TYPO3 v14: Rich Text Editor in the Form Framework. No more workarounds for checkbox labels

Anyone who works with EXT:form knows the problem: You want to place a link to the privacy policy in a checkbox and realize that the label only allows plain text. No formatting, no link. As of TYPO3 14.2 this is history. The form editor gets CKEditor 5 support for textarea fields.

What was previously necessary

Formatted links in checkbox labels were not possible with on-board tools. Two workarounds have been established in practice:

Variant 1: The extension form_element_linked_checkbox

The extension by Björn Jacob and Elias Häußler solved the problem neatly. They added a new form element that allowed checkboxes with linked label text. Worked well, but meant an additional dependency on a third-party extension.

Variant 2: Hidden content element in front of the checkbox

The other way was to insert a content element placed on a hidden page in the form that contained the text with a link. Although this worked, it had one major disadvantage: there was no semantic link between the text and the checkbox element. From an accessibility perspective, this is problematic because screen readers cannot recognize the connection between the label and the checkbox.

Both ways show: The need was there. The solution belongs in the core.

What TYPO3 14.2 brings

The form editor now supports rich text editing via CKEditor 5 for textarea fields. This affects three areas directly:

Checkbox elements with formatted labels

The most common use case: checkboxes for privacy policies or terms and conditions with a direct link to the respective document. No more workaround necessary, no hidden content element, no third-party extension. The link is directly in the label, semantically correctly linked and therefore also clearly readable for screen readers.

Confirmation finisher with formatted text

If you wanted to display a confirmation message that was more than just plain text after submitting a form, you almost always had to use the redirect finisher to a separate "Thank you" page. Or overwrite the fluid template of the finisher. Both unnecessary effort for something that should actually be simple. With the new RTE support, you can format the confirmation message directly in the form editor. Not every form needs its own thank you page.

StaticText element with formatting

The StaticText element also benefits. Formatted text in forms is now possible directly in the editor, without template adjustments.

Different presets for different purposes

With this feature, TYPO3 brings two new RTE presets that are specially tailored for use in forms: one for labels with simple formatting and one for content fields with an extended range of functions. You can also use your own or existing RTE presets. The details can be found in the ChangeLog entry.

Security: Multi-level cleanup

The feature includes multi-level HTML sanitization: The content entered is sanitized in both the backend and the frontend. This is important because rich text in forms is of course a potential security issue. TYPO3 solves this cleanly with configurable sanitizer builds. If you need the configuration details, you can find them in the ChangeLog entry.

Classification: EXT:form and alternatives

The feature only affects the TYPO3 Form Framework (EXT:form). Anyone working with Powermail is not affected. Powermail remains a good alternative for projects that require form data to be stored in the database or dynamic forms with conditions, for example.

For all those who work with EXT:form, however, this feature closes a gap that has been open for years. And it shows a trend that we see again and again with TYPO3 v14: Proven community solutions are moving into the core. Similar to the content element restrictions per column, which were previously only possible with the extension content_defender.

Availability

The feature comes with TYPO3 14.2. The LTS version of TYPO3 v14 will be released at the end of April 2026.

How to stay tuned

New features can land in TYPO3 v14 at any time until the feature freeze on March 31, 2026. I will continue to filter the relevant new features from the ChangeLog and present them here in the blog. If you want to receive these updates directly, subscribe to my TYPO3 newsletter. There you will receive the most important developments in a compact format, without any noise.

Of course, there will also be a comprehensive video course on TYPO3 v14 as soon as the LTS version is released. If you want to be informed about the launch and benefit from the discounted introductory price, sign up for the waiting list.