NET24 - Case Study - Typo3

by Diane Russell

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Founders page - Kasper Skårhøj

Kasper Skårhøj had a vision resulting from his religious beliefs and frustrations in his work. The result was a desire to create an online web solution that would entice and motivate people to contribute to a free web based communication system. He created the ‘tool’ (Typo3 CMS system) which allowed members to contribute to the system. These contributions then inspired others to contribute.

Typo3 became a self perpetuating system and community similar to the Internet which was developed by a hard core of like minded people who created a technical solution for data sharing. The Internet as we know has resulted in an unprecedented collection of self perpetuation systems of data sharing and communities. 

The central core of members who contribute to the growth and development of the core Typo3 software/system and the Typo3 community are what I term the ‘hard core members’. These are people who are skilled programmers/web developers and are networking to develop and grow the Typo3 system in as many areas as they can.

They are highly motivated and dedicated to the project and are very familiar with the software programming. In the early days of 2000 hard core members would assist the then ‘Newbies’ on the discussion boards.

Due to the rapid growth and complexity of both the Typo3 system and community these members have had to protect themselves from the onslaught of ‘Newbie’ questions by creating rules and requesting payment for consultation. They do however continue to monitor the discussion boards and they contribute regularly.

These members predominantly use an on-line interface. They also tend to be a fluid group as there is no formal membership ranking. One gains membership ‘status’ by the value of their contribution to the wider community.

http://association.typo3.org/index.php?id=59

As typo3 technology became more ‘user friendly’ it reached people with fewer IT skills. This resulted in the need for a new level of hard core Typo3 community leaders. These were people who could not only assist more directly on a one to one basis with queries online but who would also be available for face to face assistance. This resulted in the development of Typo3 Consultants. Just over 2 years ago there were under 10 Consultants listed, today there are 403.

http://typo3.org/1301.0.html?&no_cache=1&tx_t3consultancies_pi1[service]=4

These members were at some stage the ‘Newbies’ but have somewhere along the way bought into the vision and mission. They have become proficient in the roll out of the Typo3 system and tend to have a mix of interaction with the hard core members, due to the level of question they raise, and face to face or ‘real world’ interaction as they assist ‘Newbies’ with the Typo3 system. These members are reasonably competent with the software programming but tend to be more real world oriented in their application of Typo3.

These members use a mix of on and off-line interface. They tend to be a less fluid group as the relationship with off-line parties tends to require a more long term commitment.

Members of this category are the individuals who use the system for their own benefit. Their interest in the Typo3 system and community tends to be in relation to how it effects their own web site.

General members tend to be users not programmers. As a result their basic contribution to the community is in feedback on the effectiveness of the system and identifying where documentation is necessary. This is not formal feedback and requests for documentation but rather as a result of questions posted to the mailing list.

This sector tends to be egocentric but they do form a crucial part of the whole system as they provide an ongoing wave of users with reduced Information Technology skills. This is a valuable asset for the whole Typo3 community as it forms a self checking and moderates system. The general user will ask simple questions and not understand what a more advanced IT person would perceive as obvious. General membership link is:

http://typo3.org/community/your-account/