TYPO3 v14: Three more features for your everyday life as an integrator

After the first look at TYPO3 v14, here are three more innovations from the ChangeLog that make a difference in the day-to-day work of integrators. No revolutionary features, but solid improvements that simplify work and clean up code.

1. locale() expression: Direct access to language information

Until now, you had to access the locale in TypoScript conditions with siteLanguage("locale"). This works, but is cumbersome. TYPO3 v14 introduces a new expression: locale().

This gives you direct access to the locale object and all its public methods:

[locale().getName() == "en-US"]
 page.20.value = bar
[END]
[locale().getCountryCode() == "US"]
 page.30.value = foo
[END]
[locale().isRightToLeftLanguageDirection()]
 page.40.value = bar
[END]

This works not only in TypoScript conditions, but also in the site configuration, for example with form field variants:

variants:
  -
    identifier: language-variant-1
    condition: 'locale().getName() == "en-US"'
    label: 'First name'

What this means: Your code becomes more readable and direct. Instead of detours via siteLanguage(), you have type-safe access to locale information. This makes the code easier to maintain, especially for multilingual sites with complex conditions.

2. fluid page.title ViewHelper: Set page titles from templates

Anyone who builds Extbase plugins with detail pages knows the problem: you want to set the page title dynamically - for example with the name of the data record displayed. Previously, you had to implement your own page title provider for this.

This changes with the new <f:page.title> ViewHelper:

<f:page.title>{item.title}</f:page.title>
<h1>{item.title}</h1>
<p>{item.description}</p>

The ViewHelper also works with static content:

<f:page.title>About Us - Company Information</f:page.title>
<h1>About Us</h1>
<p>Welcome to our company...</p>

What this means: A common task becomes much easier. No more custom page title providers for every use case. The ViewHelper integrates seamlessly into TYPO3's existing page title provider system and respects configured priorities.

Especially useful for Extbase extensions with many detailed views, where each page needs an individual title.

3. XLIFF 2.x support: Modern translation formats without detours

TYPO3 now supports XLIFF 1.2 and XLIFF 2.x in parallel. The XLIFF loader automatically recognizes which version is being used and parses accordingly. No configuration necessary, both formats work transparently side by side.

XLIFF 2.x uses a more modern structure with <unit> and <segment> elements instead of the old <trans-unit> blocks. For you as an integrator, this means that your translation tools work better and TYPO3 automatically decides which format is available. You don't have to change anything.

What this means: Existing XLIFF 1.2 files will continue to work without any changes. New projects can use the more modern XLIFF 2.x standard. More importantly, compatibility with modern translation tools and services is improved, as many have already switched to XLIFF 2.0.

Strategy behind the features

These three innovations show a clear trend:

• TYPO3 reduces unnecessary complexity in the day-to-day work of integrators
• Modern standards are supported without breaking changes
• Code becomes more readable and maintainable

Version 14 is still under development, but the direction is right. Anyone planning new projects in the medium term should keep these developments in mind.

How to stay informed

The TYPO3 v14 ChangeLog is growing continuously. I continue to filter out the features that are strategically relevant for integrators 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 innovations in a compact format and without noise.

There will of course be another comprehensive video course on TYPO3 v14 - as soon as the version is closer to release.

Sources & Links

Feature #107105 - Introduce expression for accessing site locale

Feature #107358 - Introduce Fluid page title ViewHelper

Feature #107710 - Support for XLIFF 2.x translation files