November 21, 2018November 21, 2018

Magento 2 Knockout to be deprecated

Posted by Thejasree in Ecommerce, Magento

Magento 2 Knockout to be deprecated

MeetMagento New York took place this month and Anton Kril(Magento Director of Architecture) casually mentioned that the current Knockout-based frontend would be deprecated in favor of the new PWA frontend. It stirred up some things in the community. People were shocked. My reaction: Well, … why be surprised?

Recap of the current frontend

End of 2015, Magento 2.0 was released and since then, frontend developers have been bashing it: The inclusion of jQuery was labeled a main feature, while most frontend devs already saw jQuery as outdated. KnockoutJS was included, while seen by many as deprecated. RequireJS was still a popular feature, but you could use imports and then transpile with Babel, so why all that trouble?

Additionally, Magento had added numerous JavaScript libraries on top to glue everything together, making things unreadable (KO observable linking, to name one ugliness). On top of this, the JavaScript layer was just one piece of this complex puzzle, that also included XML layout, Block classes, PHTML templates. And LESS.

Magento has listened to our feedback

Some frontend developers did not like this frontend. Nowadays, most frontend developer don’t like it. However, since the very beginning that the Magento core developers started listening to this feedback (around Magento 2.0), there were plans to make things easier. Magento started to focus more heavily on JavaScript patterns, modern tools, headless. There were hackathons, DevExchanges, Contribution Days.

Magento listened to our feedback. We were complaining about the old M2 frontend, we are getting a new M2 frontend. This is something to be excited about, regardless of whether you are ready for it.

It was to be expected

In 2017, the plans of PWA Studio were shaped: Around the summer of 2017, it was evident something needed to change radically. A choice for React and Redux was made (React being the most popular JS tool at that time). And the first steps toward a Magento-native PWA solution were taken.

The attention for PWA in general has been overwhelming since. If you have not caught up with this, you have been missing out hugely on what is playing in the community. Everybody feels the same way: The current frontend is too complex, PWA is the right next move. This was to be expected from the moment that Magento announced their plans with PWA Studio and GraphQL.

The current KO frontend is to be deprecated

The next question is: Will PWA Studio and the KO frontend co-exist? Well sure, they will co-exist for some time. The current KO frontend should be seen as complex, but kind of stable. It works, even though it is hard to make changes to it. But the PWA approach is hugely different: It receives data via a GraphQL API instead of Blocks (with XML layout and PHTML). It is built in JavaScript instead of a mix of JS and PHP. It requires a different workflow.

Maintaining two frontends with such huge differences is insane. Asking Magento to support both frontends – with no time limit – is asking Magento to keep outdated ugliness alive, so that no effort can be put into new upcoming technologies. That’s just stupid. PWA is the future, so it seems entirely logical to deprecate the current KO frontend at one point in the future.

Big question: When?

Anton announced the KO frontend is to be deprecated. This is entirely logical. The big question is when? It is not this year, it is not next year, it is some time in the future. Some people of the community were quick to start bashing this announcement. They asked “What about my customers? They are now migrating to Magento 2 with KO as the frontend. Is their shop dead in 2 years’ time?”

This is the same overreacting that follows every announcement of Magento 1 End-of-Life. The world is not going to end when Magento stops developing the KO frontend. And major bugs will still be fixed. It simply does not make sense to develop new features in KO. Magento 1 is also still there, but it does not mean that you should build new Magento 1 shops – it means that you can still support Magento 1 customers. While you should know better: Magento 1 is deprecated. And we have been given time to migrate.

PWA is the future, pay attention

Anyone running on deprecated software should be planning for upgrading. That’s why the term deprecated is used – it is meant to allow us transition from old to new. And I am repeating myself by saying the old frontend sucks, the new does not. PWA is the future. Pay attention to it.

Help you customers that are now migrating to Magento 2 by explaining them that Magento 2 is such a wonderful platform that things are improving constantly. The previous KO approach has proven to be less efficient for junior developers. That’s why Magento is going to focus on a more adaptable frontend. It does not mean that the old software is going to disappear, it simply means better software is underway – it’s life.

Frontend technology is changing

Another aspect to note is that Magento chose for Knockout in a time when React and Vue were not there. Back then, the choice might have been between Knockout and Angular. And I personally agree with Magento folks that the choice was for Knockout. However, that’s half a decade ago. And frontend technology is changing rapidly. The running joke is that every week a new JS library appears. And it’s true.

The big issue is that Magento can’t change that quickly: It is a giant, it needs to move slower. It needs to guarantee stability to all users. Removing something needs to be planned carefully and way in advance. Also, if you are going to make a drastic change to catch up (say: swapping one JS framework for another), it is going to have a huge impact: And because of this, we are seeing so many major changes – React, PWA Studio, GraphQL, CQRS and much more. It is a major leap to prepare for the future. In this, Magento is not leading the charge, it is following. But not following would mean fading away.

You can still stick to the old stuff

The shift to a new frontend is not a bad thing. It is just that it is one major move. And with every major move, you need to make sure you as a developer or as a business are moving along with it carefully. This does not mean that you need to be ahead of the curve. You can also watch the early adapters doing their thing and learn from their mistakes.

You can stick to the Luma theme, LESS compilation, Knockout/Require for years to come. Extensions will support it, developers will know about it. And it will be supported for quite some time – perhaps 2 years, perhaps a bit more (which is a really long time compared to the time in which frontend changes are normally taking place). And still after that, your clone of Luma will not stop working, once official support for it is dropped.

Look into your own future

However, consider this: Sometime in the future, you will need to shift from Luma to something else. Perhaps because of PWA, perhaps because of you moving away from Magento, perhaps because Magento no longer exists. Have you planned this already? Have you already decided on what this new frontend is going to be? If you are just following the crowd, simply embrace the fact that the crowd is now in full choosing PWA (with either React or Vue being the main framework). If you are not following the crowd, note that Magento is working hard on giving you flexibility instead (by using the headless approach).

One day, the KO frontend will cease to exist. One day, Magento will cease to exist. One day, the world will cease to exist. The further you look into the future, the harder it becomes to predict things. My advice is just to look ahead in the future for a couple of years time. It’s exactly in that timeframe that you will need to refactor your frontend skills. Because frontend technology changes every year. And with Magento, I’m glad that it changes now in 3 years time.

Think about what you want to deprecate

You will need to plan for this future. Things are about to change. And in the near future, frontend technology is changing rapidly – outside of the scope of Magento, but because of that, also with Magento itself. Carefully plan your strategy around this. Get ready in time.

Whenever something is changing, something old is left behind. That’s what Magento is doing: It is changing, therefore leaving something old behind. That something is the current KO frontend, that we can live without easily, as long as it is replaced with something much cooler. And PWA is much cooler. Even better, Magento has not announced this change when they are actually making it, they are announcing it way in advance, so that we have years still to prepare. So that you can prepare. Don’t complain about it, plan around it. Hopefully, this little flame is something you can share. Because I think it is making the future of Magento brighter.

August 22, 2018October 18, 2018

MAGENTO OPEN SOURCE VS MAGENTO COMMERCE

Posted by Thejasree in Ecommerce, Magento

Which platform is right for your business?

Magento Community Edition is now known as Magento Open Source, whilst Magento Enterprise and Magento Cloud Edition become Magento Commerce.

All versions of Magento share the same core code base with Enterprise adding additional licensed features. This provides a secure and scalable solution for your eCommerce business and a potential migration path between versions. Which Magento platform you choose really depends on your business needs and future growth plans.

With so much varying advice out there, we appreciate it’s not an easy decision. So, if you’re looking to migrate to or build on Magento, we’re hoping to provide a bit more clarity on which version is the right one for you.

MAGENTO OPEN SOURCE FOR STARTUPS AND SMALL BUSINESSES

Magento Open Source provides all the basic performance and features needed to run an eCommerce store. It is the license free version of Magento which makes it more accessible for startup businesses and small businesses who are potentially new to the industry or have a limited budget. Although this version does not have the same capabilities as Magento Commerce, it can be customised through additional extensions or custom development.

Both Open Source and Commerce users can take advantage of Magento 2’s improved capabilities including Varnish caching, browser caching, asynchronous processing, and page minification and merging. Plus, they have the same access to the Magento Marketplace, which enables you to purchase additional Magento 2 extensions to further your website functionality.

Despite this, Open Source will not scale operationally as you grow which may cause issues in terms of offering eCommerce service in the future, and it does not offer Magento’s support (which means you will have no assistance if your platform crashes… even if it’s in the middle of Black Friday!) It’s also important to note that, whilst it is entirely possible to upgrade from Magento Open Source to Magento Commerce, the ease of doing this will be impacted by the amount of customisation which has taken place. For example, not all third party modules are compatible with Enterprise and as a result of this some refactoring may be required.

In summary, we believe this is the ideal platform for startups and smaller businesses and despite its drawbacks, there are a number of well-known retailers who’ve managed to adapt their Open Source website to keep up with their growing requirements and customer expectations.

MAGENTO COMMERCE FOR AMBITIOUS AND ESTABLISHED BUSINESSES

For businesses looking for something more secure and operationally scalable than Magento Open Source, Magento Commerce offers a more robust option with enterprise-level features right out of the box. Depending on the size of your business, Magento Commerce is available in two monthly pricing tiers, the Starter subscription starts at $1,999 per month, whilst the Pro subscription starts at $3,399. Each plan includes support and Cloud-based hosting and infrastructure, which means Magento will handle any hosting challenges such as redundancy, disaster recovery and dynamic scaling.

Whilst marketing tools can be integrated with Open Source, Magento Commerce boasts a range of advanced marketing tools including content scheduling, dynamic customer segmentation, cart abandonment emails and personalisation tools which have seen users increase sales significantly.

The Magento Commerce admin also allows return and exchange rules, and other customer service features such as gift wrap options, wish lists, gift cards and store credit. Vital features for any brand interested in improving their brand loyalty and increasing repeat sales.

Not only this, Magento is constantly improving their platform through ongoing research and development, so if you have an enterprise license you will benefit from this and get immediate access to any new features they implement.

Magento Commerce is designed for larger organisations and is ideal for those who require reliability and availability. It offers one native platform for B2C and B2B with the option to add as many storefronts as you want. For B2B retailers it is the ideal option as it includes everything you need to manage B2B sites for multiple brands, channel partners, or key accounts.

Key feature differences between Magento Opensource & Commerce Editions

As we’ve established, at a fundamental level the code base for both Editions is the same, however certain features are only available in the Commerce edition (Note: these are some of the key features, but please contact us for a more comprehensive list):

Features	Opensource	Commerce
License Costs	Free	Revenue based license cost (tiered) For license prices tailored to you contact Magento Sales
Responsive Ecomm website (Global capability)	✔	✔
Promotions Engine / Product & Catalog Mgt	✔	✔
Checkout, Payment, Shipping & Order Mgt	✔	✔
Site management (admin)	✔	✔
ElasticSearch	✕	✔
Bluefoot CMS in 2.2	✕	✔
Magento Order Management	✕	✔
Content Staging & Preview	✕	✔
Magento Shipping	✕	✔
OOTB B2B Functionality (in v2.2)	✕	✔

August 3, 2018August 3, 2018

Magento Commerce 2.2.5 Release

Posted by Thejasree in Ecommerce, Magento

Exciting news for the Magento community as Magento Commerce 2.2.5 was recently released. This release includes multiple enhancements to product security plus bug fixes and enhancements. Check out the over 150 community-contributed fixes!

Although this release includes these security enhancements, no confirmed attacks related to these issues have occurred to date. However, certain vulnerabilities can potentially be exploited to access customer information or take over administrator sessions, so we recommend that you upgrade your Magento software to the latest version as soon as possible.

What’s new for Magento 2.2.5?

Enhancements that help close stored XSS, SQL injection, and cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities.
Resolution of issues that customers were experiencing when upgrading to Magento 2.2.4 in deployments that span multiple websites. Magento multi-store installations were not using the store view-specific values from the store configuration settings if these settings differed from the global default configuration settings. Instead, Magento used the default configuration for all store views.
Substantial improvements to indexing performance.
Over 150 community contributions.
Improvements to core bundled extensions.

Core Code Improvements:

Merchants can now run the catalog search full text indexer and category product indexer in parallel mode by store view. Refactoring of the catalog full text indexer has improved indexing performance up to 15% for very large profiles (600,000 products) and product catalogs with many configurable options (5,000 configurable products and 500 options).
Improving the behavior of swatch product attributes search result page performance up to 31% for catalogs with many configurable product options.

Community contribution:

To improve checkout flow and the sorting of simple products Community contribution made some fixes
Customers can now create an account from the Order Confirmation page.
Magento now correctly applies coupon codes that exclude bundle products.

Magento Shipping:

This release of Magento Shipping adds the following:

With core returns, merchants can select carriers to use for returns and send a return label along with forward fulfillment.
Batch processing increases automation and merchant efficiency by making it easier to process a large volume of shipments in batches.
Collection points provide the ability for customers to designate a drop point rather than residence for delivery by carrier.

This release of Magento Shipping also includes additional minor enhancements, such as pagination to improve the Admin experience and multi version API.

Catalog Search Improvements:

Merchants can now run the catalog search full text indexer and category product indexer in parallel mode by store view. When you import new products using a CSV file, Magento no longer lists as in stock any products whose CSV values indicate that they should be represented as out-of-stock.

Improvements to Indexing Performance:

The search indexer is now scoped and multi threaded, which improves layered navigation, search, and indexing actions for complex sites with multiple store views and shared catalogs.

Visual Merchandiser:

Improved the performance of editing or saving products in large categories (more than 18,000 products per category).

Improvements to Bundle products:

You can now successfully delete an option from a bundle product. Magento now correctly applies coupon codes that exclude bundle products. Previously, Magento applied these coupons but did not exclude bundle products as expected.

Enhancements to the newly integrated Tax Calculation Extension:

Merchants can now create a Vertex invoice refund as expected after an order has been canceled. The correct tax amount is now included as expected in the Order Total that is listed under the Order Summary section of the Orders page. Improved the performance of the Admin Create Order and Performance Compare Report in Plain Text – Catalog (server side) actions. Customers no longer receive a notice about negative tax amount after a merchant creates a refund on Vertex Cloud.

Need help in upgrading your Magento site or extensions to the latest Magento release? E-mail us at info@henceforth.com or send a request for a Free Quote today through our website.

November 9, 2017November 9, 2017

Why should you upgrade to Magento 2

Posted by Thejasree in Ecommerce, Magento

The world of Ecommerce is always expanding, and to keep pace Magento 2 has released a newer version. Magento 2.2 will be the latest update to the most popular Ecommerce platform on the internet, and is going to mainly include new features that improve upon its Business-to-Business (B2B) functionality.

Along with the added features for Ecommerce stores to improve business operations, Magento 2.2 also brings functionality updates to enhance its general performance.
The B2B segment of e commerce is rapidly growing and is expected to reach the milestone of $6.7 trillion within just a three years.
Magento currently holds 14% of the market share for ecommerce platforms. With the release of Magento 2, it’s possible this percentage could increase.
Magento 2 comes with features that make it a better platform overall. It competes with other top platforms like Shopify and Woocommerce.
Compared to Magento 1, Magento 2 will run an average of 20% faster. Faster site speed encourages more sales and increases website search engine optimization.

Performance:

Client-side optimizations, such as minimizing and bundling JavaScript, compressing images, and improving the use of browser caching for static content to decrease page load times. Server-side improvements, such as integrating Apache Varnish caching, enable faster performance out-of-the-box with minimal tuning.

Scalability:

Standalone databases for key subsystems like order management, product management and checkout; combined with support for MySQL Cluster, enable Magento to scale to handle rapid growth.

Comprehensive backend improvements enable larger teams to make product updates and process orders at the same time without diminished performance.

User-friendly checkout:

The checkout process in Magento 2 is more streamlined, making it quicker and easier for customers to go from cart to completed order. It’s highly customizable and requires less steps and customer information. Reducing the checkout time is huge for reducing abandoned carts and increasing conversions.

When a customer goes to checkout, they are brought to a default guest checkout screen where they enter an email address. If this matches an existing customer, they are given an option to checkout faster with saved information. Guests can create an account in one click from the order Thank You page. These features encourage repeat customers.

Security:

To secure potential weaknesses with the Magento platform, the 2.2 update removes unserialized calls from its performance code to eliminate the vulnerabilities they allow. On top of that, Magento has added a hashing algorithm to better protect the information of its users.

Signifyd is a fraud protection service made for Ecommerce webstores that was originally only available with the use of an extension. The Magento 2.2 update, however, offers Signifyd to every one of its users off the bat.

Key integrations:

Magento 2 also integrates a lot of popular extensions so stores have better functionality out of the box. This includes payment gateways like PayPal and Braintree. These are payment platforms the majority of Magento users choose to integrate anyway, so Magento 2 makes it a lot easier.
Better admin interface:

The admin interface of Magento 2 now includes drag-and-drop layout editing. This means you don’t need extensive coding knowledge to modify an online store’s appearance. Create a beautiful store in half the time.
More mobile-friendly:

It comes with new responsively designed (and SEO-friendly) themes, integrated video, and easier checkout. These all improve the look and function of Magento stores on mobile devices, thus encouraging mobile sales.
Improved CMS Content Interface:

Improved WYSIWYG interface has more option then the previous WYSIWYG interface used in magento 1.x so you have the more power in content creation.

August 21, 2015August 26, 2015

Is Magento the best e-commerce platform on the market today? You bet it is.

Posted by Sathya in Ecommerce, Magento

What Separates Magento As a Leading eCommerce Platform

The rise of technology has provided business owners with a variety of new opportunities to enhance growth and promote sales in a cost-effective manner. With the ability to master trends such as social media, paid media, search engine optimization and website design/development companies now have the advantage of being specialized in one leading platform or skilled trade and dominating that niche. Businesses that have not managed to integrate into the technological world may find their brand diminishing, even if they were previously at the top of their industry’s tier. E-Commerce makes it possible for consumers to buy and sell online with no barriers of distance or time, providing an important element of convenience.

Consider how Cyber Monday has quickly become just as popular as Black Friday; the customer now has the option of avoiding long lines and early morning hours and can even wear their pajamas while purchasing an item with the click of a button. E-Commerce makes it all possible, benefiting both the business and the client. Imagine the world before E-Commerce; sales were limited to a storefront and a local demographic. Purchasing online opens up the ability to sell to any demographic, whether local, nationwide and even internationally.

Choosing the right online storefront or platform may prove difficult, especially when so many are available that offer so many different varieties of features. Considering efficiency of use and end satisfaction of consumers plays a role in the success of any business endeavour, Magento is a great solution for your brand. This open source content management system provides many features to enhance online sales and promote your brand. Optima has outlines some of the features it offers:

Manage more than one storefront at a time from a single admin panel. Magento allows users to integrate several different domain names into one control panel, regardless of how many IP addresses and security certificates are used.
Customize your storefront with a variety of unlimited professional themes; users can swap themes between permanent designs or temporary ones for season-specific sales.
Orders can be edited, created, viewed and fulfilled within the admin interface, providing clients with easy ordering solutions. Users can conveniently view the full history of their transactions and businesses can quickly create multiple invoices.
Post multiple images of a product with zoom-in capabilities and post product reviews to captivate a client. The shopping experience is enhanced in every way possible, making the call for action greater.
View reports with the click of a button and take advantage of the most important aspect of any eCommerce site – Google Analytics is integrated into Magento. Business owners can view their most-viewed products, reports of abandoned shopping carts and much more!

Perhaps the reason Magento stands above other CMS platforms is the same reason WordPress has become more popular than other website content tools; as Gauss Development puts it, “Since this is open source software, developers can modify the source code and add features and functionality by creating or installing add-ons and plug-ins.” The ability to have total control of design elements makes this platform stand above the rest!