One of the first things that really confused me when i start using Magento is Magento connect. I just started learning things, so i was looking for some plugin examples. I visited Magento connect page with extensions and looked for download button, instead i found “Get extension key” one.
If i recall correctly their What is this? explanation wasn’t the same back then .. or i was just so terrified of Magento at start that i didn’t understand anything at that point 
I knew i need to paste that key somewhere, in something they called my Magento connect manager or Magento downloader, but i didn’t understand where it is.
1. Magento extensions
Visit Magento connect page. There are really some great extensions there and many of them are free.
Find extension that interest you, click “Get extension key”, agree with license agreement and get key. Pay attention to Stability description field (stable, alpha, beta).
Also read What is this? explanation and follow the instructions. Or just navigate to
http://www.yourmagentoshop.ext/downloader in your favorite browser.
If you click Settings tab of your connect manager you will see “Preferred State” option there. If you’re installing extension with different “stability” or you get something similar to
“Failed to download magento-community/xyz within preferred state “stable”, latest release is version 0.1, stability beta .. ”
you should change this option to appropriate one. You should of course be careful with alphas and betas and know what you’re doing.
If you are developer or just interested, ftp to downloader/pearlib/download after you install extension and you’ll find packed downloaded extensions there.
2. Magento upgrade
You can also automatically upgrade your Magento installation through connect manager with key
magento-core/Mage_All_Latest
Enjoy!
Thanks for the info, this is exactly what I needed.
After you use the downloader do you need to change the folder permissions back for security reasons or is it OK just to leave them at 777?
This really depends on your server configuration, however it’s always good to restore permissions to defaults if they are changed to 777, just to be sure.
Hi, i did 777 all directories permissions, but can not use magento connect manager. Error: “Error: Please check for sufficient write file permissions” But i did it! Please help me. Just i want to install new theme to my project. to http://www.goodie-bags.de
Anyone have a clue how to just download the code and not install the extension?
I am having a problem, when I try to install an extension it goes to “Please wait, preparing for updates…” then it won’t do anything? any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
I am trying to update 1.3.2.4 to 1.4.1.1, in magento connect manager it listed all the latest but not giving option to update it. what could be the problem ?
Hi, I am web developer from nepal. I am unable to install the extension on version magento 1.5. The error is magento-community host not found. Can you plz help.
@sudeep,
MagentoConnect was briefly down, try again.
@Toni Anicic :: Thanks for your reply. Is there any other option so that i could install extensions in 1.5 , as just now i tried , i am able to install extension in 1.4 but not on 1.5.
Thank you I thought i was going crazy
Hello there, I having a problem, extensions are not installing at all, I’ve been trying to install some extensions without success, at the bottom in the black screen the following text appears: “Please wait, preparing for updates…” the page seems to be loading for about 2 minutes then stops, the screen at the bottom goes black and it won’t do anything after that, if I try to navigate away or refresh the following message pops up:
“Are you sure you want to navigate away from this page?
There are PEAR processes running.
If you will close the window or navigate away from the page, installation will be interrupted.
Press OK to continue, or Cancel to stay on the current page.”
It doesn’t matter if I click cancel still won’t do anything. Any help is appreciated, thanks!
Hi, I am new for magento. I am unable to install the extension on version magento 1.5. The error is Could not resolve host: magento-community; No data record of requested type.. Can you plz help.
Hi, I am new for magento. I am unable to install the extension on version magento 1.5. The error is Could not resolve host: magento-community; No data record of requested type..can u plz any one help me…
It can be quite confusing at times to know exactly what you need to do when installing magento extensions or even when you are just trying to figure it out for the first time. Magento Development can be quite sticky if your not sure what to do. I would suggest getting a magento developer to help you out.
Hi , I m using magento 1.5 at localhost PC , I m unable to install any extension to this. please help me
Hi Arun,
You can install by two methods to install extension in localhost or live for magento 1.5.
1st.Use the host name as given below :
http://connect20.magentocommerce.com/community/Extension name
2nd. Download the extension package and place in each folder the corresponding files in your localhost magento folder.
http://freegento.com/ddl-magento-extension.php
Hello i would like to have user defined qty for checkbox in bundle product in magento.Can anybody please help me with any plugin/extension
how we can install extension key theme in magento 1.4 pls help me
Hi I have installed the twitter extensions via magento connect manager and it is installed perfectly nad i can\t see the extension in the admin end to use it
is it possible to install a 1.4 widget in magento connect manager 1.5 ?
Why i can’t log into the magento connect manager??
*after i enter my admin name and password,it appeared:——Invalid user name or password,Please re-enter your Magento Adminstration Credentials.
Only administrators with full permissions will be able to log in——
*i promise the name and password is right.
Is anyone know about this? What should i do?i have absolutely no idea.
Hi,
I am not able to install extension from magento connect. When I insert key say install after some time I got error ‘Invalid channel.xml file’ for any extension. Please help me. Thanks in advance.
Mandar
Dear all, I’ve tried to install mApple Theme for Magento 1.4 and i pasted the extention key. The result is:
Could not resolve host: magento-community; No data record of requested type.
Pl. help me to solve this problem. Thanks.
Download extensions stops (in my situation) after green text done .. 3035 bytes. So the pakage is downloaded (I can unpack it by myself) but no more actions after. I use Magento in a Zend Server CE environment … Magento keeps you busy the whole day …