b13 Blog

Sharing what we've learned while delivering client projects online for more than 20 years and being leading contributors to TYPO3 is part of who we are.

We choose widely-adopted open-source technologies because we can fix, extend, and improve them while building on the experience and support of thousands of our peers. In our blog, we share with you the knowledge we've gained along the way for you to build on.

Read on!

Image for Article How to Involve Multiple Teams in TYPO3 Projects Efficiently
How to Involve Multiple Teams in TYPO3 Projects Efficiently
|David Steeb

While external teams will upgrade your ability to make updates and extend functionality for your customers, integrating them effectively is a challenge because code can quickly become opaque, buggy, and brittle. Our standard processes leverage automation, version control tools, virtualization, and standardized best practices to make sure everyone not only tugs on the same rope, but – crucially – in the same direction.

Image for Article On-site search is more than a small box in the corner
On-site search is more than a small box in the corner
|Laura Heine

Users want to find information fast. If the page navigation is insufficient, they quickly resort to the search functionality. Nowadays, users expect that an on-site search is easy to use, provides flexible options, and delivers specific and useful results. But bringing your on-site search to the next level is not straightforward, because there are many factors that contribute to the overall solution, such as your search engine, content, metadata and your information architecture.

Image for Article Future-proof your website to stay competitive for the long haul
Future-proof your website to stay competitive for the long haul
|Desirée Lochner

In an ever-evolving technological landscape, keeping your brand and technology up-to-date and competitive can feel like a full-time job. Whether you’re working on a website relaunch, a brand refresh, or a system-wide version update, it’s going to be time-consuming and expensive, not to mention repetitive. When your focus turns instead to future-proofing your website, you ensure your design and technology are ready for anything, now and for the long-term.

Image for Article A pretty interface does not equal a valid concept
A pretty interface does not equal a valid concept
|Stefanie Kreuzer

The human mind is naturally driven by aesthetics. Interface design, therefore, contributes substantially to building a positive user experience. But when it comes to durability and quality, it's what's on the inside that counts. Although conceptual models are abstract, they let you take a step back and envision how people are going to interact with your product. This distance gives you perspective. Seeing the entire landscape means you can more easily align interactions, relations, transitions, and the functionality of your project. Building an elegant solution underpins a well-made interface.

Image for Article UX Troubleshooting - Site Navigation
UX Troubleshooting - Site Navigation
|Laura Heine

Site navigation is one of the most important elements of any website, and can greatly impact user experience. Poor navigation can result in shorter site visits and higher bounce rate. The good news: unlike some other UX elements, navigation can be improved relatively quickly. You can address a lot of preliminary issues by following well-accepted usability heuristics. Then go deeper with a thorough analysis of your business goals and user needs to create a site nav that is truly intuitive.

Image for Article Why choose On-Prem over SaaS for your CMS?
Why choose On-Prem over SaaS for your CMS?
|David Steeb

Enterprises now have many software delivery channel options to choose from. With software-as-a-service (SaaS) and cloud-based implementation models on the rise, you might be trying to figure out the best software delivery channel to support your enterprise’s digital strategy. If you don’t have an internal IT department, SaaS can be tempting, but when you also have stringent data compliance needs, an on-premises (or on-prem for short) solution is your best bet.

Image for Article Simplify your page configuration with our extension
Simplify your page configuration with our extension
|David Steeb

TYPO3’s separation of content and code is one of its major strengths. TYPO3 saves content in containers called content elements, which you can stack in content areas on a page record to create pages. The different parts of this highly configurable setup include “page types” (defined by the “doktype” field value in the pages database table record), a “backend layout” configuration, and possibly a third, separate “frontend layout” configuration value. We combine these components in various ways to enable different scenarios and desired outcomes.

Image for Article New TCA types in TYPO3 version 11
New TCA types in TYPO3 version 11
|Oliver Bartsch

In previous installments of our TYPO3 v11 series, we covered some of the great UX improvements that are making editors' lives easier. In this final post of the series, we’ve got something special for all the developers and site administrators: new TCA types. Using these dedicated types will reduce and simplify the TCA configuration required for special fields. They also allow auto-configuration and auto-creation of database fields.

Image for Article Visual Design for an international audience
Visual Design for an international audience
|Stefanie Kreuzer

When working with transnational corporate websites in different cultural contexts, it is very important to know the different aspects and demands of your international audience. To make a website optimally available and enjoyable for a wide range of users, you need to look beyond the technical requirements of a CMS only supporting text display and language direction. For your visual design to have a global reach, you need to consider things like aesthetics, symbolism, typography and form construction.