This CMS is just overloaded,
many stupid features which are not able to shut down and your HTML code looks like sh*t.
It makes the easiest things so complicated that you give up TS at the end and do your stuff in the typo3 core.

I hate this CMS and wish all developers that they never have to work with that!
Also for beginning editors this CMS is horror so they will flood your hotline!
Do yourself a present and don't touch this mountain of code....

Just checked out the 4.4 demo. MASSIVE improvement! Kudos to whoever wrote (and, by God, documented) the new basis templates. I now almost understand Typoscript!

I'll be downloading and installing this. Might even start using Typo3 again.

Agreed with the other commenters that previous versions had a humongous learning curve, but this new version is so tidy it really deserves another look.

I hate this sort of systems, where people say it got a steep learning curve etc. The truth why it has a steep learning curve is because it is so badly designed, documented, that you - as an end user or as an developer - feel the system is wasting your time.

We've been using Typo3 for several years now. It's complex to be sure, but we have over 300 subsites, most with different templates, different styles, different feels. Many with their own subdomains. Although it's tough to learn from a developer's stand point it's by far the most flexible I've seen. (someone said it wasn't... unsure where that came from..).

I've written a manual for our users (this is geared toward users not developers). We are one version back (v 4.2). I'm hear to learn what I need to to support the upgrade. Anyone interested please come check it out, I'm glad for constructive comments. http://www.creighton.edu/tm
All our typo sites are prefixed with www.creighton.edu or medschool.creighton.edu. We are still migrating.

Yep. Do youself a favour - get something else but typo3 - it is terrible, both as a developer and as an end user. Worst php cms system I have ever tried. Difficult to change layouts, difficult to build extensions for, strange breakdowns etc.

The TYPO3 enterprise content management system is very powerful and extremely secure open source web CMS. As developer and owner of Content Online we have experience with TYPO3 since 2003 and it still the most complete CMS I ever used.

To start working with TYPO3 you need to take your time.

@ Richard, I understand your frustration, however it could be that your site is incorrectly designed. I have worked on many sites for maintenance and I do come across weird stuff.... problem is that any PHP program likes to hack in it and often done incorrectly.
If you need any help, you can contact me at ries@vantwisk.nl

I have to agree that useful Typo3 examples are rare and poor documentation (well, some extensions), but ...
I absolutely love its intuitive backend and I find it very easy to use for editors and authors.
It does take some time to configure everything, but once you solve everything out it's plain sailing.
Also TemplaVoila is a gem on it's own - the easiest templating I have seen!

Strange, everyone else must be using a different program to me. I've found it cumbersome, ridiculously over-engineered and has extremely high overheads to make even simple changes. Our company has had this system forced on it by our mother company and we are constantly swearing at it as being hopelessly frustrating.

One to avoid in our opinion (small business with lots of product information pages).

It's just awesome. No other CMS is so detailled flexible and powerful. It also has a huge community behind which is developing hundreds of extensions. Sure it's not a oob system. You have a high learning entry level. But once you got it u'll never want to miss it again . . .

It's far from simple but very good code design and application structure , i can say learning Type3 Language harder than learn basic php.

I was really wanting to use Typo3. It looks great and has so much to offer. Instead of building a site manually i thought i would try a CMS. But it just wouldn't work for me. The documentation is too detailed and long winded. It doesn't seem to apply to the latest version. When i finally got it uploaded and working i spent so long trying to do the simple task of creating templates.

I've alter existing open source and commercial programs in the past but god this Typo3 was work. I wanted simplicity. Yes i know they tell you that it has a steep learning curve so i gave it a try.

After many many hours of playing and finally almost getting somewhere....the text editor died. For some reason it just wouldn't load. How frustrating! I searched all the documentation and mailing lists even reloaded the site but in the end i finally gave up.

All i wanted was a fairly simple site that i could add to as needed and gradually make it more complicated. As i say it all looks great but for some reason it just wouldn't click for me.

Good luck

Great tool for web agencies. Since you learn it you can make websites very fast and still have the all flexibility if needed.

I think this is a great CMS very flexible if your technical you can learn the basics in 2 weeks, admin changing content is easy. With templavoila it is a great system. Have used Xoops and Joomla but like typo3

TYPO3 rocks! Most advanced enterprise open source CMS out there.
You need some days to learn it but it totally pays back.