Book Image

Mastering TypoScript: TYPO3 Website, Template, and Extension Development

Book Image

Mastering TypoScript: TYPO3 Website, Template, and Extension Development

Overview of this book

Free, open-source, flexible, and scalable, TYPO3 is one of the most powerful PHP content management systems. It is well suited for creating intranets and extranets for the enterprise. While providing an easy-to-use web interface for non-technical authors and editors of content, its messaging and workflow system enable shared authoring and collaboration. TYPO3 provides flexible and powerful interfaces for both content editors and administrators, giving them full control of the core aspects the system. However for developers who need to customize the system, TYPO3 offers a powerful configuration language called TypoScript. Good knowledge of TypoScript is really a prerequisite for implementing complex applications with TYPO3 and gives developers full control over the configuration of TYPO3 and its template engine. TypoScript enables the complete output template to be created and manipulated, giving you full control over the layout of the site. TypoScript also allows you to integrate dynamic contents, JavaScript-based menus, Flash, Graphics, etc. with ease. You have maximum control over the design of the website and can control all options that would otherwise be addressed by HTML-simple text output, formatting, and much more. TypoScript also allows you to generate graphics at run time and display different content dynamically.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Mastering TypoScript: TYPO3 Website, Template, and Extension Development
Credits
About the Author
Preface

Standard Search


We will discuss advanced search in detail in this chapter. But first let us look at the standard search, which is sufficient for many applications. The standard search does not have to be installed; it is included with the basic version of TYPO3. With this search, the user can browse the site for headings and key words. To integrate the standard search, select Search form as content element.

Although the search function is fully usable, it has blatant weaknesses that do not really affect functionality but make it difficult to use, especially for laypersons. How is a user supposed to know what Search in Headers and Keywords means? It is therefore important to customize the search mask to the point that not only the design, but also the user-friendliness addresses today's raised expectations.

We will strictly be dealing with expanded possibilities of search-optimization. We will not be discussing basic issues such as how search works, etc.

Customizing the Search

A search can...