TYPO3 v13.3 - Feature Freeze Fun

TYPO3 v13.3 is released on 17th, September 2024. TYPO3 v13.3 is released after the fourth sprint release of the TYPO3 v13 series. This version marks the feature freeze state before the TYPO3 v13 LTS release in October. Let’s learn about the Content Blocks integration strategy and other features that have been successfully added to the TYPO3 Core as planned.

Get ready to freeze the breeze with the TYPO3 v13.3

TYPO3 developers have been working hard over the past few weeks to add all the features committed to add for the TYPO3 v13 release. In the last 8 weeks, TYPO3 v13.3 received over 20 new features. Thanks to the strong teamwork between developers and contributors from different parts of the world, the release is now ready to rock. TYPO3 v13.3 is officially ready, and the community can now test its new features and technologies.

The focus from now until the long-term support release in October is on finalizing and improving existing features, as well as enhancing the user interface where needed. For more technical details, check out the v13.3 Changelog

Content Blocks

Integrating a new system that affects many parts of TYPO3 Core is always a careful process. The Core developers need to make sure that the new code fits in without affecting the system's stability. At the same time, the ability to maintain and upgrade TYPO3 must remain unchanged.

For the integration of Content Blocks, there were two possible approaches. One option was to add the solution as a new system extension. The other was to take the best features and integrate them into the Core step by step.

Some features of Content Blocks have been individually added to the Core. However, the Content Blocks extension will stay as a third-party extension. When TYPO3 version 13 LTS is released, the TYPO3 Core team and the Content Types team will release version 1.0.0 of the Content Blocks extension together. Both teams will keep maintaining it after the initial release.

This means the Content Blocks extension won't become a system extension like the TYPO3 Dashboard or SEO extension, but it has its advantages. The goal is to make the upgrade to TYPO3 v13 as smooth as possible for all TYPO3 users. This includes those who already use the Content Blocks extension, as well as those with custom content types created with Fluid Styled Content.

For those who already use Content Blocks, their work will not be wasted. After upgrading TYPO3 Core and the Content Blocks extension to version 1.x, everything will continue to work smoothly. If someone is upgrading to TYPO3 v13 and hasn’t used Content Blocks yet, they can proceed with the Core upgrade as usual. It's recommended to stick with the current content types and not mix Fluid Styled Content types with Content Blocks content types to avoid complications. New projects starting with TYPO3 v13 LTS from scratch can use all the new Core features, making it easier to create custom content types.

The successful integration of most Content Blocks features into TYPO3 Core is a big step forward in creating new content types in TYPO3.

Looking ahead, this isn’t the end for Content Blocks. The team sees this as a starting point for future improvements. With TYPO3 version 14 on the horizon, plans include adding more features to the Content Blocks extension, such as a user interface for building content types. There’s more to come!

The new System Notes widgets are not the only update. Editors often want to see which pages have been updated recently so now TYPO3 has a dashboard widget that shows a list of the most recently changed pages.

TYPO3's Fluid template engine has been part of the TYPO3 CMS for a long time. Recently, the Fluid team released version 4 with one main goal: to avoid breaking any public APIs.

Upgrading from Fluid version 2 to version 4 should be easy (skipping Fluid version 3 entirely), but TYPO3 integrators and developers should check the deprecation log and get their code ready for version 5, especially if they use custom ViewHelpers.

Fluid version 4 comes with better code quality, full support for boolean attributes, and some new ViewHelpers. Some features have even been added to version 2 to make upgrading smoother.

The TYPO3 ExpressionBuilder brings a new way to build "if-then-else" expressions, which automatically change into either IF or CASE statements, depending on the database engine being used. There is also a new feature that allows results to be changed into text-like data types. This helps turn non-text values into text in more complex expression setups.

These updates let extension developers create advanced database queries without needing to deal with different vendor-specific systems. It makes development easier, allowing TYPO3 developers to focus on query logic without worrying about database compatibility.

TYPO3 version 13.3 marks the point where no new features will be added until the Long-Term Support (LTS) release in October 2024. During this time, the TYPO3 Core team and contributors will focus on testing, improving, and refining the code and user interface. They will also work on completing and enhancing the features that were added recently.

One of the key improvements includes the Content Blocks functionality. Additionally, they are committed to integrating backend user permission presets. This feature will let TYPO3 integrators and TYPO3 developers create, manage, and reuse permission presets, making it easier to apply them to new or existing backend user groups.

TYPO3 v13.3 is the final update before TYPO3 v13 LTS (long-term support) comes out in October 2024. This is a good time for extension developers to check and test their TYPO3 extensions and update the code to work with TYPO3 v13.

They will support each TYPO3 sprint release (v13.0 to v13.3) until the next minor version comes out. The long-term support version, TYPO3 v13 LTS (version 13.4), will get bug fixes until April 30, 2026, and security updates until October 31, 2027.

Download and install TYPO3 13.3: get.typo3.org
Detailed installation instructions: Installation Guide for TYPO3 v13.3
Recommended to use Composer to set up the TYPO3 environment.

TYPO3 version 13.4 (the Long-Term Support release, TYPO3 v13 LTS) will be released in about four weeks, on 15 October 2024. The team is still working on final tasks to finalise the planned features.

Watch out for announcements for the release party and other events. There will likely be online events, demos, talks and celebrations, both virtual and in person, to welcome the latest TYPO3 to lead the way across the vast CMS sea.

Related TYPO3 Version Release 13 LTS

TYPO3 v13.2-On your marks, get set, go
TYPO3 v13.1 is here | Important features of v13.1
TYPO3 v13.0 - A rising v13.0. sun on the TYPO3 horizon
TYPO3 v13 Roadmap Announcement - What's next?

TYPO3 v13.3 News Source: typo3.org/article/typo3-v133-prepare-for-the-fun
Image Source: typo3.org