TemplaVoila & TYPO3 6.2 LTS

TemplaWhat?

TemplaVoila is a templating engine which handles the generation of the HTML code which makes up the pages of your TYPO3 website. It acts as the glue in between what you see on your pages in the TYPO3 back-end and the pages which are generated on the front-end.

What is happening with TemplaVoila?

TemplaVoila's future has been uncertain in recent times as the previous core developer Tolleiv Nietsch announced that he was no longer going to be supporting the extension.

Whilst Tolleiv had some valid reasons for moving away from TemplaVoila, we - and many others - still believe TemplaVoila is still the most powerful and flexible TYPO3 templating engine. Though much of the focus in recent times in the TYPO3 community has been on alternative templating approaches using a combination of Fluid and DCE we find these solutions lacking in terms of flexibility and user experience compared to TemplaVoila. This is especially the case when it comes to handling complex page layouts and content in a multilingual environment.

The problem with TemplaVoila not being developed further meant that websites built using TemplaVoila could not be upgraded to TYPO3 6.2 LTS due to the extension not being compatible with the new TYPO3 6.2 API changes - this was a worry to us and other website owners who were considering an upgrade.

What do we do now?

Now that TYPO3 6.2 LTS has been released we can confirm the good news: an unofficial version of TemplaVoila which is compatible with TYPO3 6.2 is now available. Whilst the official extension in the TYPO3 repository has not been updated, you can get download a working version from Wouter Wolters's GitHub repository.

The even better news is that Alexander Schnitzler & Wouter Wolters are actively working on an official update to TemplaVoila. Version 1.9 is  currently in beta and can be downloaded from Alexander's GitHub repository.

The great news is that the main obstacle for TemplaVoila based websites being upgraded to TYPO3 6.2 has now been resolved and the TYPO3 community can continue to enjoy the power and flexibility of TemplaVoila for years to come.

Are you thinking of upgrading to TYPO3 6.2 LTS? Why not get in touch to see how we can help you.

Update (14/05/2014)

TemplaVoila 1.9 has been officially released on the TYPO3 extension repository.

by Oliver Rowlands, Finn Taylor

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  Oliver Rowlands

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  Finn Taylor

  Finn is a founding director of Liquid Light, and he still (after 22 years of web design) likes to get involved in projects. When he is not worrying about the clients, he is studying Chinese medicine, working with young criminals and doing spartan challenges.