TYPO3 is an open-source, freely distributed CMS written in PHP. This content management system is very popular in Europe, particularly in Germany. The respect accorded TYPO3 is not happenstance: it is the product of the successful implementation of a number of Internet projects. This success should come as no shock, since TYPO3 is the product of long and tireless work by creator Kasper Skårhøj and those working with him.

Inspiring people to share

The developers' efforts succeeded wildly. They produced an extensible system with a convenient interface that makes it easy to manage content. Special attention was paid to security. More and more people became TYPO3 converts with time, giving rise to an entire community around the software that continues to grow and get better. These volunteers are extremely active: the TYPO3 core is under constant development by two teams of programmers, while the project repository offers thousands of extensions for every need imaginable.

Flexibility that's baked in

We think that one of the strong points of TYPO3 is its internal language, TypoScript, which is used to configure and manage how a site is displayed. This kind of built-in tool offers more flexibility in developing solutions, and also gives programmers wide options for fine-tuning all aspects of a website's operation. This means that in addition to everything else, doing real development on TYPO3 requires programming in TypoScript. This approach allows successfully combining all of the power of standard CMSs and extensions, with the flexibility of from-scratch development.

Extensibility, security, and flexibility have all helped to make this CMS successful. But the sum of these parts makes TYPO3 more than just a CMS. They make TYPO3 an all-purpose tool for developing web projects.