]]> If you need to get id of selected simple product in configurable product on client side you can do it in many different ways.

Here is simple function how to achieve that with no code modification, new templates or even modules.
Just one Javascript file and layout update.

Product.Config.prototype.getIdOfSelectedProduct = function()
{
     var existingProducts = new Object();

     for(var i=this.settings.length-1;i>=0;i--)
     {
         var selected = this.settings[i].options[this.settings[i].selectedIndex];
         if(selected.config)
         {
         	for(var iproducts=0;iproducts<selected.config.products.length;iproducts++)
         	{
         		var usedAsKey = selected.config.products[iproducts]+"";
         		if(existingProducts[usedAsKey]==undefined)
         		{
         			existingProducts[usedAsKey]=1;
         		}
         		else
         		{
         			existingProducts[usedAsKey]=existingProducts[usedAsKey]+1;
         		}
             }
         }
     }

     for (var keyValue in existingProducts)
     {
     	for ( var keyValueInner in existingProducts)
         {
         	if(Number(existingProducts[keyValueInner])<Number(existingProducts[keyValue]))
         	{
         		delete existingProducts[keyValueInner];
         	}
         }
     }

     var sizeOfExistingProducts=0;
     var currentSimpleProductId = "";
     for ( var keyValue in existingProducts)
     {
     	currentSimpleProductId = keyValue;
     	sizeOfExistingProducts=sizeOfExistingProducts+1
     }

     if(sizeOfExistingProducts==1)
     {
    	 alert("Selected product is: "+currentSimpleProductId)
     }
}

]]> Often you will stumble upon a case where Magento lacks certain events that you can easily observe. Various business cases can sometimes truly stretch the boundaries of even the best shopping carts like Magento. Luckily, creating or more properly said dispatching your own event in Magento is pretty straight forward task.

Imagine the following business case, where your client, the merchant says: I need to give some reward points to Customer A who invited Customer B. These reward points will be assigned one time only and at the moment when Customer B creates it’s first order in the system.

Ideal scenario would be if you had the built in Magento event like “customer_first_order” or if you need more finer tuning to target the very state of the order, for example “customer_first_order_that_reached_state_complete”. Following along with the client requirement above, I will show you how you can easily make additional events with just some basic thinking invested into the whole process.

So where do we start? I will start from the built in “sales_order_save_after” event. Logically I need to do something after the order is created. From there I will do the logic that checks if this is customers first order or not. If you are new to Magento and you do a lookup/search on entire Magento installation code you will not find the expression Mage::dispatchEvent(‘sales_order_save_after’, array(‘object’=>$this)); anywhere.

However you will find the defined values for $_eventPrefix and $_eventObject properties under the Mage_Sales_Model_Order class. Since Mage_Sales_Model_Order somewere down the line inherits from Mage_Core_Model_Abstract you can check it’s _afterSave() method and easily conclude that sales_order_save_after event comes from the expression Mage::dispatchEvent($this->_eventPrefix.’_save_after’, $this->_getEventData());.

The most important thing here for us is to “catch” the parameters that are passed to event. Function call $this->_getEventData()) basically returns the array of array(‘data_object’ => $this, $this->_eventObject => $this);. As we mentioned previously $_eventObject property has the value of “order” set under the Mage_Sales_Model_Order class. What this means that all we need to do in our “sales_order_save_after” event observer in order to grab the order passed to the event is an expression like $observer->getEvent()->Order();.

From there on, we will start implementing the code for our specific client requirement. Before we do so, here is the actual code you need in order to have your sales_order_save_after event observer functional.

config.xml from within your extension:

<config>
//...
	<frontend>
		<events>
            <sales_order_save_after>
                <observers>
                    <customer_first_order>
                        <class>myClassGroup/observer</class>
                        <method>handleCustomerFirstOrder</method>
                    </customer_first_order>
                </observers>
            </sales_order_save_after>
		</events>
	</frontend>
//...
</config>

Observer.php from within your extension:

<?php

class MyCompany_MyExtension_Model_Observer
{
	public function handleCustomerFirstOrder($observer)
	{

	}
}

Now we need to add the necessary logic that implements client’s specific requirement, which transforms the above Observer.php into something like this:

class MyCompany_MyExtension_Model_Observer
{
    private static $_handleCustomerFirstOrderCounter = 1;

	public function handleCustomerFirstOrder($observer)
	{
        $orders = Mage::getModel('sales/order')
                    ->getCollection()
                    ->addFieldToSelect('increment_id')
                    ->addFieldToFilter('customer_id', array('eq' => $observer->getEvent()->getOrder()->getCustomerId()));

        //$orders->getSelect()->limit(2);

        //if ($orders->count() == 1) {
        if ($orders->getSize() == 1) {
            if (self::$_handleCustomerFirstOrderCounter > 1) {
                return $this;
            }

            self::$_handleCustomerFirstOrderCounter++;

			Mage::dispatchEvent('customer_first_order', array('order' => $observer->getEvent()->getOrder()));
		}		

		return $this;
	}
}

Several things to explain here.

First the use of $_handleCustomerFirstOrderCounter. I have noticed that during the same page request on order after save action, depending on possible other existing event observers that might do order re-save action, etc. my code within handleCustomerFirstOrder($observer) method can get executed twice or more times, thus I used static variable in a form of counter to specifically allow it to execute only once.

Second, you will notice the limit I put on the colelction, $orders->getSelect()->limit(2);. Reason for this is the logic that says “check if this is customers first order”. In order to do that, I need to know if there are other order in the system for the same customer. Since there is no need to fetch/load or even query for all of the order’s of the same customers I merely said “tray to grab two orders from this customer” then with if ($orders->count() == 1) expression I merely said, if total count of grabbed orders is one then this is the first order by this customer. Now you will notice that I commented out the $orders->getSelect()->limit(2); and if ($orders->count() == 1) expressions at the end and went with the use of getSize() method on the collection. Looks nicer and does the same thing. Method getSize() comes from the Varien_Data_Collection_Db class and internally it actually calls the getSelectCountSql() method that specifically executes count on the database, $countSelect->columns(‘COUNT(*)’); ,and returns just the count value. Thus making it even faster.

And finally, in place of implementing my reward points logic code directly there, I decided to trigger the customer_first_order event for this case. Reason is simply, maybe other developers in the system would like do do something else on this event, so why not dispatch it.

To conclude the client’s request I simply implement one more observer that handles the customer_first_order event and within that observer I give customer A it’s earned reward points.

Hopefully this article was helpful for some.

]]> What is base64 encoding/decoding and how we can benefit from this representation

Base64 schemes represent binary data in an ASCII string format (English alphabet, common punctuation chars, control chars) by translating it into a base-64 representation. This basically means that all kind of characters (ASCII, UTF8, UTF16…) with control characters can be mapped for example in English alphabet a-z, A-Z, 0-9 and you would be able to read them all on screen, or even print them out.
First of all, Magento is using base64 encode/decode each time you want to add product in your cart. Magento will redirect you to something like this: “http://loc.magento.com/checkout/cart/add/uenc/aHR0cDovL2xvYy5tYWdlbn…93/” with some POST data (product=93&related_product=&super_attribute[502]=37&qty=2).

These chars “aHR0cDovL2xvYy5tYWdlbnRvLmNvbS9hc2ljcy1tZW4tcy1nZWwta2F5YW5vLXhpaS5odG1s” are base64 encoded strings and POST data you can see (HTTP header traffic) with Firebug, LiveHTTPHeaders (addon for FF), Charles proxy,…

If you don’t know what does it mean (encoded chars) and how they are generated – keep reading.

Additionally, if you have any useful example where did you use base64 encode/decode, feel free to share your ideas with others.

From wiki: “Base64 encoding schemes are commonly used when there is a need to encode binary data that needs be stored and transferred over media that are designed to deal with textual data. This is to ensure that the data remains intact without modification during transport”.

In our case uenc = url encoded = aHR0cDovL2xvYy5tYWdlbnRvLmNvbS9hc2ljcy1tZW4tcy1nZWwta2F5YW5vLXhpaS5odG1s = http://loc.magento.com/asics-men-s-gel-kayano-xii.html.

What do you think why doesn’t Magento use normal strings in URL instead of base64 which is around 33% longer? Hint: you’ll get this later in the article…

As you can see we can’t put char “/” in URL if we want to send last visited URL as parameter because we would break attribute/value rule for “MOD rewrite” – GET parameter.
A full example would be: “http://loc.magento.com/checkout/cart/add/uenc/http://loc.magento.com/asics-men-s-gel-kayano-xii.html/product/93/” – sure it’s wrong.

This is just one example where you can use base64. Also in administration part when you search in grid in some column some value you can see that Magento is using base64 to encode your filter(s). In other words, you don’t need to worry about which character sets client’s browser can accept. You are sure that all characters will be transferred over the wire with base64!

So, what do I need to do to convert characters into base64 encoded schema? Just a little bit of math or you can use any trusted code which will do that for you. You have bunch of “online base64 decode/encode” scripts on web, just google them. What programming language to use to develop scripts for such of things? Sure, javascript to send “safe” data over the wire and you can use PHP to decode them, vice-versa.

Additionally, you can find base64 encoding algorithms in javascript in Magento’s folder webroot/js/mage/adminhtml/hash.js around line 57, function encode_base64( what ) {…

Another example could be the following: you have a web service that accept only ASCII chars. You want to save and then transfer user’s data to some other location (API) but recipient want receive untouched data. Again base64 is for that also. The only downside is that base64 encoding will require around 33%  more space than regular strings.

So with base64 you can encode and transfer any sets of binary data through any system and then decode them to original binary data. Cool, right?

Does gmail use base64? Sure!

Instead of “reinventing the wheel” and showing you how base64 works please take a look this pdf where you can see nice examples and table with ASCII chars. http://www.aardwulf.com/tutor/base64/base64.pdf

You can also build your own base64 algorithm for your specific needs!

For the end, did you maybe buy some extension that has weird characters in it and you didn’t know how to see source code? If your answer is yes, while reading this article did you maybe recognize that the code you have is probably base64 encoded? And can you perhaps see “eval()” function in that code?

If the answer is yes, then in my next article I’ll show you how to do “reverse engineering” and see your source code for bunch of extensions,… which you can buy and which are base64 encoded.

Stay tuned!

]]> Happy holidays everyone. As you could notice, we have a new holiday header, new holiday wallpapers, and today we have something new. Creative sparks did their magic making us proud to present you Inchoo Snowflakes Magento Extension.

Demo

Update: As you requested, we added a few “live” variations that you can archieve with this extension to Snowflakes Demo.

Screenshots

“Look Ma’, it’s snowing on frontend!”

If you feel cold from all that snow, add some stars instead…

…or write your own message to customers

Configuration options are located in
System -> Configuration -> Inchoo Snowflakes Config

Download

Just download InchooSnowflakes.zip, extract files following directory structure, reload cache and let it snow!

]]> We’re proud to present free Facebook Connect Magento extension which enables customers fast and easy registration and login with their Facebook identity. And it’s just been updated!

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.

]]> Geocoding is the process of finding associated geographic coordinates (often expressed as latitude and longitude) from other geographic data, such as street addresses, or zip codes (postal codes)… so says Wikipedia. Geocoding an address is pretty simple if you are using Google Maps API. Since all we do here is Magento, let me show you how easily you can geocode customer address.

We will start with adding the Gmap.php helper to our extension:

<?php
/**
 * @author Branko Ajzele <ajzele@gmail.com>
 */
class Inchoo_Extension_Helper_Gmap extends Mage_Core_Helper_Abstract
{
    const GOOGLE_MAPS_HOST = 'maps.google.com';
    const CONFIG_PATH_GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY = 'inchoo_google/maps/api_key';

    public function getGoogleMapsApiKey()
    {
        return Mage::getStoreConfig(self::CONFIG_PATH_GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY);
    }

    /**
     *
     * @param Mage_Customer_Model_Address $address
     * @param boolean $saveCoordinatesToAddress
     * @param boolean $forceLookup
     * @return array Returns the array of float values like {[0] => float(18.4438156) [1] => float(45.5013644)}
     */
    public function fetchAddressGeoCoordinates(Mage_Customer_Model_Address $address, $saveCoordinatesToAddress = true, $forceLookup = false)
    {
        /**
         * USAGE EXAMPLE

            $customer = Mage::getModel('customer/customer');
            $customer->setWebsiteId(Mage::app()->getWebsite()->getId());
            $customer->loadByEmail('some-email@domain.com');

            Mage::helper('inchoo/gmap')->fetchAddressGeoCoordinates($customer->getDefaultBillingAddress())

         */

        $coordinates = array();

        if ($address->getId() && $address->getGmapCoordinatePointX() && $address->getGmapCoordinatePointY() && $forceLookup == false) {
            $coordinates = array($address->getGmapCoordinatePointX(), $address->getGmapCoordinatePointY());
        } else if (!$address->getGmapCoordinatePointX() && !$address->getGmapCoordinatePointY())
            OR ($address->getId() && $address->getGmapCoordinatePointX() && $address->getGmapCoordinatePointY() && $forceLookup == true)) {

            $lineAddress = $address->getStreet1(). ', '.$address->getPostcode().' '.$address->getCity().', '.$address->getCountry();

            $client = new Zend_Http_Client();
            $client->setUri('http://'.self::GOOGLE_MAPS_HOST.'/maps/geo');
            $client->setMethod(Zend_Http_Client::GET);
            $client->setParameterGet('output', 'json');
            $client->setParameterGet('key', $this->getGoogleMapsApiKey());
            $client->setParameterGet('q', $lineAddress);

            $response = $client->request();

            if ($response->isSuccessful() && $response->getStatus() == 200) {
                $_response = json_decode($response->getBody());
                $_coordinates = @$_response->Placemark[0]->Point->coordinates;

                if (is_array($_coordinates) && count($_coordinates) >= 2) {

                    $coordinates = array_slice($_coordinates, 0, 2);

                    if ($saveCoordinatesToAddress) {
                        try {
                            $address->setGmapLng($coordinates[0]);
                            $address->setGmapLat($coordinates[1]);

                            $address->save();
                        } catch (Exception $e) {
                            Mage::logException($e);
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        return $coordinates;
    }
}

As you can see above in the code, function getGoogleMapsApiKey() pulls the API key info from my system configuration. I will not show you that part here. So for the sake of simplicity if you do not know how to code a configuration for your module you can just return a raw API key string here (surely this approach is then just for testing/playing not on production).

Since this helper references the two non-defualt-existing attributes on the address we will need to add those attributes. We do so trough install/upgrade scripts (you know, the files under app/code/{codePool}/Company/Extension/sql/extension_setup/ folder). I will not give you the full example of the file and it’s corresponding config.xml entry, as you should know how to do it yourself already, rather just the partial code that goes into the install/upgrade script in order to add the two missing customer address attributes:

//Add attribute that will be used for Google Maps as a coordinate lng
$installer->addAttribute('customer_address', 'gmap_lng', array(
    'type'     => 'varchar',
    'input'    => 'hidden',
    'visible'  => false,
    'required' => false
));
//Add attribute that will be used for Google Maps as a coordinate lat
$installer->addAttribute('customer_address', 'gmap_lat', array(
    'type'     => 'varchar',
    'input'    => 'hidden',
    'visible'  => false,
    'required' => false
));

Next, we will add the observer to the proper _beforeSave() dispatched event of the Mage_Customer_Model_Address model class. Since Mage_Customer_Model_Address extends the Mage_Customer_Model_Address_Abstract which defines the “protected $_eventPrefix = ‘customer_address’;” we can easily conclude the all it takes is to create observer for “customer_address_save_before” event (Mage_Core_Model_Abstract::_beforeSave() … we have Mage::dispatchEvent($this->_eventPrefix.’_save_before’, $this->_getEventData());).

So we add something like this to the config.xml file of our extension:

<global>

    <events>
        <customer_address_save_before>
            <observers>
                <inchoo_observer_customer_address_save_before>
                    <type>singleton</type>
                    <class>Inchoo_Extension_Model_Observer</class>
                    <method>geocodeAddress</method>
                </inchoo_observer_customer_address_save_before>
            </observers>
        </customer_address_save_before>
    </events>

</global>

Then we create the observer Inchoo_Extension_Model_Observer with something like:

Within that observer we simply need to call something like:

<?php
class Inchoo_Extension_Model_Observer
{
	public function geocodeAddress()
	{
		Mage::helper('inchoo/gmap')
			->fetchAddressGeoCoordinates($observer->getEvent()->getCustomerAddress());

		return $this;
	}
}

Basically that’s it. Now each time an address is saved in Magento, there should be a lookup on Google Maps API in order to fetch the longitude and latitude coordinates. Please note, that all of this is just to fetch the coordinates and save them under the address. Showing the actual map somewhere on the frontend or backend requires a bit more input.

To show the Google Map on the frontend with the proper location marker shown on the map you need two things. First we need to add the script like shown below to the head part of the page:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=<?php echo Mage::helper('inchoo/gmap')->getGoogleMapsApiKey() ?>&sensor=false"></script>

Then finally we need to add something like:

<div id="address<?php echo $_address->getId() ?>-gmap" style="width:480px; height:480px;"></div>

<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[

	Event.observe(window, 'load', function() {

			  var myLatlng = new google.maps.LatLng(<?php echo $_address->getGmapLat() ?>,<?php echo $_address->getGmapLng() ?>);
			  var myOptions = {
				zoom: 4,
				center: myLatlng,
				mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP
			  }
			  var map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById("address<?php echo $_address->getId() ?>-gmap"), myOptions);

			  var marker = new google.maps.Marker({
				  position: myLatlng,
				  map: map,
				  title:"Address Location"
			  });

	});
//]]>
</script>

And that’s it. Please note, the code above might not be fully copy paste, check the JavaScript when you implement it, and test if your customer address attributes are installed correctly. This article is not for Magento beginners so if you experience some difficulties implementing this approach, please consult the Magento Knowledge Base first.

P.S. I was playing with this on Magento CE 1.6.1.0.

Hope this was helpful. Cheers.

]]> You got a Magento project to develop, you created a Magento theme, you placed initial products and categories and you also placed some test orders to see if Shipping and Payment methods work as expected. Everything seems to be cool and the client wishes to launch the site. You launch it. When you enter the administration for the first time after the launch, you will see all your test orders there. You know those should be deleted. But how?
This is a new version of the same article.

If you try to delete orders in the backend, you will find out that you can only set the status to “cancelled” and the order is still there.  Unfortunately, Magento doesn’t enable us to delete those via administration, so you will not see any “Delete order” button. This can be quite frustrating both to developers and the merchants. People coming from an SAP world find the inability to delete to have some merit but there should be a status that removes the sales count from the reports i.e. sales, inventory, etc.

So, what to do?

You need to create php script in Magento root folder, copy this code into script and run script.

/**
 * @author Dejan Radic <dejan.radic@inchoo.net>
 */

if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.2.0', '<')===true) {
    echo  '<div style="font:12px/1.35em arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="margin:0 0 25px 0; border-bottom:1px solid #ccc;"><h3 style="margin:0; font-size:1.7em; font-weight:normal; text-transform:none; text-align:left; color:#2f2f2f;">Whoops, it looks like you have an invalid PHP version.</h3></div><p>Magento supports PHP 5.2.0 or newer. <a href="http://www.magentocommerce.com/install" target="">Find out</a> how to install</a> Magento using PHP-CGI as a work-around.</p></div>';
    exit;
}

error_reporting(E_ALL | E_STRICT);
ini_set('display_errors', 1);

$mageFilename = 'app/Mage.php';

if (!file_exists($mageFilename)) {
    echo $mageFilename." was not found";
    exit;
}

require_once $mageFilename;

Mage::app();

$executionPath = null;

/*
 * determine Magento Edition
 */
if (file_exists('LICENSE_EE.txt')) {
    $edition = 'EE';
}elseif (file_exists('LICENSE_PRO.html')) {
    $edition = 'PE';
} else {
    $edition = 'CE';
}

if(($edition=='EE' && version_compare(Mage::getVersion(), '1.11.0.0.', '<')===true)
        || ($edition=='PE' && version_compare(Mage::getVersion(), '1.11.0.0.', '<')===true)
        || ($edition=='CE' && version_compare(Mage::getVersion(), '1.6.0.0.', '<')===true)
  ){
   $executionPath = 'old';
} else {
   $executionPath = 'new';
}

$xpathEntity = 'global/models/sales_entity/entities//table';

if ($executionPath == 'old') {
    $xpathResource = 'global/models/sales_mysql4/entities//table';
} else {
    $xpathResource = 'global/models/sales_resource/entities//table';
}

$salesEntitiesConf = array_merge(
    Mage::getSingleton('core/config')->init()->getXpath($xpathEntity),
    Mage::getSingleton('core/config')->init()->getXpath($xpathResource)
);

$resource = Mage::getSingleton('core/resource');
$connection = $resource->getConnection('core_write');

/*
 * If you want delete System/Order Statuses (Status and State) you
 * should comments below lines (46-51)
 */
$skipTables = array (
        $resource->getTableName('sales_order_status'),
        $resource->getTableName('sales_order_status_state'),
        $resource->getTableName('sales_order_status_label')
    );
$salesEntitiesConf = array_diff($salesEntitiesConf, $skipTables);

/*

Multiple RDBMS Support in Magento CE 1.6+ / EE 1.11+

http://www.magentocommerce.com/images/uploads/RDBMS_Guide2.pdf

2.2. Adapters:

... The new Varien_DB_Adapter_Interface was added to sign a contract that all
developed adapters must execute in order to get Magento working on an actual
database. The interface describes the list of methods and constants that can be used by resource models...

Used below in the loop:

 * If $executionPath == 'old'
    * Varien_Db_Adapter_Pdo_Mysql::showTableStatus()
    * Varien_Db_Adapter_Pdo_Mysql::truncate()
 * Else
    * Varien_Db_Adapter_Interface::isTableExists()
    * Varien_Db_Adapter_Interface::truncateTable()

*/

while ($table = current($salesEntitiesConf) ){
    $table = $resource->getTableName($table);

    if ($executionPath == 'old') {
        $isTableExists = $connection->showTableStatus($table);
    } else {
        $isTableExists = $connection->isTableExists($table);
    }
    if ($isTableExists) {
        try {
            if ($executionPath == 'old') {
                $connection->truncate($table);
            } else {
                $connection->truncateTable($table);
            }

            printf('Successfully truncated the <i style="color:green;">%s</i> table.<br />', $table);
        } catch(Exception $e) {
            printf('Error <i style="color:red;">%s</i> occurred truncating the <i style="color:red;">%s</i> table.<br />', $e->getMessage(), $table);
        }
    }

    next($salesEntitiesConf);
}

exit('All done...');

After you have it executed, the test orders will not be in the database any more. Keep in mind that this will delete ALL orders, in the database. So, you should execute this queries immediately after launch.

This script is tested on following Magento versions: 1.6.1.0 CE, 1.6.0.0 CE, 1.5.1.0. CE, 1.11.0.2 EE, 1.10.0.2 EE, 1.9.0.0 EE, 1.11.0.0 PE, 1.10.0.2 PE and 1.9.0.0 PE.
You can download script here.

]]> This simple helper will help you to display html code of your product options. It works with simple, virtual and configurable products. I believe you can use the same approach for other product types as well.

Getting HTML code for options of configurable products its little different from simple and virtual (well they are more or less same).

Update: for all types in configurable product.

With simple products we have a very “clean approach”.

First we are setting a block for product options, then we add item renderers (template and type) to product options block. And the last step is to take the product, create iteration over options and display it with our product options block.

We are seeing here some nice loose coupling. Nice separation of code.

On the other hand, getting html code of options in configurable product is not that flexible.

Instance of block, product instance and we are getting html for options.

Sample:

echo Mage::helper("inchoo_checkout")->getProductOptionsHtml(Mage::getModel("catalog/product")->load(171));

Helper:

<!--?php <br ?-->/**
 * @category    Inchoo
 * @package     Inchoo_Checkout
 * @author      Inchoo
 */
class Inchoo_Checkout_Helper_Data extends Mage_Core_Helper_Abstract
{
	/**
	 *
	 * getting html for options of products
	 * @param Mage_Catalog_Model_Product $product
	 */
	public function getProductOptionsHtml(Mage_Catalog_Model_Product $product)
	{
		$blockOption = Mage::app()->getLayout()->createBlock("Mage_Catalog_Block_Product_View_Options");
        $blockOption->addOptionRenderer("default","catalog/product_view_options_type_default","catalog/product/view/options/type/default.phtml");
		$blockOption->addOptionRenderer("text","catalog/product_view_options_type_text","inchoo_catalog/product/view/options/type/text.phtml");
		$blockOption->addOptionRenderer("file","catalog/product_view_options_type_file","catalog/product/view/options/type/file.phtml");
		$blockOption->addOptionRenderer("select","inchoo_checkout/product_view_options_type_select","catalog/product/view/options/type/select.phtml");
		$blockOption->addOptionRenderer("date","catalog/product_view_options_type_date","catalog/product/view/options/type/date.phtml") ;

		$blockOptionsHtml = null;

		 if($product->getTypeId()=="simple"||$product->getTypeId()=="virtual"||$product->getTypeId()=="configurable")
		 {
		 	$blockOption->setProduct($product);
			if($product->getOptions())
			{
				foreach ($product->getOptions() as $o)
	    		{
	    			$blockOptionsHtml .= $blockOption->getOptionHtml($o);
	    		};
			}
		 }  

		 if($product->getTypeId()=="configurable")
		 {
		 	$blockViewType = Mage::app()->getLayout()->createBlock("Mage_Catalog_Block_Product_View_Type_Configurable");
		 	$blockViewType->setProduct($product);
		 	$blockViewType->setTemplate("inchoo_catalog/product/view/type/options/configurable.phtml");
			$blockOptionsHtml .= $blockViewType->toHtml();
		 }
		 return $blockOptionsHtml;
	}
}

]]> One of the cool things in Magento is that there is so many controls (widgets, blocks), etc. that you can reuse on the frontend or on the backend. One such control is the calendar control. Calendar control is mostly just used on the backend, aka “adminhtml” area. You can easily figure that one out if you do a quick search for a “Calendar.setup” string on “app/design” folder, in which case you would get several search results but all from “app/design/adminhtml/” folder.

So the question is how to get the calendar (from image above) to show on the frontend area? Easily, all you need is to include some CSS, few JavaScript’s, image and you are done. To make things more flexible, I wrote a little block class that does this for you.

class Inchoo_Module_Block_Calendar extends Mage_Core_Block_Template
{
    protected function _construct()
    {
        parent::_construct();
        $this->setTemplate('inchoo/calendar.phtml');
    }

    protected function _prepareLayout()
    {
        $this->_injectCalendarControlJsCSSInHTMLPageHead();

        return parent::_prepareLayout();
    }    

    private function _injectCalendarControlJsCSSInHTMLPageHead()
    {
        $this->getLayout()->getBlock('head')->append(
            $this->getLayout()->createBlock(
                'Mage_Core_Block_Html_Calendar',
                'html_calendar',
                array('template' => 'page/js/calendar.phtml')
            )
        );

        $this->getLayout()->getBlock('head')
                ->addItem('js_css', 'calendar/calendar-win2k-1.css')
                ->addJs('calendar/calendar.js')
                ->addJs('calendar/calendar-setup.js');

        return $this;
    }
}

Please note that I placed this block class under the Inchoo/Module namespace, where you can easily make fully new YourCompany/Calendar extension and just put this in it, if you wish your entire extension just for calendar control.

Hopefully, _construct() method is clear to everyone in this case?! If not, then please skip this article entirely and jumo to the Magento Wiki

The core of the functionality here lies in the _injectCalendarControlJsCSSInHTMLPageHead() method which is called by _prepareLayout() method. If you study it closely you will see that _injectCalendarControlJsCSSInHTMLPageHead() adds the necessary CSS and JS to the head portion of the HTML page that gets rendered.

With this approach, all we need to do later in our XML layout files is just call our Calendar block like:

<block type="inchoo/calendar" name="inchoo.calendar" />

And finally the content of your app/design/frontedn/SOMEPACKAGE/SOMETHEME/template/inchoo/calendar.phtml file should look like:

<span>
    <img style="" title="Select Date" id="date_select_trig" class="v-middle" alt="" src="<?php echo $this->getSkinUrl("images/calendar.gif");?> "/>
    <input type="text" style="width: 120px;" class="input-text" value="" id="selected_date" name="selected_date"/>
    <script type="text/javascript">
    //<![CDATA[
        Calendar.setup({
            inputField: "selected_date",
            ifFormat: "%m/%e/%Y %H:%M:%S",
            showsTime: true,
            button: "date_select_trig",
            align: "Bl",
            singleClick : true
        });
    //]]>
    </script>
</span>

If all of the three files are in place then you should be able to see something like shown on image below.

Additionally, please keep in mind that this is really basic approach. You could do a bit more abstraction to it so that XML layout block accepts few more parameters that would be passed to a Calendar.php block class, like show a bit different calendar, do a bit different format pickup, etc. so that you can truly reuse the same control in various ways.

P.S. If Magento is having trouble loading calendar/calendar.js, calendar/calendar-setup.js, calendar/calendar-win2k-1.css then try doing a seach on entire installation and moving them to your theme then modify the addItem, addJs in your Calendar.php block class.

Hope this was helpful.

]]> Magento database heavily utilizes an Entity-Attribute-Value (EAV) data model. However, the cost of flexibility is often complexity. The process of manipulating EAV data in Magento is often more difficult than manipulating flat relational tables.

All Magento Models inherit from the Mage_Core_Model_Abstract. Difference between simple Model or an EAV Model is its Model Resource.

To build a model with proper collection object in Magento you need 4 things:

• model class
• resource class
• collection class
• install script (the one found under mymodule_setup folder of your extension)

To extend this little further there is one more file you would most likely need when building an EAV based model, the Setup.php which extends from Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Setup. You would need to implement the getDefaultEntities() method in it as this is what’s called during the extension installation in Magento.

Imagine your module is called Phonebook and put into the /Inchoo namespace under the local code pool. Logically you would need a model class like User which represents single entry into the phonebook. With this in mind you already need a structure like:

• app/etc/modules/Inchoo_Phonebook.xml
• app/code/local/Inchoo/Phonebook/etc/config.xml
• app/code/local/Inchoo/Phonebook/Model/User.php
• app/code/local/Inchoo/Phonebook/Model/Resource/User.php
• app/code/local/Inchoo/Phonebook/Model/Resource/User/Collection.php
• app/code/local/Inchoo/Phonebook/Model/Resource/Setup.php
• app/code/local/Inchoo/Phonebook/sql/inchoo_phonebook_setup/install-1.0.0.0.php

Now that we outlined the file structure, let’s get down to it and see what the content of files should look like in order for it to work.

app/etc/modules/Inchoo_Phonebook.xml

app/code/local/Inchoo/Phonebook/etc/config.xml

app/code/local/Inchoo/Phonebook/Model/User.php

app/code/local/Inchoo/Phonebook/Model/Resource/User.php

app/code/local/Inchoo/Phonebook/Model/Resource/User/Collection.php

app/code/local/Inchoo/Phonebook/Model/Resource/Setup.php

app/code/local/Inchoo/Phonebook/sql/inchoo_phonebook_setup/install-1.0.0.0.php

For each attribute type like “varchar”, “text”, “int”… you need to create a corresponding table like inchoo_phonebook_user_entity_varchar, inchoo_phonebook_user_entity_text, inchoo_phonebook_user_entity_int. Study the install-1.0.0.0.php and the config.xml file to see how to get that one done.

Finally, you can test your model and it’s collection by running the following somewhere in your code:

And that’s it. Although simple, there is some typing to be done in order to get the EAV based model functional. Hope it helps someone.

Cheers.

]]> One of the common requirements in Magento is to have prev/next product on Product Information page. Development logic there is simple, fetch current product id and take the one before and after that one and now you have previous and next products Remember that this will work per category only, since you will get list of products in current category.

So how will next code work?
If you dump next line of code in your catalog/product/view.phtml:

Mage::registry('current_category')->getProductsPosition();

You will get array with keys of product id’s and product positions as values of that current category.

I’m not going to put full module here since you can use this helper in any other module, you just need to call it with right name in your template file.

Here comes the helper class:

<?php
/**
 * INCHOO's FREE EXTENSION DISCLAIMER
 *
 * Please do not edit or add to this file if you wish to upgrade Magento
 * or this extension to newer versions in the future.
 *
 * Inchoo developers (Inchooer's) give their best to conform to
 * "non-obtrusive, best Magento practices" style of coding.
 * However, Inchoo does not guarantee functional accuracy of specific
 * extension behavior. Additionally we take no responsibility for any
 * possible issue(s) resulting from extension usage.
 *
 * We reserve the full right not to provide any kind of support for our free extensions.
 *
 * You are encouraged to report a bug, if you spot any,
 * via sending an email to bugreport@inchoo.net. However we do not guaranty
 * fix will be released in any reasonable time, if ever,
 * or that it will actually fix any issue resulting from it.
 *
 * Thank you for your understanding.
 */

/**
 * @category Inchoo
 * @package Inchoo_Catalog
 * @author Vedran Subotic <vedran@inchoo.net>
 * @copyright Inchoo <http://inchoo.net>
 * @license http://opensource.org/licenses/osl-3.0.php  Open Software License (OSL 3.0)
 */
class Inchoo_Catalog_Helper_Data extends Mage_Core_Helper_Abstract
{
	public function getPreviousProduct()
    {
        $prodId = Mage::registry('current_product')->getId();

        $catArray = Mage::registry('current_category');

        if($catArray){
            $catArray = $catArray->getProductsPosition();
            $keys = array_flip(array_keys($catArray));
            $values = array_keys($catArray);

            $productId = $values[$keys[$prodId]-1];

            $product = Mage::getModel('catalog/product');

            if($productId){
                $product->load($productId);
                return $product->getProductUrl();
            }
            return false;
        }

        return false;

    }

    public function getNextProduct()
    {
        $prodId = Mage::registry('current_product')->getId();

        $catArray = Mage::registry('current_category');

        if($catArray){
            $catArray = $catArray->getProductsPosition();
            $keys = array_flip(array_keys($catArray));
            $values = array_keys($catArray);

            $productId = $values[$keys[$prodId]-1];

            $product = Mage::getModel('catalog/product');

            if($productId){
                $product->load($productId);
                return $product->getProductUrl();
            }
            return false;
        }

        return false;
    }

}

All you need is to generate new links on product view page:

<?php $_prev = $this->helper('inchoo_catalog')->getPreviousProduct(); ?>
<?php $_next = $this->helper('inchoo_catalog')->getNextProduct(); ?>

<?php if($_prev): ?><a class="product-prev" href="<?php echo $_prev;?>"><?php echo $this->__('< Previous')?></a><?php endif; ?>
<?php if($_next): ?><a class="product-next" href="<?php echo $_next;?>"><?php echo $this->__('Next >')?></a><?php endif; ?>

Note: this will not work for all cases in layered navigation, since layered navigation doesn’t work that way and may consist of product collection from different categories.

Enjoy coding!

]]> When you are editing some product in Magento admin and want to check it out in frontend of your Magento project, how do you find this particular product? Do you search for it, navigate to it using product url key or just browse to it? Well, however you do it, I’m going to give you the easiest way to get to your desired product in the frontend – view product link.

Here’s an extremely lightweight Magento extension which will provide you with a simple view product link next to a product name, in Magento admin. It will point to a product view page in the frontend of your Magento project. Simple and easy.

https://github.com/ivicatadic/Tadic_AVP
or for donwload
Tadic_AVP

All you have to do is copy the content of Tadic_AVP extension (app folder) to a root folder of your Magento project – and that’s it. I hope this simple extension will prove to be useful to you.
Thanks to Branko Ajzele for an idea.

Cheers

]]> In some situation when you want to re-index Magento catalog you will get an error message or reindex process will be broken. This problem is appearing when you have a lot of products in database and limited server resource. You can try to reindex from command line or shell.
In Magento there is folder with name “shell” in this folder you will find file with name “indexer.php” this is shell script for reindexing. You will ask yourself how to call this script, and take a look on my examples below and everything will be clear.

First of all you need to have access to linux commnad line or shell, and then go to your “MAGENTO_ROOT_FOLDER/shell“.

-jailshell-3.2$ pwd
/home/mcomerce
-jailshell-3.2$ ls
access-logs            etc   perl5    public_ftp   ssl  www
cpbackup-exclude.conf  mail  php.ini  public_html  tmp
-jailshell-3.2$ cd public_html/
-jailshell-3.2$ cd shell/
-jailshell-3.2$ ls
abstract.php  compiler.php  indexer.php  log.php
-jailshell-3.2$

Our first example is how to get help from “indexer.php” script, you need to execute next comand
“php -f indexer.php help” and you will get response as in example below.

$ php -f indexer.php help
  --status <indexer>            Show Indexer(s) Status
  --mode <indexer>              Show Indexer(s) Index Mode
  --mode-realtime <indexer>     Set index mode type "Update on Save"
  --mode-manual <indexer>       Set index mode type "Manual Update"
  --reindex <indexer>           Reindex Data
  info                          Show allowed indexers
  reindexall                    Reindex Data by all indexers
  help                          This help

  <indexer>     Comma separated indexer codes or value "all" for all indexers

You can see that you can make reindexall but I don’t recommend that you execute full reindex in one step, beacuse you can cause MySql/Server overload. Reindexall calls 8 indexers in a row and process of reindexing can cause database LOCK on some database tables.

I recommend that you execute one by one indexer. You process will be faster and load of database will be smaller.

In Magento there are 8 indexers, you can get list of indexers if you call next command:
php -f indexer.php info

-jailshell-3.2$ php -f indexer.php info
catalog_product_attribute     Product Attributes
catalog_product_price         Product Prices
catalog_url                   Catalog Url Rewrites
catalog_product_flat          Product Flat Data
catalog_category_flat         Category Flat Data
catalog_category_product      Category Products
catalogsearch_fulltext        Catalog Search Index
cataloginventory_stock        Stock status
-jailshell-3.2$

For example if you want to reindex “catalog_url” you need to execute next command:
php -f indexer.php — -reindex catalog_url, below is example

-jailshell-3.2$ php -f indexer.php -- -reindex catalog_url
Catalog URL Rewrites index was rebuilt successfully
-jailshell-3.2$

I recommend that you use indexer from shell because this process isn’t executing over web server/Apache and makes smaller impact on server resources .

One note: I had problem with php memory limit, error message: “Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 67108864 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 88 bytes)“. I increased memory size to 128Mb, I added next statement on beginning of script:ini_set(‘memory_limit’, ’128M’); .
That’s all for now

]]> For the first time ever we bring you a list of Magento blockbusters – these are the movies that simply had to be made, but those Hollywood guys somehow beat us to it.

Check this list out and let us know which ones would you like to see most – we might prepare a sneak peek preview for your eyes only.

Any resemblance to real persons, software platforms or development companies is purely coincidental and could easily be traced back to your own overexposure to Magento development projects.

Each of the blockbuster titles links to its Hollywood predecessor on IMDB.

• Citizen Roy
• One Flew Over the eBay’s Nest
• Saving Private Sales
• To Kill a Core Module
• X.commerce Now
• The Magento Connection
• Invasion of 3rd Party Extensions
• The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – a story of CE, PE and EE – randomly listed here, of course
• Catalog Price Rules of Engagement
• Open Source Code
• Solris
• Harry Potter and the Order Management
• X-Men – an hommage to Magneto – Magento’s evil twin brother
• Eternal Sunshine of Magento API
• Requiem for the SOAP
• Lock, Stock and a Static Block
• Sleepless in Culver City
• You’ve Got Transactional eMail
• Alan Storm of the Century
• FarGo
• Magento, Inc.

And a special Magento trilogy everyone’s waiting for:

• The Lord of Magento: The Fellowship of Developers
• The Lord of Magento: The Two Editions
• The Lord of Magento: The Return of EAV

So, there you go – which ones do you fancy most?

Enjoy and feel free to share some of your own ideas for new blockbusters, let’s see what else can we come up with.

]]> In this article I’ll give you some example how to get different collection of customers.
For example, how to get latest 5 customers, unconfirmed customers, latest 5 customers who purchased something etc.

I’ll create few objects that are instances of Mage_Customer_Model_Resource_Customer_Collection class and few objects that are instances of Inchoo_CustomerCollection_Model_Resource_Customer_Totals_Collection class.
Class Inchoo_CustomerCollection_Model_Resource_Customer_Totals_Collection extends Mage_Reports_Model_Resource_Customer_Totals_Collection class.

Let’s take a look.

How to get Not confirmed customers?

$collection = Mage::getResourceModel('customer/customer_collection')
    ->addNameToSelect()
    ->joinAttribute('billing_postcode', 'customer_address/postcode', 'default_billing', null, 'left')
    ->joinAttribute('billing_city', 'customer_address/city', 'default_billing', null, 'left')
    ->joinAttribute('billing_telephone', 'customer_address/telephone', 'default_billing', null, 'left')
    ->joinAttribute('billing_region', 'customer_address/region', 'default_billing', null, 'left')
    ->joinAttribute('billing_country_id', 'customer_address/country_id', 'default_billing', null, 'left')
    ->joinField('notconfirmed',
        'customer_entity_varchar',
        'attribute_id',
        'entity_id=entity_id',
        "{{table}}.attribute_id='831'");

$this->setCollection($collection);
return parent::_prepareCollection();

The last parameter of joinField is string which contain table, field and value “831″. Value “831″ is ‘attribute_id’ from ‘eav_attribute’ table where ‘attribute_code’ is equal “confirmation”.

How to get customers with Gmail account?

$collection = Mage::getResourceModel('customer/customer_collection')
    ->addNameToSelect()
    ->joinAttribute('billing_postcode', 'customer_address/postcode', 'default_billing', null, 'left')
    ->joinAttribute('billing_city', 'customer_address/city', 'default_billing', null, 'left')
    ->joinAttribute('billing_telephone', 'customer_address/telephone', 'default_billing', null, 'left')
    ->joinAttribute('billing_region', 'customer_address/region', 'default_billing', null, 'left')
    ->joinAttribute('billing_country_id', 'customer_address/country_id', 'default_billing', null, 'left')
    ->addFieldToFilter('email',array('like'=>'%@gmail.com'));

$this->setCollection($collection);
return parent::_prepareCollection();

How to get customer with the largest purchased amount?

$collection is instance of Inchoo_CustomerCollection_Model_Resource_Customer_Totals_Collection. Methods: addTotalOrderAmount(), addBillingData() and addCustomerData() are declared in Inchoo_CustomerCollection_Model_Resource_Customer_Totals_Collection class.

public function __construct()
{
    parent::__construct();
    $this->setId('customerGrid');
    $this->setPagerVisibility(false);
    $this->setFilterVisibility(false);
    $this->setDefaultLimit(1);
}

protected function _prepareCollection()
{
    $collection = Mage::getResourceModel('customercollection/customer_totals_collection');
    $collection->joinCustomerName()
         ->groupByCustomer()
         ->addTotalOrderAmount()
         ->addBillingData()
         ->addCustomerData()
         ->orderByTotalAmount();

    $this->setCollection($collection);
    return parent::_prepareCollection();
}

These collections of customers, You can see under Customer->Customer Collection.

As you can see on the picture bellow, I decided to disable filtering options, sorting by column and Massaction Block.

CustomerCollection extension is tested on Magento CE 1.6.1.0. You can download extension here.

Cheers.

]]> No, it’s not April Fools’ Day, it’s November, no Inchoo pranks. We played with something new this time. You all heard that Magento is modular platform a hundred times. It just needs a little push sometimes, so we pushed it First of all ..

Don’t use in production environments, this is only an experiment!

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

]]> Check out Magento abstract wallpaper pack by Inchoo. Featuring Magento visuals and abstract backgrounds, these wallpapers would look fantastic on the desktop of any Magento fan!

Feel free to download and enjoy

Magento Corner Dark
1920×1080 | 1600×1200

Magento Corner Light
1920×1080 | 1600×1200

Magento Flow Dark
2560×1440 | 2560×1024 | 1920×1080 | 1600×1200 | 1650×1050

Magento Flow Light
2560×1024 | 1920×1080 | 1600×1200 | 1650×1050

]]> Few days ago I was attending the MagentoU’s “Fundamentals of Magento Development” course in London. It’s a five day course covering Magento internals inside out (at least that’s the idea ). Price of the course at the moment is around $3,850.00, which is not a small amount to pay for a five day education. Good thing is that we needed to pay only 50% of the cost as Magento Silver Partner. So is it worth the money?

Course itself is targeted towards both developers who are new to Magento, as well as those developers who are experienced with Magento platform. It takes you trough the the process of Magento initialization, Rendering, Request Flow, Adminhtml, Database and EAV. The great part about it is the lecture-lab format, meaning you actually do the coding with the trainer.

Ben Marks from Blue Acorn was the trainer conducting the course. I can only say words of praise to his approach to lecturing. He was on top all of the tricky questions we threw at him. I knew Ben from before the course, as he was doing Magento for over three years now. His experience was an extra bonus on top of the training materials we got. Additionally I enjoyed his cheerful mood throughout entire course.

Company sent me to the course as we where focused on getting the first hand “big picture” about Magento developer education process. Meaning how it was organized, what it covers, and in general how much developers can learn in just a five day course. All in all, I would say it was a positive experience. Regardless of over 3 years of everyday Magento development its really refreshing to catch on a few tricks and share experience. I believe class was successful at completely clarifying the fundamentals of the xml structure, control flow, and navigating through and making sense of the many files of Magento. Trainer, Ben, was really in depth with things, showing great understanding of a specific application areas.

Although I must admit I am looking forward to the possible next level course, something like “Advanced Magento Developement” which might be more suited for us doing Magento development on a day to day basis. Course whose focus wound not be on the functional and structural but on “best practices, specific features (checkout, order handling, payment gateways, shipping gateways)” side of things.

As mentioned, the course is intended for new as well as those experienced to Magento development. I remind you, the thing about Magento is that it’s really huge, meaning there is so many things you need to know, which is why I would say this course hits the target when it comes to the “fundamentals”. I find it ideal for people who are experienced in PHP but are mostly just starting with Magento or have very little Magento experience, or are use to doing Magento development in a non Magento way of doing things. For those, I see a great value in it, as it will most certainly set you on the right track.

To conclude, if you recognized your self in what I wrote above and you can afford it, I suggest you take it.

]]> If for some reason you are not a big fan of Magento’s default One Page Checkout concept / workflow, it might be worth checking out alternative. Usually these alternatives come in a form of so called “one step checkout” where main difference is that entire customer data / payment data / shipment data is displayed not just on one page, but in one “piece”. Why is this important? Well, it usually leads to a bit better user experience. Even a fraction better user experience can make a difference between new order and abandoned cart. No one likes abandoned carts .

Let me present you with one possible “one step checkout” like alternative, the CheckItOut! Magento extension by EcomDev.

There are several key things that make this extension stand up. Before everything, extension is simple. Simple in terms that it modifies standard Magento checkout in the places where it is really needed. Usually this is not something people who buy extension pay attention. But I cannot stress enough how important it is to use stable extension that do not poke around core Magento functionality a lot. The simpler, the better, as long as it do it’s job. Quick overview of the code show most fo the focus on custom checkout controller EcomDev_CheckItOut_OnepageController which in turn extends the default checkout controller Mage_Checkout_OnepageController. This is “turned on” by a router definition within app\code\community\EcomDev\CheckItOut\etc\config.xml file. Meaning CheckItOut inherits all of the default controller behaviour then simply implements it’s stuff in the proper controller method. This approach is relatively solid as it is straight forward and you know that at any point you simply disable module and your default checkout kicks in.

Code itself looks “rock solid” and it looks like they achieved a lot of functionality without a single class rewrite (except controller). Layout seems to be easy modifiable due to the nice CSS files that go along with it.

On top of that there is a quality developer manual that goes with it. We all love good documentation when it comes to Magento.

This is all nice and all, but what about real frontend features?

Given that the extension is based on the standard Magento checkout, all payment methods and additional Magento customizations are supported. Meaning, it should be fully compatible with features like: Gift cards, Customer balance, Reward points, etc.

Additionally extension functionality can be disabled for all websites or a particular website. Plus, you can return standard Magento checkout at any time by changing configuration field in the admin interface.

Seems like a nice product, especially since it costs only €249.00. I say only, because you should think twice before you actually pay anyone to code custom checkout just for your Magento store.

All in all, definitely worth checking out if you are in need for “one step checkout” like process.

Cheers.

]]> When you have a large scale Magento store with thousands of products in every top-level category, dozens or even hundreds of offered filters for a single attribute in your layered navigation, certain necessities become mandatory – like selective attribute sorting.

Even though Magento does offer sorting functionality for attribute values, in these situations that just might not be enough as you can not sort selectively for a specific category.

For instance, let’s say a customer is in a “First Category” and there he sees a brands attribute in layered navigation, filterable by these values:

• A & A Specialties (1)
• Abella (2)
• Abex Friction Products (1)
• Absco Ltd (1)
• AC-Delco (166)
• Accel (1)
• Acco Ind (1)
• …

Then customer goes to a “Second Category” and again there is this brands attribute with exactly the same options offered to filter by.

Now, why wouldn’t you offer your customers filterable options in the order you find the most suitable, maybe boost sales by emphasizing a certain brand, or just sorted to be a bit more relevant to current category?

Here’s how you can do it with the least coding required.
First download the Inchoo_SAS extension and copy it’s content to your Magento’s root folder. This extension will handle all the back-end logic for you.

https://github.com/ivicatadic/Inchoo_SAS
or for download
Inchoo_SAS

(Remember to log out and then log back into admin after extension is installed.)

Now, for the fun part.
Let’s go to Magento admin -> CMS -> Static Blocks

In order to manipulate the attribute values for a particular category follow these steps:
1. Create a static block:
Static block name example: First Category – Layer Brands
Static block identifier example: first_category_layer_brands

2. Place the attribute values in the Content area separated by new line [enter]:
example:
BMW
Audi

Note:
It must be plain text and no html tags, so hide the WYSIWYG Content Editor.

3. In admin go to the relevant category – in our example it’s First Category
a) click on the “Custom Design” tab
b) Enter the following custom layout update:

<!-- -->

	<block type="cms/block" name="layer_brands">
		<action method="setBlockId">
			<block_id>first_category_layer_brands</block_id>
		</action>
	</block>

<!-- -->

Place this code outside / after any <reference name=”something”></reference> node.

Note:
The name=”layer_brands” serves as an example, you’ll use layer_actual_attribute_code
instead, like layer_manufacturer. The only thing that always stays the same is the layer_ prefix.

Inside <block_id></block_id> you’ll enter the identifier of the relevant static block (see No. 1)

4. Click on “Save Category”
5. Go to Cache management and hit the “Flush Magento Cash” in order to see the changes.

And that’s it
Whenever you need to alter the order of attribute values for a certain category, just go to the relevant static block and reorder values the way you like it.
Another big gain you get with this extension is that if you sort products by Position in this particular category, you’ll notice that Magento will sort products the way attribute values are sorted as well.

Finally, if you don’t like the required prefix layer, you may change it if you go to
Magento admin -> System -> Configuration -> Inchoo Extensions -> Layer Navigation – sorting

I hope this will prove to be helpful to you.

Cheers