I have published a first release of the CakePHP based frontend for TYPO3 as GPL’ed free software. Clone the repository and help in development or download a ZIP archive with the necessary CakePHP files. Installation instructions are at schettler.net/fossil/t3c

Our editors want a Typo3 backend. We (the developers) want to get this magazine out of the door before Armageddon. The solution? A Typo3 installation inside of a CakePHP frontend.

After all, Typo3 is just a clever database frontend which manipulates two tables, pages and tt_content. This way, the developers can productively create custom navigation bars, arrange content the way they want it, and do so in the clean and well organized world of CakePHP Model-View-Controller. Our editors, on the other hand, can work their way through the page tree and place content on columns. Everyone is happy.

Once we have a baseline implementation, I hope to release a tutorial and some code here.