diff --git a/Classes/Hooks/PageLayoutView/PluginRenderer.php b/Classes/Hooks/PageLayoutView/PluginRenderer.php
index da7f569e5964388502e86a5dcfcd256211666536..7e94ef789b5461f7baf86b3babbee412bd0fa254 100644
--- a/Classes/Hooks/PageLayoutView/PluginRenderer.php
+++ b/Classes/Hooks/PageLayoutView/PluginRenderer.php
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ use TYPO3\CMS\Backend\View\PageLayoutView;
 use TYPO3\CMS\Backend\View\PageLayoutViewDrawItemHookInterface;
 use TYPO3\CMS\Core\Localization\LanguageService;
 use TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\GeneralUtility;
+use TYPO3\CMS\Extbase\Persistence\Generic\Backend;
 use TYPO3\CMS\Fluid\View\StandaloneView;
 
 /**
@@ -90,14 +91,16 @@ class PluginRenderer implements PageLayoutViewDrawItemHookInterface {
 					$row['pi_flexform'], 'T3DataStructure'
 				)['data']['main']['lDEF'];
 
+				$categories = $pluginConfiguration['settings.categories']['vDEF'];
+				$tags = $pluginConfiguration['settings.tags']['vDEF'];
 				$templateData = [
 					'limit' => $pluginConfiguration['settings.limit']['vDEF'],
-					'categories' => $this->addFieldContentsToRecordIdList(
-						'pages', $pluginConfiguration['settings.categories']['vDEF'] ?? ''
-					),
-					'tags' => $this->addFieldContentsToRecordIdList(
-						'sys_category', $pluginConfiguration['settings.tags']['vDEF'] ?? ''
-					),
+					'categories' => is_string($categories) ? $this->addFieldContentsToRecordIdList(
+						'pages', $categories
+					) : '',
+					'tags' => is_string($tags) ? $this->addFieldContentsToRecordIdList(
+						'sys_category', $tags
+					) : '',
 					'starttime' => $pluginConfiguration['settings.starttime']['vDEF'],
 					'endtime' => $pluginConfiguration['settings.endtime']['vDEF'],
 					'sortBy' => $pluginConfiguration['settings.sortBy']['vDEF']
@@ -121,14 +124,14 @@ class PluginRenderer implements PageLayoutViewDrawItemHookInterface {
 					$row['pi_flexform'], 'T3DataStructure'
 				)['data']['main']['lDEF'];
 
+				$categories = $pluginConfiguration['settings.categories']['vDEF'];
+				$tags = $pluginConfiguration['settings.tags']['vDEF'];
 				$templateData = [
 					'newsLimitPerPage' => $pluginConfiguration['settings.newsLimitPerPage']['vDEF'],
-					'categories' => $this->addFieldContentsToRecordIdList(
-						'pages', $pluginConfiguration['settings.categories']['vDEF']
-					),
-					'tags' => $this->addFieldContentsToRecordIdList(
-						'sys_category', $pluginConfiguration['settings.tags']['vDEF']
-					),
+					'categories' => is_string($categories) ? $this->addFieldContentsToRecordIdList(
+						'pages', $categories
+					) : '',
+					'tags' => is_string($tags) ? $this->addFieldContentsToRecordIdList('sys_category', $tags) : '',
 					'starttime' => $pluginConfiguration['settings.starttime']['vDEF'],
 					'endtime' => $pluginConfiguration['settings.endtime']['vDEF'],
 					'sortBy' => $pluginConfiguration['settings.sortBy']['vDEF'],
@@ -153,22 +156,21 @@ class PluginRenderer implements PageLayoutViewDrawItemHookInterface {
 					$row['pi_flexform'], 'T3DataStructure'
 				)['data']['main']['lDEF'];
 
+				$newsAuthors = $pluginConfiguration['settings.newsAuthors']['vDEF'];
 				$templateData = [
 					'showDetails' => $pluginConfiguration['settings.showDetails']['vDEF'],
-					'newsAuthors' => $this->addFieldContentsToRecordIdList(
-						'tx_sgnews_domain_model_author',
-						$pluginConfiguration['settings.newsAuthors']['vDEF'],
-						'name'
-					)
+					'newsAuthors' => is_string($newsAuthors) ? $this->addFieldContentsToRecordIdList(
+						'tx_sgnews_domain_model_author',$newsAuthors,'name'
+					) : ''
 				];
 
-				$backendUtility = GeneralUtility::makeInstance(BackendUtility::class);
+				// Not using addFieldContentsToRecordIdList to avoid repetitive imploding and exploding.
 				$excludedNewsIds = GeneralUtility::intExplode(
 					',', $pluginConfiguration['settings.excludedNews']['vDEF'], TRUE
 				);
 				$excludedNewsListWithTitles = [];
 				foreach ($excludedNewsIds as $excludedNewsId) {
-					$excludedNewsListWithTitles[] = $backendUtility::getRecord(
+					$excludedNewsListWithTitles[] = BackendUtility::getRecord(
 							'pages', $excludedNewsId, 'title'
 						)['title'] . ' [' . $excludedNewsId . ']';
 				}