A Framework for TemplaVoila and the Busy Noggin QuickSite

A workflow, code base and set of best practices for integrating a wide range of visual designs into TYPO3 quickly and consistently.

I am pleased to announce the public release of templavoila.busynoggin.com. This site explains the framework I use for building sites with TemplaVoila and also provides a download of the Busy Noggin QuickSite which is a TYPO3 starter site built on the framework.

I presented a tutorial on this framework at T3CON09-Dallas which was well received. I will be presenting a refined version of that tutorial at T3CON09-Frankfurt. Since the Dallas conference over 100 developers received login access to the pre-release version of templavoila.busynoggin.com. With the public release login access is no longer required.

The framework does not rely upon any special extensions and developers can use as much or as little of its techniques as they wish. I have been careful to call it "a" framework for TemplaVoila not "the" framework for TemplaVoila.

You can find out what this framework can do by watching a six minute video on the home page of templavoila.busynggin.com. The middle of the video will be of particular interest as it demonstrates how editors can modify page layouts through the use of the utility FCEs in the framework.

Using this approach has cut down the time I spend mapping TemplaVoila templates by 75%. The time I do spend mapping is in constructing special FCEs for the unique needs of a particular site.

Look at the photo of the four layouts attached to this post (click to here to see larger), you might be interested to know that they all run off the same page template code. The skinning approach in this framework supplies the variations in look and code. Were they all for the same client I could have setup up multiple domains in a single install and had them all use the same core page template files and could switch between them without remapping page templates.

I think this package will be of most interest to developers who build a number of sites with TemplaVoila and spend a significant amount of time dealing with CSS, TypoScript and datastructures. They will most quickly understand why I have approached site building the way I have.

If you look at the framework, pay particular attention to explanations of the header, footer, precode and postCode TypoScript objects as they are the keying to adapting the QuickSite to virtually any visual design without remapping page templates.

OK, now now for a seemly insane statement. I believe that 85% of the visual designs on the web can be accommodated  in the QuickSite without remapping page templates. Don't believe me? Then see me in Frankfurt. :)

Ron Hall
Busy Noggin, Inc.