TYPO3 Neos

TYPO3 is a free content man­age­ment system that is based on the script language PHP and was developed by the TYPO3 As­so­ci­a­tion. The de­vel­op­ers offer no official support for the open source software; however, there are service providers that spe­cial­ize in TYPO3. There are over 5,000 ex­ten­sions available for TYPO3, which are all free and allow you to add shop systems, picture galleries, and forums to the framework. There has only been one team of de­vel­op­ers (in­de­pen­dent of the TYPO3 As­so­ci­a­tion) since 2015 that looks after the former joint project, TYPO3 Neos.

In 2015 the teams of TYPO3 Neos and TYPO3 CMS de­vel­op­ers confirmed that they were going their separate ways. The official reason: two products with major dif­fer­ences emerged from the long and tedious de­vel­op­ment period. The different ideas on what con­sti­tutes a CMS were a reason for the sep­a­ra­tion as well as the various system demands. This con­se­quent­ly resulted in different target groups: while the TYPO3 CMS de­vel­op­ers prefer the classic sep­a­ra­tion of the back end and front end, Neos targets an in­no­v­a­tive concept that should fa­cil­i­tate the operation for the web editors. Both parties decided on the sep­a­ra­tion so as not to hinder the de­vel­op­ment of the new system. Since the TYPO3 As­so­ci­a­tion has been working ex­clu­sive­ly on the de­vel­op­ment of the original TYPO3 CMS since then, it means that the Neos team is now on its own and no longer supports the developer network. The Neos de­vel­op­ers gave notice of the following general product changes after the split:

• The open source CMS ex­pe­ri­ences an ad­di­tion­al change of name as the prefix TYPO3 is com­plete­ly deleted and only the name Neos remains
• gets its own project website: neos.io
• switchover to the developer platform GitHub
• switchover to MIT License

The biggest dif­fer­ence between Neos and TYPO3 CMS is the structure of the front end and back end. While TYPO3 CMS has the same classic, strict sep­a­ra­tion of both areas, Neos users view content directly in the front end, which is su­per­im­posed over the back end element. All changes are therefore visible straight­away, which basically makes the Neos operation more intuitive. In­cor­po­rat­ing it into the modern content man­age­ment system, however, should not be un­der­es­ti­mat­ed. In the Neos project, there is not the same known extension manager for in­te­grat­ing ex­ten­sions as seen with TYPO3 CMS. These have to be installed in Neos with the help of a packet manager.

The future de­vel­op­ment and success of Neos and TYPO3 CMS are difficult to predict. We have to wait and see whether Neos gains ac­cep­tance and whether TYPO3 CMS can keep a solid foun­da­tion. The sep­a­ra­tion wasn’t just a bold step for the team of de­vel­op­ers, but also led to big changes for the user. Web de­vel­op­ers, editors, agencies, and customers suddenly have to make a decision without being able to predict which system they can plan long-term with. But what are the concrete changes for in­di­vid­ual user groups?

After the sep­a­ra­tion of Neos and TYPO3 CMS, web de­vel­op­ers now face a challenge: to master the pro­gram­ming of two content man­age­ment systems that are pro­gres­sive­ly being developed in different di­rec­tions. Although part and parcel of a developer’s daily routine, con­stant­ly having to switch between different CMSs presents a cum­ber­some situation that offers poor long-term planning prospects. Should Neos become an es­tab­lished system like TYPO3 CMS, then the web de­vel­op­ers competent in both ap­pli­ca­tions will end up holding all the aces.The situation looks con­sid­er­ably more relaxed for editors: if the employer or assigned developer decides to switch to Neos, it is def­i­nite­ly ben­e­fi­cial to the writer. They have to get used to a new user interface, though this proves a lot more intuitive and easier to use than TYPO3 CMS. Editors can see directly what their changes to the website look like in the front end of Neos.

Agencies that undertake the pro­gram­ming and main­te­nance of web ap­pli­ca­tions for their customers are faced with diverse chal­lenges due to the sep­a­ra­tion of Neos and TYPO3 CMS. They have to finance further trainings or hire Neos experts, even though it is unclear whether the system has a future. Employing spe­cial­ized personnel long-term for Neos and TYPO3 CMS is a financial balancing act for small agencies. Ad­di­tion­al­ly, there is also the lack of planning security. Agencies should therefore consider whether offering both content man­age­ment systems is prof­itable in the long term.

Nothing the­o­ret­i­cal­ly changes for agency customers since they do not come into contact with the pro­gram­ming and main­te­nance of the system. However, if the agency changes its business profile due to the TYPO3 systems split, the customer will be affected in the end. Negative scenarios such as price increases are possible. If a customer plans to switch to Neos and their agency doesn’t offer this pos­si­bil­i­ty, they will be forced to change to a different agency.