Deprecation: #105076 - Plugin content element and plugin sub types

https://docs.typo3.org/c/typo3/cms-core/main/en-us/Changelog/13.4/Deprecation-105076-PluginContentElementAndPluginSubTypes.html

Deprecation: #105076 - Plugin content element and plugin sub types

See 105076

Description

Historically, plugins have been registered using the
list content element and the plugin
subtype list_type field. This
functionality has been kept for backwards compatibility reasons.
However, since the release of TYPO3 v12.4, the recommended way to create
a plugin is by using a dedicated content type
(CType) for each plugin.

This old "General Plugin" approach has always been ugly from a UX
perspective point of view since it hides plugin selection behind
"General plugin" content element, forcing a second selection step and
making such plugins something special.

Therefore, the plugin content element
(list) and the plugin sub types field
(list_type) have been marked as deprecated in TYPO3 v13.4 and will be
removed in TYPO3 v14.0.

Additionally, the related PHP constant
TYPO3\CMS\Extbase\Utility\ExtensionUtility::PLUGIN_TYPE_PLUGIN has
been deprecated as well.

Impact

Plugins added using
TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\ExtensionManagementUtility::addPlugin() where
the second parameter is list_type (which is still the default) will
trigger a deprecation level log entry in TYPO3 v13 and will fail in v14.

Therefore, the same applies on using
TYPO3\CMS\Extbase\Utility\ExtensionUtility::configurePlugin() (to
configure the plugin for frontend rendering), where no fifth parameter
is provided or where the fifth parameter is list_type
(ExtensionUtility::PLUGIN_TYPE_PLUGIN), which is still the default.

Affected installations

Extensions registering plugins as
list_type plugin sub type.

Migration

See https://docs.typo3.org/m/typo3/reference-coreapi/main/en-us/ApiOverview/ContentElements/MigrationListType.html

Existing plugins must be migrated to use the
CType record type. Extension authors must
implement the following changes:

• Register plugins using the CType record
  type
• Create update wizard which extends
  \TYPO3\CMS\Install\Updates\AbstractListTypeToCTypeUpdate and add
  list_type to
  CType mapping for each plugin to
  migrate. The migration wizard for indexed_search in class
  \TYPO3\CMS\Install\Updates\IndexedSearchCTypeMigration can be used
  as reference example.
• Migrate possible FlexForm registration and add dedicated
  showitem TCA configuration
• Migrate possible PreviewRenderer registration in TCA
• Adapt possible content element wizard items in Page TSConfig, where
  list_type is used
• Adapt possible content element restrictions in backend layouts or
  container elements defined by third-party extensions like
  ichhabrecht/content-defender.

Common example

// Before

$GLOBALS['TCA']['tt_content']['types']['list']['subtypes_addlist']['my_plugin'] = 'pi_flexform';
$GLOBALS['TCA']['tt_content']['types']['list']['subtypes_excludelist']['my_plugin'] = 'pages,layout,recursive';

// After
$GLOBALS['TCA']['tt_content']['types']['my_plugin']['showitem'] = '<Some Fields>,pi_flexform,<Other Fields>';