creativekallol/ck-faq

Extension for managing and showcasing FAQ on the website frontend.

1.0.0 2025-07-07 15:37 UTC

Requires

• typo3/cms-core: ^13.4

MIT

• Kallol Chakraborty

README

Classification: ck_faq

Version: 1.0.0

Language: en, de

Description: This extension provides a flexible and powerful FAQ solution for TYPO3 CMS, featuring categorized listings, search functionality, pagination, and a user rating system.

Keywords: FAQ, TYPO3, Accordion, Rating, Search, Responsive, Bootstrap, Extbase, Fluid

Copyright: 2025

Author: Kallol Chakraborty

License: This document is published under the Open Content License available from https://www.opencontent.org/opl.shtml

The content of this document is related to TYPO3, a GNU/GPL CMS/Framework available from www.typo3.org.

⚙️ Features

• Categorized FAQ display with smart filtering
• Smart search (by title or description)
• Pagination support
• For anonymous users - Frontend rating using thumbs up/down with cookie protection (one-time vote per FAQ)
• For logged-in frontend users - Feature is upcoming!
• Localized output support (based on configured site language)
• Responsive UI using Bootstrap 5
• FAQ rich text support using RTE
• Fully Extbase & Fluid-based architecture
• Future-ready and compliant with TYPO3 v13

📦 Installation

Install the extension via Composer:

composer req creativekallol/ck-faq

📌 Plugin Configuration

After installation, follow these steps:

1. Add the content element FAQ to a TYPO3 page.
2. Create and assign FAQ categories using TYPO3’s native category system.
3. Add FAQ records to a dedicated sys folder.
4. Optionally, customize templates and styles via your sitepackage extension.
5. Adjust TypoScript settings manually or through the Constant Editor.

Available Configuration Options:

• Storage PID: Limit FAQ records to a specific page/folder. If left empty, records will be fetched from all pages.
• Category Parent: Filter categories by a parent category. If not set, all categories will be listed.
• Items Per Page: Control pagination size. If not specified, a default value of 5 will be used.

Once configuration is done, don’t forget to clear the TYPO3 cache.

💡 Frontend Output

The extension renders:

• A sidebar of categories with active selection
• A search box (GET method) with a clear button
• An accordion list of FAQs with collapsible answers
• A rating bar (thumbs up/down)
• Pagination below FAQ listing
• Dynamic UI messages based on rating
• FAQs are sorted by most helpful votes first, then by least not-helpful votes, and finally by newest updates

📸 Screenshot

🧪 Backend Enhancements

• Clean backend with helpful label formatting [e.g., FAQ Title (👍 3, 👎 0)]
• Category selection is managed using TYPO3’s native sys_category with tree view

🌐 SEO-Friendly Routing Advice

For optimal URL structure, you are encouraged to write your own custom site configuration using YAML. Alternatively, you may refer to the following example:

routeEnhancers:
  Category:
    type: Extbase
    extension: CkFaq
    plugin: Pi1
    routes:
      -
        routePath: '/{slug}'
        _controller: 'Faq::list'
        _arguments:
          slug: category
      -
        routePath: '/{slug}/page-{currentPage}'
        _controller: 'Faq::list'
        _arguments:
          slug: category
          currentPage: currentPage
      -
        routePath: '/page-{currentPage}'
        _controller: 'Faq::list'
        _arguments:
          currentPage: currentPage
    defaultController: 'Faq::list'
    aspects:
      slug:
        type: PersistedAliasMapper
        tableName: sys_category
        routeFieldName: slug
      currentPage:
        type: StaticRangeMapper
        start: '1'
        end: '100'
    requirements:
      product-slug: '^[a-z0-9\-]+$'
    limitToPages:
      - 2  # Replace with your actual FAQ plugin page ID

📝 TODO

1. Turn ON/OFF the entire Rating feature, so that FAQ can be used with or without rating system
2. Configure use of Bootstrap 5 CDN only if it is not available in sitepackage
3. Enable rating system based on logged-in frontend users.
4. Make the plugin configurable to allow update of rating data in real time or via batch processing (important for high-traffic websites).

🧰 Technologies Used

• TYPO3 CMS 13.x
• Extbase & Fluid
• Bootstrap 5 (via CDN)

❤️ Support the Extension

This extension thrives with active sponsorship to stay updated in the TYPO3 ecosystem and remain compatible with future TYPO3 versions.

You can become a title sponsor of this extension.

📬 Reach out to me at [e-mail]

🌟 Suggest a new feature?

If you want to suggest a feature or request something custom, feel free to email me at [e-mail].

🐞 Found a bug?

• First, check out the main branch and verify that the issue hasn’t already been resolved.
• Review the existing issues to avoid duplicates.
• If not found, report the bug in the issue tracker.

🤝 Want to contribute?

We welcome contributions via pull requests. Please ensure your commit messages follow a conventional format (e.g., [BUGFIX], [FEATURE]) and include clear details.

Good Luck!