My Magento New Year’s (2013) Resolutions

With the start of a new year, why not have yet another article discussing resolutions? Of course, this time I will not talk about eating less candy or going to the gym; instead, I will discuss my personal New Year’s resolutions as a developer when it comes to the Magento e-commerce platform. Even if you […]

By Joel Holtzman

Magento 2013
Magento 2013

With the start of a new year, why not have yet another article discussing resolutions? Of course, this time I will not talk about eating less candy or going to the gym; instead, I will discuss my personal New Year’s resolutions as a developer when it comes to the Magento e-commerce platform. Even if you are not a developer, pay close attention to these resolutions as they will have more of an impact on your website than you may realize.

Resolution #1: Learning Magento 2.0

Magento 2.0 will be a unique system in terms of its architecture as well as it’s implementation. While it is not ready for live production at this time, it will be ready at some point in the spring (the current ETA) and it will be important to make sure that all prospective clients enjoy this new and improved version which offers an estimated 20% increase in load time as well as a host of other benefits for developers.

Resolution #2: Try To Not Re-Invent The Wheel

Sometimes, rather that spend a ton of client’s money to develop a custom Magento module, search for already developed and tested modules. We have developed a good relationship with some developers of 3rd party modules and can offer faster turnaround with unique requests due to these relationships. From advanced shipping and handling logic to multiple coupon usage, we will use the full power of Magento and third party software to save development time and money going forward.

Resolution #3: We Will Always Recommend A Magento Dedicated Host

If you want to run a website with a decent volume of traffic and hundreds, if not thousands, of products then it is mandatory to have a dedicated host (Such as Nexcess).
One thing we will be certain to recommend is to see if you can have a separate database server separate from the magento files, as well as using a Content Delivery Network, to ensure faster loading times for your website and less negative impact on your server resources.

If you need help with your Magento store, call 845-656-3000 or Contact us here »

Resolution #4: Avoid Storing Credit Card Numbers

Despite the wishes of some clients it is important that we remain consistent with one request – do not store credit card numbers on the website’s database. There is simply no need to run this security risk considering the options available to any website owner such as Paypal Payments Pro or Authorize.net. When storing credit card information  on your Magento website it needs to be PCI compliant which is long ad painstaking process.

With Paypal Payments Pro you can have people enter their credit card number on your secure shopping cart page and receive a response from Paypal that tells Magento if the order was processed or declined. The best part is the customer never leaves your website during this process and you do not have to store the card information.

With Authorize.net, you can use the same kind of system that allows the server to notify the customer of a processed order, or a decline, without them leaving the shopping cart page. Best of all, both Authorize.net and Paypal are compatible with Magento out of the box so all you have to do is provide your Paypal or Authorize.net settings and you can start taking orders right away.

Summary

While these resolutions can apply to myself and all of us at Shero Designs, make sure you apply these resolutions for yourself as well should you have a Magento website or plan to have one in the future. If you have any Magento related questions, please do not hesitate to ask or commnet below. Have a happy New Year and thank you for your time. Best of luck with your Magento website in 2013.

Magento Development Lead