Smart Content Management and a Secure Database with TYPO3

WISTA Management GmbH is a state-owned company in Berlin that specializes in business development and location development. The company manages and advises a large number of future-orientated technological projects and locations in the fields of innovation and green tech. With its technology and research locations spread across the capital, it forms the largest technology cluster in Germany.

The company maintains several digital domains for the individual business units as well as for its locations and projects in Berlin. In 2021, WISTA wanted to technically update its website, which was running on an older TYPO3 LTS version, to ensure the security of the system.

For this, they turned to the official TYPO3 Partner Agency, 3m5, which has extensive experience and expertise in system upgrades and optimisations of existing databases.

Security was of paramount importance for WISTA as the company had been the target of cyber attacks in the past. For this reason, an update to the current TYPO3 LTS version was crucial for ensuring that operations could continue without the risk of new vulnerabilities. 

Furthermore, WISTA used a series of outdated individual extensions and it would be important for the 3m5 team to work with their client in understanding how to make the most out of TYPO3’s core functions.

As some of the extensions used on the WISTA website weren’t yet available for the new LTS version, the 3m5 carried out the project in two stages. First, with the system always being live in a secure version, 3m5 updated the system’s backend, with developers using TYPO3 components instead of in-house developments and the incorporation of external source code for expansion and website optimization. 

Additionally, a series of changes were made to the frontend of the website. These changes prioritized accessibility, and allowed for an enhanced visitor experience. 

Finally, the 3m5 team took advantage of TYPO3’s flexible grid system to allow editors to freely use templates as a block-based layout. This means that editors can now maintain content easily and in a more flexible manner.

Due to the large amount of content - the changeover affected more than 400 pages with over 3,000 content elements - the developers wrote a special script that carried out the changeover automatically.

At the project’s conclusion the results were already clear. The website was performing better than ever, achieving at desktop a 99 point score as measured by Google Pagespeed. On the security end, the website is more secure than ever, having implemented the latest TYPO3 LTS. 

Visitors will benefit from a more accessible website through the optimized frontend, and editors will be able to effectively manage and deliver content throughout the WISTA digital space. 

A lot has also changed in the backend: TYPO3's own tag function is now used for example, which editors can use to manage data records conveniently. The new Solr-based search function enables faceting and auto-suggest suggestions. The developers also integrated a monitoring tool in the backend that automatically informs the project managers of TYPO3 updates.

With extensive experience supporting government agencies, TYPO3 is a reliable partner for content management in the public sector space. With security, data management, and content delivery all being key features of TYPO3 CMS, alongside its industry-renowned multisite functionality, TYPO3 is ideally suited to support organizations in the public sector. 

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