Extensions based on EXT:news

If you are using news records but need custom configuration and custom settings, you should think of creating a separate extension. This is really simple, just take a look at the following example.

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.

ext_emconf.php

This file contains the basic information about its extension like name, version, author...

<?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' => [],
   ],
];

ext_localconf.php

Create a basic plugin with one action called list.

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

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

$boot();
unset($boot);

Configuration/TCA/Overrides/tt_content.php

Register the plugin:

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

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

Classes/Controller/FilterController.php

Create a basic controller with the mentioned action.

<?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;
    }
}

Resources/Private/Templates/Filter/List.html

Create the template:

<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.

Hint

If your installation is based on composer, you need to add the classes to the PSR-4 section.

"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.

Hardcode it

By modifying the controller with the following code, you will change the output to show only those news records which fulfill the following requirements:

The pid is 123
The author is John
The id of the records is neither 12 nor 45.

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

    return $demand;
}

Use FlexForms

FlexForms are a powerful tool to let editors configure plugins.

Configuration/TCA/Overrides/tt_content.php

Exchange the existing file with the following content.

<?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');

Configuration/FlexForms/flexform_news_filter.xml

The syntax of FlexForms is identical to the one of TCA with the only difference that it is written in XML instead of PHP.

<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>

Important is that each element's name is prepended with settings..

Hint

Take a look at the FlexForms of the news extension for inspiration. You can even just copy & paste settings from there. The file can be found at EXT:news/Configuration/FlexForms/flexform_news.xml.

Classes/Controller/FilterController.php

Adopt the controller to use the settings instead of the hardcoded ones.

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;
}