FAQ¶
Why is the editing interface for Content Blocks defined in YAML? Why not just use TCA?¶
There are several reasons:
Separation of a field's view related properties from it's database related properties
Simplification of the definition
Prevention of a possible security flaw
Opening up to TYPO3 newcomers/ beginners/ frontend-only devs
See Editing interface field types (YAML reference).
Attention
Currently there is a long term goal to refactor TCA, but it is unknown when this will happen. With Symfony based field types we would not have a breaking change in the configuration, but only “under the hood” then.
Switching the CType¶
Switching the CType without having to re-enter the content is not possible with different prefixes per CType. If you don't reuse any columns, your data will not be accessible after switching the CType. (If you switch back, the data is still there.)
So if you reuse existing fields, CType switching is possible without data loss between CTypes with the same columns. This is how the TYPO3 core works and is not specific to content blocks.
Also have alook at the discussion here .
Compatibility with extensions¶
Introducing the content blocks package approach will be a breaking change. We offer working together with the extension authors.
Localization of content¶
A field is localize-able by default, so setting the localization property is only necessary if special localization method is required.
Can I reuse an existing field / column?¶
Yes you can. You can use the useExistingField property.
For example if you want to use the existing column "bodytext", or "header_layout" or "image" you can do one of the following:
group: common
fields:
-
identifier: header_layout
type: Select
properties:
useExistingField: true
-
identifier: bodytext
type: Textarea
properties:
enableRichtext: true
useExistingField: true
-
identifier: image
type: Image
properties:
useExistingField: true