Magento Help

New Products Currency Switcher Bug

Wed, 25 May 2011 03:24:11 +0000

I recently stumbled onto a Magento bug involving the currency switcher while working on a site for a client. The currency switcher was enabled and working perfectly everywhere on the site except the home page. Any products shown on the homepage (such as in a New Products block or widget) remained in the original currency.

After a bit of digging, I realized it was a cache issue, since disabling Magento's "Blocks HTML output" cache brought the currency switcher's full functionality back to life. It seems the products on the homepage were being cached as a part of the home HTML block, and therefor did not change with the currency switcher.

Of course, it's best to leave Magento's "Blocks HTML output" cache enabled to improve site performance. So what's the fix? Add a "cache_lifetime" node on your new products block and set it to the minimum allowed (1 second). In the end, your block code should look something like this:

{{block type="catalog/product_new" name="home.catalog.product.new" alias="product_homepage" template="catalog/product/new.phtml" _productsCount="8" cache_lifetime="1"}}

This will effectively keep the New Products block un-cached while safely keeping all other HTML block elements cached as usual. And if this issue is fixed in a future release of Magento, this fix can easily be removed by simply deleting the cache_lifetime="1" from your code!

Upgrading To Magento 1.4.2

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 02:44:28 +0000

Good news! Magento 1.4.2 has just been released! The bad news is that upgrades commonly create new problems with Magento themes that worked just fine on older installations. Fortunately, we're here to shed some light on the most common of these problems.

If you're like us and many others, after upgrading to Magento 1.4.2, your site returns an error starting with something like this:

a:5:{i:0;s:69:"Invalid method Mage_Wishlist_Block_Links::addWishlistLink(Array
(
)
)";i:1;s:2313:"#0 [internal function]: Varien_Object->__call('addWishlistLink', Array)

This error is caused by a change in the way the Wishlist is set up. Fortunately, the fix is very simple:

The Fix:
1. Open the file /app/design/frontend/default/your-theme/layout/wishlist.xml

2. Find this:

3. Replace that code with this:


    
    wishlist_link

4. Save and upload the file, then refresh Magento's cache via System > Cache Management

That's it! Of course, some custom templates may pose individual challenges not covered by this post, so if you have further difficulty with your upgrade, go to Magento Expert and get quick answers to your Magento questions from real Magento experts!

Get Help With Your Magento Website

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:37:42 +0000

Whether your customizing Magento themes, installing Magento extensions, managing your product catalog, or any number of thing, all of us could use help with Magento from time to time.

Magento is a vast piece of e-commerce software that could take years to understand fully, inside and out. But that's ok, you don't have to! Magento's user community is equally vast, and the sum of their knowledge is astounding.

Tap into this great resource and check out Magento Expert: a gathering place where Magento users of all levels can ask questions and exchange knowledge. Magento Expert is regularly monitored by real Magento experts, so you can quickly get free professional answers to your Magento questions.

Also, try browsing questions to see if your question has already been answered, or get involved in the community and share your own knowledge to help out a fellow Magento user!

Check It Out Now!

Display More Than 5 New Products

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:36:28 +0000

When you add a New Products block in a Magento CMS page, such as your homepage, the default number of products that will be displayed is 5.

This works great for the standard Magento templates, but if you have a template that has room for more than 5 products in your New Products feed, you'll notice that it stops at 5 and leaves the rest of the block empty.

You may have seen a fix for this that requires you to locate Magento core files, copy them to a local folder, and edit the default New Products count, but there's a much simpler, and much faster way to accomplish this.

Say, for instance, there were room for a grid of 9 products on a New Products block. Just add _productsCount="9" to the block code so that it looks something like this:

{{block  type="catalog/product_new" name="home.catalog.product.new"  alias="product_homepage" template="catalog/product/new.phtml"  _productsCount="9"}}

Voilà! No need to edit backend files, no risk of ruining your Magento installation; just quick, simple, and easily editable. Enjoy!

Move Elements In Magento Templates

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:50:40 +0000

Rearranging elements in Magento templates is usually fairly simple. A quick drag-and-drop of a small PHP script within a PHTML file is usually all you need.

But what if the layout you want to achieve would require you to move that PHP script to a different PHTML file? This may be fine on occassion, but you may often find that this will fail to output your content.

As an example, let's say you want to move your topLinks bar (the My Account, My Wishlist, My Cart, etc links) from the header.phtml file to the page layout files (1column.phtml, 2columns-left.phtml, etc). The php code you're looking for in header.phtml will look like this:

getChildHtml('topLinks') ?>

This cannot be directly transferred to the layout files because the PHP is requesting ChildHtml, and topLinks is a child of header.phtml, not the layout files. The solution? Reformat the PHP! Instead of using getChildHtml, use getLayout()->getBlock. This format should work in virtually any PHTML file in your Magento templates. The new code for our example would look like this:

getLayout()->getBlock('top.links')->toHtml()?>

Notice that the identifier has changed from "topLinks" to "top.links" The new identifier is the block's name, whereas the old identifier used the block's alias. This information was gathered from /app/design/frontend/default/template-name/layout/page.xml on this line:

Magento CE Version 1.4.1.1 Stable - Patch

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:17:48 +0000

Some Magento users have noticed that there was a problem with one of the PEAR packages the new Magento 1.4.1.1 Stable release.

The problem has now been fixed, so those who have not yet installed or upgraded to Magento 1.4.1.1 are safe to do so. However, if you have already downloaded or upgraded your installation and are experiencing the issue you will need to apply the following patch:

Click on your desired format to download: patch | zip | tar.gz

To learn more, read the artical from the official Magento Blog.

Get Help From Magento Expert

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:16:21 +0000

Ask Magento Questions
Having trouble with Magento? Get fast Magento help from Magento Expert for free!

Do you need help customizing Magento templates? Having trouble managing your Magento ecommerce store, or creating custom Magento functionality? Magento Expert is the best resource for any Magento question, no matter how big or small.

Why waist your time looking for an answer to your questions in the forums and on every possible site you can find? Whether your question is about Magento in general, or is completely unique to your custom Magento template, you'll get answers from seasoned, expert Magento programmers and designers, quickly, and free of charge!

Answer Magento Questions
Help the Magento users while promoting your business! Soon you'll also be able to make money by providing expert answers to Magento questions posted on Magento Expert.

It's Free!
At this moment there is no charge for this wonderful service! Magento Expert is a new project by Noam Design created because of the gazillion questions we received from Magento users. Instead of answering them all one by one, we created a platform where you can ask specific Magento questions and get quick and knowledgeable answers directly from the experts.

Check out Magento Expert now!

Upgrading To Magento 1.4.1

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:23:52 +0000

Magento 1.4.1 has been released, and fixes many of the issues people have addressed with Magento 1.4.0, but many people are now having trouble converting their Magento templates to be compatible with the new upgrade.

Magento templates designed for Magento 1.4.0 should have no compatibility issues with 1.4.1, but if you've recently converted your Magento 1.3 template to be compatible with Magento 1.4.0, you may find that your template no longer works in Magento 1.4.1

Of course, there's no way to address all of the particular issues of converting every custom template, but for most common templates, following the steps below should have your site up and running again in no time!

If you're trying to convert a Magento 1.3 template to 1.4.1, follow the steps on these helpful web design blog articles and then return for these further instructions: 1. Upgrading To Magento 1.4 2. JavaScript References 3. Pagination

1) Open the file /app/design/frontend/default/YOURTEMPLATE/layout/page.xml

2) Find this code (about line 38):

3) Add this code directly under it:

4) Find this code (about lines 64 - 92):

5) Replace it with this code:







	 







	 Left Column






	 Main Content Area



	 Right Column



	 
		  Page Footer
		  bottom-container

6) Save and upload the file, then refresh Magento's cache via System > Cache Management

That should do it! Of course, some custom templates may pose individual challenges not covered by this post, so if you have further difficulty with your upgrade, go to Magento Expert and get quick answers to your Magento questions from real Magento experts.

Magento Image Compression

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:23:54 +0000

Magento image compression on product images has been a big complaint for a lot of people who prefer to use high quality product images on their ecommerce website.

By default, Magento compresses the images you upload to increase loading speed and decrease the server load, but presenting your products with high quality images may just provide the extra push to increase conversions in your store. If you find that your product images are too compressed, you can increase image quality by following these simple steps:

1. Locate the file /app/code/core/Mage/Media/Model/File/Image.php
2. Copy file to /app/code/local/Mage/Media/Model/File/Image.php
3. Find this code in the new file (line 174)

$result = imagejpeg($object->getTmpImage(), $object->getFilePath(true), 80);

4. Replace with this code

$result = imagejpeg($object->getTmpImage(), $object->getFilePath(true), 95);

5. Save the file, upload to your server, and refresh Magento's cache via System > Cache Management.

That's it! If you feel you need more information, check out this thread from the official Magento Forum. Or, for more personalized answers, check out http://magentoexpert.com/ for quick answers from real Magento experts.

Magento CE 1.4.1.0 Patches

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:13:58 +0000

Magento just announced on their official blog that they've created a patch to fix many of the issues users have experienced with Magento CE 1.4.1.0

You can download here from a thread they've started, dealing specifically with the issues in version 1.4.1.0

Magento CE 1.4.1.1 is currently being tested, and is expected for release sometime next week or so, so hold on tight! The new release should fix the errors of 1.4.1.0 addressed by the patch. Users will be able to upgrade to 1.4.1.1 with or without having first applied the patch.

For more information, see the thread.

Magento Categories Don’t Show Up

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:19:59 +0000

Many people are having problems setting up their store's categories with Magento. That aspect of Magento is quite simple though and the documentation is pretty clear on that particular subject.

When you setup categories in Magento and they don't show up on your site's front end, most likely your categories aren't setup properly in the admin.

Here is what you should look for:

1. Set the appropriate root category.

This is done in the following way: go to System > Manage Stores and click on your store (not website and not store view – you must click on the store which will show up in the middle column). Then under "Root Category" there is a drop down with all the root categories you have set up – select the correct one.

2. Magento store categories must be sub categories under root category.

All top level categories must be created as sub categories under the root category. Then you can also create sub categories under your top level categories, and sub sub categories, etc.

3. Delete Magento cache and reindex all data!

Most issues will be resolved once you reindex Magento data and refresh all Magento cache. To reindex Magento data follow these quick steps:

Go to System>Index Management
Click on "select all" in the upper left corner
Under "Action" select "Reindex Data" and click submit

To refresh Magento cache, follow these quick steps: Magento Cache Management

4. Lastly I highly recommend manually deleting all files under var/cache and var/sessions.

And remember to delete your browser's cache and cookies to make sure you are viewing the up to date version of your Magento site!

Cache Management

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:43:58 +0000

One of the most common frustrations for people updating and managing their website can be solved with cache management. If you ever make changes to your site and you know it's uploaded properly but the changes are not being reflected in your browser, try clearing your cache.

What is a cache?

A cache is a temporary storage area where frequently accessed data can be stored for rapid access. Once the data is stored in the cache, it can be used in the future by accessing the cached copy rather than re-fetching or recomputing the original data.

This can create a problem when updating files on websites because the cache may include a backup of out-of-date files. On Magento websites, front-end changes (such as updates to .css files or images) that are not being reflected when viewing the site can usually be corrected by clearing the cache of the browser you are using to view the site.

If you are making back-end changes to a Magento site (such as updates to .phtml or .xml files, or installing an extension) and clearing your browser's cache is still not reflecting the changes in your browser, try refreshing Magento's cache system. This is not the same as your browser's cache. This is a separate cache system that Magento keeps on your server to speed up the rendering of the site.

How do I refresh my browser's cache?

On most Windows browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome, you may access the browser's cache management by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Delete. On Safari 4.x, click on the gear icon in the upper-right corner of the screen and select "Reset Safari."

How do I refresh Magento's cache?

To refresh Magento's cache system, log in to your admin panel and navigate to System > Cache Management. In the Cache Control box, there's a drop-down menu labeled All Cache. Select "Refresh," then click the orange Save Cache Settings button in the top right corner of the screen. This will force Magento to build a new cache of the site using all the current files on the server, and should thus reflect any changes you have made.