and more.

In the TYPO3 backend, content elements are commonly managed in module Web > Page.

From a technical point of view content elements are records stored in the database table tt_content. Each content element has a specific content element type, specified by the database field tt_content.CType. This type influences both the backend form and the frontend output.

The appearance of a content element in the backend form is defined via the TYPO3 Configuration Array (TCA) of table tt_content. Each content element type is configured by one entry in the section $TCA['types'].

The output of the content element in the frontend is configured by an entry in the TypoScript top-level object tt_content using the same key as in TCA. In most cases a FLUIDTEMPLATE is used delegating the actual output to the templating engine Fluid.

A content element can be of a type supplied by TYPO3, such as textmedia (text with or without images or videos). Or it can have a custom type supplied by an extension such as carousel provided by the bk2k/bootstrap-package extension.

You can add custom content elements to your extension or site package.

It is also possible to use an extension such as contentblocks/content-blocks , mask/mask , or t3/dce to add custom content elements to your projects.

Adding custom content elements is possible without writing PHP code and can therefore also be done by TYPO3 integrators.

Plugins in TYPO3

A plugin in TYPO3 is a more complex implementation, typically providing dynamic or interactive functionality. Plugins are usually provided by extensions that introduce new features to the website.

The data to be displayed is usually supplied by a special PHP class called a "controller". Depending on the technology used in the controller the plugin can be an Extbase plugin or a plain plugin.

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);
defined('TYPO3') or die();

use MyVendor\MyExtension\Controler\MyController;
use TYPO3\CMS\Extbase\Utility\ExtensionUtility;

ExtensionUtility::configurePlugin(
    'MyExtension',
    'MyPlugin',
    [MyController::class => 'list,comment'],
    [MyController::class => 'comment'],
    ExtensionUtility::PLUGIN_TYPE_CONTENT_ELEMENT,
);

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

use TYPO3\CMS\Extbase\Utility\ExtensionUtility;

defined('TYPO3') or die();

ExtensionUtility::registerPlugin(
    'MyExtension',
    'MyPlugin',
    'LLL:EXT:my_extension/Resources/Private/Language/locallang.xlf:my_plugin.title',
    'myextension_pluginicon',
    'plugins',
    'LLL:EXT:my_extension/Resources/Private/Language/locallang.xlf:my_plugin.description',
);

plugin.tx_myextension_myplugin = USER_INT
plugin.tx_myextension_myplugin {
  userFunc = MyVendor\MyPlugin\Controller\MyController->doSomething
}

tt_content.myextension_myplugin < plugin.tx_myextension_myplugin

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

use TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\ExtensionManagementUtility;

defined('TYPO3') or die();

ExtensionManagementUtility::addPlugin(
    [
        'label' => 'LLL:EXT:my_extension/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_db.xlf:my_plugin.title',
        'value' => 'myextension_myplugin',
        'group' => 'plugins',
        'icon' => 'myextension_mypluginicon',
        'description' => 'LLL:EXT:my_extension/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_db.xlf:my_plugin.description',
    ],
    'CType',
    'my_extension',
);

Editing

The Editors Tutorial describes how to work with page content and lists the basic TYPO3 content elements and how to work with them.

Additional descriptions can be found in the fluid_styled_content documentation.

Customizing

Backend Layouts can be configured to define how content elements are arranged in the TYPO3 backend (in rows, columns, grids). This can be used in the frontend to determine how the content elements are to be arranged (e.g. in the footer of the page, left column etc.).

Often content elements and plugins contain a number of fields. Not all of these may be relevant for your site. It is good practice to configure which fields will be displayed in the backend. There are a number of ways to do this:

• Backend user and group permissions can be used to restrict access to content elements, to content on specific pages etc.
• Fields can be hidden in the backend by using TSconfig TCEFORM.
• page TSconfig can be used to configure what is displayed in the "Content Element Wizard".

Creating custom content element types or plugins

The following chapters handle how to create custom content element types and plugins:

• Create a custom content element type
• Registering frontend plugins in Extbase

How to make your plugins or content elements configurable by editors with

• FlexForms