By Marcin Sągol - @soee
What is your idea about?
New users who are just starting with TYPO3 CMS and its backend often have a hard time getting familiar with the interface and concepts of content management using the Pages or List modules. They either have to be educated or spend time reading manuals to figure out how to navigate through the panel.
Different products available on the market offer interactive guides that explain to new users the structure of the backend, the navigation, and even lead them through the required steps to create content, modify it, and explore various settings.
Having such an introductory guide for new users in TYPO3 would be beneficial, as it would teach them in a fast and easy way how to navigate through the backend, what the most important parts are (navigation, page tree, content area, main modules, etc.), and how to manage content without forcing them to spend a lot of time reading manuals and watching tutorials.
We did some experiments with newcomers trying to use demo.typo3.org, and found out that they are struggling, thus the first impression of TYPO3 is not good.
What do you want to achieve by the end of Q1 2025?
By the end of Q1, we would like to have a working interactive guide, which will:
- In the form of a series of floating boxes pointing to selected elements in the backend, explain to users what they are (the elements)
- The boxes will have descriptions and might offer links to broader explanations of the element/topic (TYPO3 documentation)
- The boxes will have buttons to move to the next step, if allowed
- Some of the boxes will require the user to perform more complex actions than clicking on navigation items. For example, users will have to create a new content element of a given type, move it between pages (copy), translate a content element (if an alternative language is supported), etc.
- Users will be able to exit the guide at any time and return to the last step if not finished (this might be stored in user settings, to be determined)
The list of various scenarios which this user guide will handle, is as following:
-
Explain the main backend parts
Provide a brief overview of the main backend components: navigation, search, and user settings -
Introduce the most important modules
Explain the purpose and functionality of key modules -
Page tree management
Introduce the user to the page tree and teach them how to:
- Add a new page
- Delete a page
- Move a page
- (Optional) Translate a page if an additional language is available
-
Content element wizard
Explain the purpose and usage of the Content Element Wizard -
Creating content elements
Teach the user how to create new content elements by adding a selected content element and saving it -
Uploading and managing images
Explain the Filelist module in detail, including:- How to upload images
- How to update image metadata
- How to use images inside content on a page (including cropping and other editing features)
-
Dashboard and redirects modules
Explain the functionality and use cases of the Dashboard module and the Redirects module
As a result of following such a guide, the user should know how to navigate through the TYPO3 backend, understand the most important parts of it, and know how to manage content.
The work should be consulted with the TYPO3 UX team to ensure we follow current guidelines and that the solution is intuitive and user-friendly.
What is the potential impact of your idea for the overall goal?
The idea and its implementation would have a significant impact on new TYPO3 users- mainly editors but also integrators and developers - as they will quickly be introduced to the backend features and learn how to navigate and use them. They will be guided on how to create new content and manage it. This will significantly reduce the learning curve for new users and make the backend more user-friendly.
Which budget do you need for your idea?
10.000 Euro
Please note: After the start of the voting we can not change the idea description nor the idea outcome. If this idea is selected by the members, it must be archived as described.