Important

Facebook updated it’s authentication mechanism but so did we, so please update your extension to the newest version since older versions won’t work anymore.
Also, if you’re getting “An error occurred. Please try again later.” message in connect popup, you need to get new “App ID/API Key” from Facebook and enter it into Magento. Check your Application Secret along the way.

Download

Download Inchoo_Facebook-0.9.9.zip, extract files to appropriate place following directory structure and reload cache.
Latest pre-relase versions can always be downloaded on my github project page.

About

Facebook Connect Magento extension enables customers one click registration and login with their Facebook identity. It automatically registers new users and logs in existing ones.

Current extension is compatible with latest Magento CE 1.6, but also with older 1.5, 1.4 and 1.3.2.x versions. It’s using brand new Facebook thingies like open graph protocol and open source JavaScript SDK.

If you’re interested to see additional languages in future releases, help us translate it by following instructions.

Facebook App

For Facebook Connect to work you need to Setup Application on Facebook and obtain its App ID/API Key and Application Secret.

Use your store name as application name and read and accept terms of service. On second screen set App Domain and Site URL(under checked Web Site tab), both to the store domain where you plan to implement Facebook Connect. Save Changes. Other Connect settings are optional, but you might want to add store logo for example.

Magento Setup

Once you obtain two keys navigate to Magento Administration, copy/paste them to appropriate fields under Configuration->Customer->Facebook Connect, set Enabled to Yes and you’re good to go. If you’re updating from previous releases, you also need to Enable it to work.

Default template files (frontend/default/default/template/facebook/*) and layout (layout/facebook.xml) makes Facebook Connect work out of the box with default theme, but we tried to make customizations as easy as possible so all you need to do is add button or link with “facebook-connect” rel attribute set anywhere in the theme, static block or cms page, for example:

<button rel=”facebook-connect” class=”form-button” type=”submit”><span>Connect with Facebook</span></button>
<a rel=”facebook-connect”>Connect with Facebook</a>

Latest Changes

v.0.9.9
- Client and javascript compatible with new Facebook authentication changes.
- Event.fire changed to document object to avoid javascript conflicts.
- Asking for user_birthday permission from now on.
- Norwegian translation added thanks to Magnus Alexander.

v.0.9.8
- Version fix, licenses added, connect release.

v.0.9.7
- Estonian, Swedish, Czech, Turkish and Korean translations added thanks to Sir Mull, Andreas Karlsson, Pavel Hrdlicka, ea and COBAY.

We wanted to show what can be done and how great Magento really is. We don’t have any plans other than use some of the code presented here for our custom projects and learning purposes, so no updates guaranteed.

About

Magento Lite is extension that compensates module dependency and makes Magento truly modular.
By default it fully disables over 35 default Magento modules, there are over 120 DB tables less and over 2000 files can be safely deleted from Magento.

Any single disabled module can be enabled and restored again.

It removes “system” flag from most not needed attributes and creates optional Lite product attribute set.
It hides non-active modules in “Disable Modules Output”.
It optionally hides Recurrent Billing, Billing Agreements, Related, Upsell, Crosssell products from system (WIP).

Goal

To have only basic e-commerce functionalities like catalog, cart, checkout, etc. in Magento.
To have fully upgradable platform ideal for custom projects and learning purposes.

Compatibility

Magento CE >= 1.6.0.0. Tested on 1.6.0.0 and 1.6.1.0.

Instalation

Download Magento and unpack, copy/paste Weiler_Lite module in it, install Magento.

It’s tested only on fresh/clean installations. In theory it should work on already set store, but then database has unneeded tables and attributes since this module doesn’t remove them and probably never will. It’s not tested with sample data, but it probably works.

To enable any disabled module edit app/etc/modules/Weiler_Lite.xml and set its <active> to true.

Notes

Mage_CatalogRule and Mage_Rule can also be safely disabled/removed, but there is no way to do that without touching Mage_All.xml since there is no way to rewrite <depends> definitions. There is Mage_All.xml.lite file if someone wants to experiment.

Mage_Dataflow can also be disabled this way, but that module shouldn’t be deleted since Eav is extending few classes from there.

I also wanted to disable Mage_Reports and Mage_Log but 30% of Magento is broken then.

Rss, Weee, Wishlist and GiftMessage helpers are rewritten to avoid changing tons of theme phtml files.
It was just easier this way, method is highly questionable. Otherwise we need lite frontend theme.
Current frontend lite theme is just experimental, it can be removed.

Some block are deliberately rewritten instead of using hooks, it’s easier to maintain updates that way.

Download

Magento_Lite_1.6.1.0.zip

Screenshots

Make sure to comment, thx!
–Ivan

magento-sample-data-1.6.0.0.tar.gz

Magento sample data 1.6.0.0 can be used only on Magento CE >= 1.6.0.0 (PE/EE have their own sample data). Also, do not use sample data on existing stores or existing databases, they can be used only on clean installations and Magento developers mostly use them for learning or presentation purposes.

How to install sample data for Magento:
1. Import the sample data sql file “magento_sample_data_for_1.6.0.0.sql” into empty database
2. Copy sample “media” folder over your Magento existing media folder (merge them)
3. Run Magento installation and use database from step1 as install database

There is Magento wiki page with more detailed instructions:
http://www.magentocommerce.com/knowledge-base/entry/installing-the-sample-data-for-magento

Official Magento demo site is an example of what you get when install Magento with sample data, maybe they’ll start using our updated ones from now on
http://demo.magentocommerce.com/

Regards,
Ivan

I always really liked an idea of debugging through headers, mostly because you are able to log directly to Firebug and it makes debugging of live sites invisible. I came across this tool by searching for Firephp alternatives, since Firephp never could properly handle redirection logging and I believe latest Companion versions are overcomplicated.

This tool comes from Python world originally, it seems that it was called FirePython at start?! Anyway, I was testing it for a few days and it really works great, it’s stable and easy to use, complements to the author.

You can install it from official or Firefox addon page and it requires Firebug to work:
http://firelogger.binaryage.com/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/firelogger/

The tool adds another tab in Firebug named Logger in which you can see logs sent from code. If you’re dumping objects or arrays, you just click “more” and variables are shown in right Watchers window. If you click Persist button, logs stays there on redirect/reload, similar as Net functionality in Firebug.

For some reason, current 1.0 version didn’t worked on FF 3.X versions for me, it seems FF 4.X is required. Also, be sure that “Show User-defined properties” is checked on Watchers tab (check screenshot), otherwise you won’t see variables when clicking more in logger window.

Php library is well written, there is only one file you need to include in your projects and you’re good to go. It requires PHP 5.3 or higher and it’s nice example of register_shutdown_function usage.

require 'firelogger.php';
flog("Hello world!");

It can be found at:
https://github.com/darwin/firelogger.php
http://firelogger.binaryage.com/#php

Here is simple example I patched up together for testing purposes, to check how it works in Magento, maybe someone is interested: Weiler_FireLogger_example.zip

Mage::helper('firelogger')->log('Hello world!');
$product = Mage::getModel('catalog/product')->load(100);
Mage::helper('firelogger')->debug($product);

Enjoy!

Some of the members traveled by plane for the very first time so it was interesting to watch their facial expressions during the takeoff. We met lots of great people, including Tsvetan Stoyhev, Thomas Slade from Blue Acorn, Myuselim Myuselimov, Josh from WebShopApps, guys from Magento core team and many others.

Organization of the conference was pretty much flawless. I enjoyed my stay in the hotel, the catamaran ride, organized visit through the old town, clubs, and free drinks everywhere.

The most interesting topics on the conference were Magento 2 and eBay’s acquisition of Magento. In most of the lectures, speakers were referring to what can be expected in Magento 2.

• Extensive official Magento documentation
• jQuery instead of Prototype
• Better model architecture
• Improved theme fallback system
• Multiple DB support (Oracle anyone?)
• …and much more.

They told us that the current under development version of Magento 2 is already 20% faster than latest stable version of Magento. I was personally really impressed with what I heard, cause I never expected this much effort and enthusiasm to improve core things. They really do know community’s problems and they are working on solutions.

Other products including Magento Mobile and MagentoGo were also presented along with some impressive statistics.

To conclude, we’re looking forward to the release of Magento 2, we can feel another eCommerce revolution is on its way

Since the part1 article 4 new codes were introduced in newer Magento versions, so now there’s 10 of them total: skin, media, htmlescape, store, block, layout, config, customvar, protocol and widget.

They are currently handled by Mage_Widget_Model_Template_Filter processor class (which extends Mage_Cms_Model_Template_Filter which extends Mage_Core_Model_Email_Template_Filter).

5. blockDirective

Description: Prints out cms static block or any block defined by type

Example:
{{block id=”static_block_code”}} – static block example
{{block type=”core/template” template=”custom/test.phtml”}} – core/template block with defined template

Synonym:
Mage::app()->getLayout()->createBlock(‘cms/block’)->setBlockId(‘static_block_code’)->toHtml();
Mage::app()->getLayout()->createBlock(‘core/template’)->setTemplate(‘custom/test.phtml’)->toHtml();

Params:
id = static block code; if id is set type is always cms/block
type = block type, same as in layout files
Any additional parameter provided will be passed on to block object (template=”custom/test.phtml” from above example will trigger ->setTemplate(“custom/test.phtml”) on that block)

6. layoutDirective

Description: Reads and prints out layout handle defined in your layout xml files

Example: {{layout area=”frontend” handle=”my_layout_handle”}}
<sales_email_order_items> layout handle defined in sales.xml is used this way in order e-mail templates for example.

Synonym:
$layout = Mage::getModel(‘core/layout’);
$layout->getUpdate()->load(‘my_layout_handle’);
$layout->generateXml()->generateBlocks();
echo $layout->getOutput();

Params:
area = frontend or adminhtml
handle = layout handle
Any additional parameter provided will be passed to every block defined in layout

7. configDirective

Description: Prints out Magneto config value. Use predefined through Insert Variable dialog in editor.

Example: {{config path=”general/store_information/address”}}

Synonym: Mage::getStoreConfig(‘general/store_information/address’);

Params:
path = config path

8. customvarDirective

Description: Prints out Custom Variable HTML Value (System->Custom Variables in admin). Can be easily added through Insert Variable dialog in editor.

Example: {{customvar code=”my_custom_var”}}

Synonym: Mage::getModel(‘core/variable’)->loadByCode(‘my_custom_var’)->getValue();

Params:
code = custom variable code

9. protocolDirective

Description: Prints out current protocol (http or https) for absolute links

Example:
{{protocol}} – current protocol http or https
{{protocol url=”inchoo.net/”}} – domain URL with current protocol
{{protocol http=”http://inchoo.net” https=”https://inchoo.net”}} – one or another

Params:
url = url to print with proper protocol prefix http(s)://; (for Magento links use {{store}} code)
http + https = prints out https value if viewing secure page, http value otherwise
store = optional store id to check secure by that store; I’m not exactly sure what’s the purpose of this

10. widgetDirective

Description: Prints out defined widget. Magento widgets automatically insert these codes, for manual custom usage it’s probably better to use block codes.

Example: {{widget type=”catalog/product_widget_new” products_count=”5″ template=”catalog/product/widget/new/content/new_list.phtml”}}

Synonym: Mage::app()->getLayout()->createBlock(‘catalog/product_widget_new’, null, array(‘products_count’=>5, ‘template’=>’catalog/product/widget/new/content/new_list.phtml’))->toHtml();

Params:
type = widget type, similar as block type
name = determine what name block should have in layout; probably needed only if more than one same widget is used on same page
Any additional parameter provided will be passed on to widget object. There is also code that accepts id param, but it currently does nothing useful.

Please be careful when copy/pasting examples from this article directly into Magneto, readers have reported that quotes get messed up in the process sometimes. Please type in manually.

To be continued .. Ivan

This is how it’s done:

$appEmulation = Mage::getSingleton('core/app_emulation');

//Start environment emulation of the specified store
$initialEnvironmentInfo = $appEmulation->startEnvironmentEmulation($storeId);

/*
 * Any code thrown here will be executed as we are currently running that store
 * with applied locale, design and similar
 */

//Stop environment emulation and restore original store
$appEmulation->stopEnvironmentEmulation($initialEnvironmentInfo);

First time I needed something similar was when I wanted to send custom transactional e-mail for all stores at the same time as cronjob. However, the problem was that e-mail had {{block}} inside and block template needed to respect different theme set for each store. Lets say the code was something like:

foreach(Mage::app()->getStores() as $store) {
  $dummyModel->setStore($store);
  $dummyModel->sendEmail();
}

If block template was at email/custom-email-block.phtml, email sent from first store needs to grab
app/design/frontend/default/store1_theme/template/email/custom-email-block.phtml, second one
app/design/frontend/default/store2_theme/template/email/custom-email-block.phtml and so on ..

With new Emulation model this is really simple task.

Magento implemented Emulation model for the same reason. Usage example can be seen when ProductAlert is sending email for all Magento websites at the same time, also cronjob, or in order/invoice/creditmemo e-mail sending because those e-mails are sent from administration, so no real store is set. We need to emulate the store in which order is created.

Anyway, topic was interesting enough for me to write this article

Navigate to and open app/code/core/Mage/GoogleAnalytics/Block/Ga.php and add this on line 179

var _gaq = _gaq || [];

Since this bug is already reported and fix can be seen on latest official svn, I don’t see any harm in modifying core files in this particular situation.

http://www.magentocommerce.com/bug-tracking/issue?issue=8658

http://svn.magentocommerce.com/source/branches/1.4-trunk/app/code/core/Mage/GoogleAnalytics/Block/Ga.php

As Magento Team said, changes will be included in next stable release.

Developers probably noticed that errors also are no longer displayed like before, as mentioned on Magento blog:
Since version 1.4.0.0 for security reasons the trace in the Magento error report page is disabled by default. The “Error log number” does not give any information about the error. To enable the trace copy the errors/local.xml.sample to errors/local.xml and follow the instructions described in that file.

By default, error logs are placed in /var/report, named by mentioned log number. local.xml file is well commented, so open it and check possible configuration options. I really like emailing of error reports to specified email address.

If you want to change default maintenance look, you can change myskin value in /errors/local.xml file and create new /errors/myskin folder based on /errors/default. It functions the similar way as themes, if the phtml file isn’t found in your skin, the default will be used.

Till next time

You can get it via file: magento-firephp-0.3.zip or even better, use Magento FirePHP Extension on Magento Connect.

Since FirePHP is implemented in Zend Framework it’s really easy to use it with Magento, my friend Branko wrote about it before.

Download FirePHP from its homepage www.firephp.org. You must have Firebug installed and the “Net” panel enabled to use it, and Firefox of course.

Extension needs to be enabled through Magento configuration and respects Allowed IPs option if used, which is great for tracing problems on live sites:

System->Configuration->Developer->Debug->FirePHP
System->Configuration->Developer->Developer Client Restrictions->Allowed IPs

After you enable FirePHP in Magento configuration you can start using it simple as

Mage::helper(‘firephp’)->send(‘Lorem ipsum sit amet ..’);
Mage::helper(‘firephp’)->debug(Mage::getModel(‘catalog/product’)->load(54));

Send function sends whatever you throw in it, while debug checks for Varien_Object instance and sends Varien_Object->debug() to console. If you’re dumping usual Magento objects, be sure to use debug.

We’re looking forward new FirePHP 1.0 announced for this year !!

Updated
0.0.3 – license change, Magento Connect release
0.0.2 – fixed compatibility problem in 1.3.2.x versions
0.0.1 – initial release

newadmin.zip

Download newadmin script, unpack it, open newadmin.php file (notepad will do) and define username, email and password of the new user. Username and email must be UNIQUE in Magento, so use some new ones and not the old ones that are already in the system, you’ll change it later after you login.
Connect with FTP and copy newadmin.php file to root of your store and run it through web browser like

http://www.yourstore.com/newadmin.php

The script will try to delete itself after user is created, but please make sure it’s removed from the server. Code is tested on 1.3.x versions of Magento and I don’t believe it will work on older versions, so please write some feedback.

Regards

Since some controllers in Magento likes to force page titles like

$this->loadLayout();
...
$this->getLayout()->getBlock('head')->setTitle($this->__('My Account'));
$this->renderLayout();

we can’t go with setTitle through layout, since controller is setting title right before rendering.

There is a simple solution for this, use another variable for title display

In page/html/head.phtml template replace default

<title>< ?php echo $this->getTitle() ?></title>

with

<title>
< ?php echo ($this->getForcedTitle()) ? Mage::getStoreConfig('design/head/title_prefix').' '.$this->getForcedTitle().' '.Mage::getStoreConfig('design/head/title_suffix') : $this->getTitle() ?>
</title>

or if you don’t wish to use title prefix/sufix added from Magento admin, simply with

<title>
< ?php echo ($this->getForcedTitle()) ? $this->getForcedTitle() : $this->getTitle() ?>
</title>

and now just set “forced” title for pages through layout files

<reference name="head">
<action method="setForcedTitle"><title>Account Dashboard</title></action>
</reference>

Example for My Account page in layout/customer.xml:
<customer_account>
<reference name="head">
<action method=”setForcedTitle”><title>Account Dashboard</title></action>
</reference>
…
</customer_account>

Since that multiple selects were causing problems and i also had to get rid of breadcrumb, i created block which extends Mage_CatalogSearch_Block_Advanced_Form functionality, added a little javascript  and packed it all to small example module:

advanced-search-sidebar.rar

Unpack the rar, copy files at its appropriate place following directory structure, disable/enable cache to rebuild configs, layouts, blocks, and you’re on.

I left few comments in the code, thought someone may find them useful. Also be sure to modify

template/sidebarsearch/advanced/sidebar.phtml

and

layout/sidebarsearch.xml

to suit your shop needs, since css is hardcoded in template for example. Regards.

click to enlarge

And yes, really, why getNoObjectId ???

On every page view in admin Magento was trying to resolve widgets.magentocommerce.com address and connect to it few times which caused time delay. His notification system was trying to grab new message.

The solution was to disable Mage_AdminNotification module and since i was offline i didn’t really need it. You can do it in
System -> Advanced -> Disable modules output

Some other admin parts which are using online resources will still be slower, like Dashboard for example because it is using google charts so it’s trying to connect to that, but everything else will work fine.

1. Promotion
Block located in app\code\core\Mage\Catalog\Block\Product\List\Promotion.php

This is basically built in featured product functionality. It reacts to “promotion” attribute which needs to be created, so let’s click
Catalog->Attributes->Manage Attributes->Create New Attribute

Attribute Code: promotion
Scope: Global
Catalog Input Type for Store Owner: Yes/No

Label: Promotion (second tab)

Other params can be left alone, but it’s up to you of course. I also labeled it Promotion just for this article.

Now we need to add created attribute to attribute set, so navigate to
Catalog->Attributes->Manage Attribute Sets
select attribute set you’re using and drag promotion to General group for example.

Now when you’re editing your products, there is new “Promotion” option under General tab.

Products on which you select Yes will be shown on promotion block which can be displayed through layouts with

<block type="catalog/product_list_promotion" name="product_promotion" template="catalog/product/list.phtml"/>

or as cms content with

{{block type='catalog/product_list_promotion' template='catalog/product/list.phtml'}}

This attribute should really be included in default attribute set or in Magento sample data.

2. Random
Block located in app\code\core\Mage\Catalog\Block\Product\List\Random.php

This block loads random product collection from current store.

The fastest way to display it would also be something like

<block type="catalog/product_list_random" name="product_random" template="catalog/product/list.phtml"/>

since it also extends product_list block, however, since it is random product listing, that toolbar has no purpose here, so create phtml that will suit your shop needs, based on catalog/product/list.phtml. For example, i’m using similar Random block to display random products in sidebar.

So long, take care, i’m off …

As strange as this may sound, processor class that gets called is Mage_Core_Model_Email_Template_Filter located at app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Email/Template/Filter.php .

There are also some interesting directives in superclass Varien_Filter_Template, but if i’m not mistaken, none of them can be used.

There are six replacement codes  that can be used and each triggers its equivalent Directive function:

skinDirective
mediaDirective
htmlescapeDirective
storeDirective
blockDirective
layoutDirective

I’ll start with easier and most commonly used and continue with advanced ones in part two of this article.

1. skinDirective

Description: Used to retrieve path of skin folder and its files, theme fallback respected
Example: {{skin url=’images/image.jpg’ _theme=’blank’}}
Synonym: Mage::getDesign()->getSkinUrl($params['url'], $params)
Params:
url = empty or relative file path
_theme = alternative theme, fallbacks if file not exist
_package = alternative package
_area = alternative area(frontend,adminhtml)
_type, _default etc. = nothing useful, somebody please correct me if i’m wrong

2. mediaDirective

Description: Used to retrieve path of root/media folder and its files
Example: {{media url=’image.jpg’}}
Synonym: Mage::getBaseUrl(‘media’) . $params['url']
Params:
url = empty or relative file path

3. htmlescapeDirective

Description: Used to escape special html chars
Example: {{htmlescape var=’<a href=”www.inchoo.net”>inchoo</a><b>inchoo</b><i>inchoo</i>’ allowed_tags=’b'}}
Synonym: Mage::helper(‘core’)->htmlEscape($params['var'], $params['allowed_tags'])
Params:
var = string to escape
allowed_tags = comma-separated list of allowed tags

4. storeDirective

Description: Used to build magento routes and custom urls
Example: {{store url=’customer/account’ _query_a=’8′}}
Synonym: Mage::getUrl($params['url'], $params);
Params:
url = magento routers url
direct_url = normal url, appended to baseurl
_query_PARAMNAME = adds query param, for example _query_a=’8′ adds a=8 to url
_fragment = adds fragment, for example #comments
_escape = escapes “,’,<,>
custom = if using magento route url param, every custom param added will be appended like /a/8/b/10

I probably missed something in this last one, but it’s very late and i’m tired of poking through Magento

To be continued ..

EDIT: Magento CMS syntax – part2

1. Download FLIR from FLIR homepage. I was using latest 1.2 stable for this article because of simplicity, but if you try you’ll find out that 2.0 beta also works great but requires little more configuration.

2. Unpack FLIR content (cache,fonts,etc.) inside skin/frontend/default/default/facelift
I think it makes perfect sense to put it into skin folder.

3. Open app/design/frontend/yourpackage/yourtheme/template/page/html/head.phtml and append

<script language=”javascript” src=”<?php echo $this->getSkinUrl(‘facelift/flir.js’) ?>”></script>

<script type=”text/javascript”>
document.observe(“dom:loaded”, function() {
FLIR.init({ path: ‘<?php echo $this->getSkinUrl(‘facelift/’) ?>’ }, new FLIRStyle({ mode: ‘wrap’ }) );
FLIR.auto();
});
</script>

If your php error reporting isn’t disabled add error_reporting(0); somewhere on top of config-flir.php. This is main config file from which you can define options and custom fonts, so examine it.

Refresh your Magento store and you should see the result.

flir.js can also be alternatively included from layout files inside head block
<reference name=”head”>
<action method=”addItem”><type>skin_js</type><name>facelift/flir.js</name></action>
</reference>

There is nice Quick Start Guide and Documentation available from FLIR homepage, so i won’t go in details on some advanced FLIR settings, but here are few examples:

//pass selectors as comma separated list
FLIR.auto(‘h5,h4′);
//pass an array of selectors
FLIR.auto( [ 'h4', 'h5' ] );
//replace manually with custom options
FLIR.replace( ‘div.box h4′ , new FLIRStyle({ mode: ‘wrap’ , css: {‘font-family’:'arial’} }) );
//prototype way
$$(‘div.box h4′).each( function(el) { FLIR.replace(el);  } );

Cya.

I’m actually trying to merge something like this with default zoom, but i’m not finished yet. Anyway, i left all javascript and styling in media.phtml file, so just download the file

media.phtml.rar

and replace it with your own at
app/design/frontend/default/yourtheme/template/catalog/product/view/media.phtml

It was made with default Magento theme. Enjoy.

Embed example:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="gmap.swf" width="620" height="400">
	<param name="movie" value="gmap.swf" />
	<param name="flashvars"
value="key=google-key-here&lat=45.557589&lng=18.691403&zoom=15&text=<b>Inchoo d.o.o.<br />Lorem ipsum sit amet .." />
</param></object>

Flashvars:
key= Google maps api key
lat= latitude
lng= longitude
zoom= zoom amount
text= html text displayed on marker click

Demo:

I’m currently looking for source code for this on my old hard drive and i’ll update this post with flex source code as soon as i find it