Magento Tutorial

Magento Community Tutorials #32 – Theming Magento 8 – Hiding Default Blocks With Localxml

Alice — Thu, 16 May 2013 07:58:29 +0000

The 32nd tutorial for Magento Commerce Community Edition and the 8th on Theming Magento. This tutorial shows you how to use a local.xml file to override default blocks built into Magento such as the back to school callouts and various other blocks.

Use Observer In Magento

Alice — Thu, 16 May 2013 07:56:29 +0000

In magento Observer catch magento events and run your function after that event. Magento events like checkout_cart_product_add_after,checkout_cart_save_after etc you can get more magento events from Magento Events Cheat Sheet (1.7.0.0)

This way of adding custom event before and after save is useful when we just need to add or do something before or after any Magento core event. For example, setting some values to some attributes before or after product is saved.

For this, you just need to add add some event observer code in your module’s YourModule/etc/config.xmlfile and add a new observer YourModule/Model/Observer.php

In the example code below, I have added before and after event hook for customer address and catalog product. Customer address event hooks run before and after saving customer address and catalog product hooks run before and after saving products in admin.

customer_address_save_before = runs just before saving customer address
customer_address_save_after = runs immediately after saving customer address

catalog_product_save_before = runs just before saving product
catalog_product_save_after = runs just before saving product

Here’s the code:-

config.xml

<global>
<events>
<customer_address_save_before>
<observers>
<yourmodule>
<type>singletontype>
<class>yourmodule/observerclass>
<method>customer_address_save_beforemethod>
yourmodule>
observers>
customer_address_save_before>
<customer_address_save_after>
<observers>
<yourmodule>
<type>singletontype>
<class>yourmodule/observerclass>
<method>customer_address_save_aftermethod>
yourmodule>
observers>
customer_address_save_after>
<catalog_product_save_before>
<observers>
<yourmodule>
<type>singletontype>
<class>yourmodule/observerclass>
<method>catalog_product_save_beforemethod>
yourmodule>
observers>
catalog_product_save_before>
<catalog_product_save_after>
<observers>
<yourmodule>
<type>singletontype>
<class>yourmodule/observerclass>
<method>catalog_product_save_aftermethod>
yourmodule>
observers>
catalog_product_save_after>
events>
global>

Observer.php

class YourNamespace_YourModule_Model_Observer
{
public function customer_address_save_before($observer)
{
$address = $observer->getCustomerAddress();

//echo ”

”; print_r($address->getData()); exit;

// do something here
}
public function customer_address_save_after($observer)
{
$address = $observer->getCustomerAddress();

//echo ”

”; print_r($address->getData()); exit;

// do something here
}
public function catalog_product_save_before($observer)
{
$product = $observer->getProduct();

//echo ”

”; print_r($product->getData()); exit;

// do something here
}
public function catalog_product_save_after($observer)
{
$product = $observer->getProduct();

//echo ”

”; print_r($product->getData()); exit;

// do something here
}
}

Similarly, you can add your custom function to other events like sales_order_save_before,sales_order_save_after, sales_order_invoice_save_before, sales_order_invoice_save_after, etc.

Magento Community Tutorials #31 – Theming Magento 7 – Layout Files Structure

Alice — Thu, 16 May 2013 07:38:59 +0000

The 31st tutorial for Magento Commerce Community Edition and the 7th on Theming Magento. This tutorial gives a bit more in-depth, but still basic explanation of layout files in Magento.

Get Sub Category List Of Particular Parent Category In Magento

Alice — Thu, 16 May 2013 07:29:50 +0000

id=“category” class=“myinput-text required-entry widthinput” name=“category”>
php
$parentid=5; // parent id which you want sub category
$categories=explode(‘,’,Mage::getModel(‘catalog/category’)->load($parentid)->getChildren());
foreach($categories as $cat){
$category=Mage::getModel(‘catalog/category’)->load($cat);
?>
php echo $category->getId();?>“>php echo $category->getName();?>
php } ?>

Update Product Status (ENABLED/DISABLED) In Magento Programmatically

Alice — Thu, 16 May 2013 07:24:56 +0000

$productid=10;// product id which you want to change status;
$storeid=1 // your store id 0 is for default store id
Mage::getModel(‘catalog/product_status’)->updateProductStatus($productid, $storeid, Mage_Catalog_Model_Product_Status::STATUS_ENABLED);

Create Magento Plugin – Part 1: Magento Plugin’s structure

Alice — Thu, 16 May 2013 03:47:23 +0000

In a first tutorial, I promise to create a tutorial that allows you to create a complete module in Magento.
Basic knowledge:
Before you venture into magento, check that you have already a solid foundation in programming.

Prerequisite for developing Magento are:
- Have already installed Magento.
- Know what the MVC pattern.
- Know the object-oriented PHP (and PHP of course …)
- How does the whole template magento

The structure of a Magento module

In a magneto module there are 2 parties, the « code » and « templates ».

code determines the actions that the module will be able to achieve the interraction with the database etc … while templates are just the layout of the data sent by code.

Magento, the two parties will be placed at two different locations.

your « code » will be in
/app/code/local/monNameSpace/monNomDeModule/

while the « template » of the module will be in:
/app/design/frontend/monRepertoiredeTemplates/monTemplate (for the frontend)

And
/app/design/adminhtml/monRepertoiredeTemplates/monTemplate (for the backend)

The « code » of my template will contain the following elements:

Block : Where you go to the « controller » of your block

Controllers: the controllers of your module

Models: Performers of your module

Helper: of your helpers module

etc: the configuration of your module

sql: SQL query to execute to create your module during the instalation

Reminder on blocks:

Magento, a Block is a piece of your site that walks « alone », you can insert just anywhere. In fact, a block is a kind of « mini controller » that you can add anywhere on your site.

According to the page of your site, you can assign to different templates depending on the view you want to call it.

folder / app / code:

In this folder you will find three folders that contain:

Community: the plugins you have recovered (on magentoconnect for example).

Core: the default magento modules (especially not EDIT)

Local: the modules you have developed

Your duties until the next tutorial:

Try to browse the folders on your site to understand what I tell you. Open the files and try to understand.
Conclusion

the tutorial:

You have seen the structure of modules magento, if you do your homework you should understand a little better.

Does this sound a bit abstract for the moment? This is normal! That’s a lot of information at once.

In the next tutorial, we will begin the creation of our first module by creating the Controller.

Do not worry, trust me: we will create a complete module A to Z, step by step. We’ll take it easy and see everything that you seem a bit abstract in the first tutorial gradually become clear as we advance.

Magento Files and Folders Structure

Alice — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:00:47 +0000

This part of the Magento tutorial will provide detailed information regarding the Magento’s default files and folders structure.

You will learn more about the functions of main files and folders included in the Magento package.

The files and folders included in the main directory are as follows:

• .htaccess - contains mod_rewrite rules, which are essential for the Search Engine Friendly URLs. There you can also find standard web server and php directives that can improve your web site performance.

• .htaccess.sample - this is a backup of the .htaccess file. If you modify .htaccess it can be used in order to get the default settings.

• 404 (directory) – The folder stores the default 404 template and skin for Magento.

• app (directory) – This folder contains the modules, themes, configuration and translation files. Also there are the template files for the default administration
theme and the installation.

• cron.php - a Cron Job should be set for this file. Executing of the file on a defined time period will ensure that the complicated Magento caching system will not affect the web site performance.

• downloader (directory) – This is the storage of the web downloader files. They are used for the installation and upgrade of Magento through your browser.

• favicon.ico - the default favicon for Magento. A small icon that is shown in the browser’s tool bar once your web site is loaded.

• index.php - the main index file for Magento.

• index.php.sample - A backup of the default index file. It can be used to revert the changes in a case of a index.phpmodification.

• js (directory) – Contains the pre-compiled libraries of the JavaScript code included in Magento.

• lib (directory) – The Magento core code is located in this folder. It contains the software’s PHP libraries.

• LICENSE_AFL.txt - The Academic Free License under which the Magento software is distributed.

• LICENSE.txt - The Open Software License under which the Magento software is distributed.

• media (directory) – This is the storage of the Magento media files – images out of the box, generated thumbnails, uploaded products images. It is also used as a container for importing images through the mass import/export tools.

• mage (in versions older than 1.4.2.0 this tool was called pear)- The file controls the automatic update through the downloader script and SSH. It handles the update of each individual Magento module.

• php.ini.sample - This file contains sample php directives that can be used in order to modify your PHP setup. If you want to alter the default setup edit the file and then rename it to php.ini.

• pkginfo (directory) – Contains files with information regarding the modules upgrades’ changes.

• report (directory) – This folder contains the skin of the Magento errors reports.

• skin (directory) – There are located the themes files – images, JavaScript files, CSS files, Flash files. Also there can be found the skin files for the installation of skins and administration templates.

• var (directory) – Cache, sessions, database backups, data exports and cached error reports can be found in this directory.

If you want to modify an existing template or set a new one you should know that the template files are separated in 3 folders:

• /app/design/frontend/default/YOUR_TEMPLATE_NAME/layout/ - Contains the .xml files that define which modules should be called by the template files and loaded in defined areas on the site.

• /app/design/frontend/default/YOUR_TEMPLATE_NAME/template/ - Contains files and subfolders that structure the final output for the users using the functions located in the layout/ folder.

• /skin/frontend/default/YOUR_TEMPLATE_NAME/ - Contains the CSS, images, JavaScript and Flash files related to the template.

Magento Global Functions

Alice — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:42:30 +0000

Reinventing the wheel – what a cliche! Of course you don’t do it, at least not intentionally. And you hate being reminded of code reuse on those rare occasions when someone points to a function you wrote, which allegedly does the same as some other function somewhere in the framework. Yet it happens. Sometimes looking for blueprints for the wheel takes longer than hacking it out yourself. Sometimes you might do it just for fun. And sometimes you simply don’t know a ready solution exists buried in some obscure location in your framework. Magento is no exception – it does have some functionality left there by the core programmers, which is used extensively by the system and yet often overlooked by us, shop maintainers and extension developers.

A few such gems can be found in app/code/core/Mage/Core/functions.php. This file contains no class definition but globally available functions. This file is included early in the application initialization stage in app/Mage.php. Some of its functions may be of little use when developing extensions, since they do core system work. But some can come in handy whenever a trivial task presents itself and you have to:

1. Find out if a Directory is Writable in Magento

It is a true rarity, a Magento shop running on Windows. Still, improbable not impossible. Assuming you are in a Linux environment, this task can be easily accomplished by calling is_dir($path) and is_writable($path). Not so simple with Windows hosts. The function is_dir_writeable($dir) does some additional checks for such cases – by literally trying to write a file into the directory being checked. This function is used by Magento when checking writability of certain paths during a shop installation before creating var, tmp and cache directories. Obviously, it is a well-proven approach – why not use it?

2. Output a Current Date

A neat shortcut to generate a MySQL-compatible date string, meet now($dayOnly=false). Leave the $dayOnly empty or set to false to get a ‘Y-m-d H:i:s’-formatted string, otherwise it will output a short ‘Y-m-d’ representation of the current date.

function now($dayOnly=false)
{
return date($dayOnly ? ‘Y-m-d’ : ‘Y-m-d H:i:s’);
}

3. Recursively Delete a Directory in Magento

Ever needed to delete a deeply nested directory structure? Use mageDelTree($dir). Magento uses this function to, for instance, clear user sessions when they are stored on disk.

4. Find out if a Class exists in Magento

If you need to make sure an external dependency is available in your installation, check it with mageFindClassFile($class), where the $class parameter is a class name, e.g. ExtPackage_ExtModule_Model_Classname.

5. Use an Extended Version of ucwords

This nifty little function does the same as the regular ucwords. And more! If you need to uppercase words in a string that is separated by characters other than whitespace – you can save some extra lines of code here. Say, you have a stringmodulename_model_classname. Converting it into a valid Magento class name will require just one call

$className = uc_words(‘modulename_model_classname’);
//$className === Modulename_Model_Classname

This function can also swap separators. So if there is a stringmodulename/model/classname it can be converted into a valid class name by calling

$className = uc_words(‘modulename/model/classname’, ‘_’, ‘/’);
//$className === Modulename_Model_Classname

6. Parse a CSV String in Magento

Now this kind of task comes fairly often. This function will save you time writing a parser – even if such is simple and takes a minute. But why bother if the function already exists? And it can handle quoted values as well. Check it out:

mageParseCsv($string, $delimiter=‘,’, $enclosure=‘”‘, $escape=‘\\’)

The last parameter, however, is redundant and used nowhere in the function.

Symbolic Links in Magento

Alice — Wed, 15 May 2013 02:25:42 +0000

It is surprising how many people don’t know about symbolic links and do not realize how useful they can be. For instance you are running a test server with multiple instances of out shop configured as separate installations. You can easily update the source code by pulling it from a common repository. But what if you need to update you media files, which normally are not under version control? And what if there are tens of gigabyte of them? You don’t want to copy the files to each installation, instead copy them into one folder and set up symbolic links for the media folders of your test sites:

Creating a symbolic link (syntax):

ln -s [TARGET DIRECTORY OR FILE] [SHORTCUT]

For example:

ln -s /var/media /var/www/vhosts/test01/media
ln -s /var/media /var/www/vhosts/test02/media

How to set up Promotional Gift extension?

Alice — Tue, 14 May 2013 08:36:34 +0000

Do you know nearly 90% of free gift receivers said they were “somewhat likely” to buy more frequently from an online store after getting a gift? Instead of offering direct discounts, I’m thinking of an extension that gives you an edge by running marketing programs which offer Customers free gifts when they purchase at your store. Moreover store owners can comfortably create rules and reward purchases that reach your set conditions. A great idea for your new product launch campaigns, right? Yesterday I have found out a new extension from Magestore that satisfies all of our needs about a promotional campaign – Promotional Gift extension.

This brand new module helps you run marketing campaign which offers Customers free gifts when they buy a product at your store. Is there any store that does not want to run such popular campaign?

For example, if your store sells T-shirt, with the extension you can create such marketing campaigns:

Buy a Shirt, receive a Cap as a free gift
Buy up to $500, select a free gift: a Cap or a Belt
Use coupon code received (via mail, or direct…), get free gift

Features:

This extension enables you to freely create and set rules for promotional gift programs.

There is no limitation on the number of campaigns or the scope of application. In other words, you can give free gifts based on whatever products or order values.
Customers can be enabled to choose free gift they like if the conditions are satisfied.
You can set a limit on the number of Customers entitling to gifts.
Free gifts will be auto-added to cart following purchased products.
The quantity of free gifts is also auto-updated when quantity of main products has been updated.
You can create a coupon code for each program so that Customers can receive gifts when using that coupon on shopping cart page.
This extension supports many product types: Simple product, configurable product, bundle product and grouped product.

Offered gifts can be easily configured:

You can set certain gift(s) attached to a specific product or let Customers select the gift(s) they want from provided free items.
You will also be able to set up how many gifts a buyer could get for each item in your rewarding program.
Customers can select and edit options of gift items.

Information of Free Gift programs can be shown on many different pages

You can give Customers good impression by showing a separate Promotional Gift page showing all Promotional Gift programs and all products with free gifts
Free Gift information can also be shown on product listing pages and product pages
Promotional Gift message slider can be displayed on shopping cart and checkout pages.

Download it here:

http://www.magestore.com/magento-promotional-gift-extension.html

Demo Backend Frontend

Especially, when buying Promotional Gift Extension you will receive a Promotional Gift: 10 well-designed “Free gift” label (note that it will expire on June, 6^th). Why don’t you try it to see how this extension really works?