Chris Norton

Magento and the Zend Framework that it is built upon offer a complete abstraction of data access, which allows you to get on with the creation of higher-level logic without worrying about database access. However, sometimes you just want to be able to run a few key SQL queries directly and bypass the abstraction. This post details the most direct method of doing so in Magento.

To celebrate Australia Day, we're pleased to announce the release of version 2.0 of the Fontis Australia Extension for Magento. This is a major update to the extension, and includes new functionality to support the flexible generation of data feeds for three comparison shopping sites (Getprice, MyShopping and ShopBot) for member merchants.

Running Magento stores in Australia differs very little from any other country, but there are a few things that you need to do for compliance with ATO requirements and to ensure that Magento calculates taxes correctly. The following is an outline of the necessary configuration and settings you may need to consider when setting up Magento for an Australian store.

Product options add an extra level of flexibility for customisation of Magento products, and are particularly useful when configurable products aren't appropriate. Setting custom product options in bulk, such as via an import script, is not currently possible with the Magento DataFlow system, and would be time consuming to do manually. We can create a script in PHP directly that solves this problem, and allows enough flexibility to use for any number of different data sources.

Fontis is pleased to announce the official launch of the Magento Melbourne Users Group - MagMUG - and the inaugural meeting, taking place in two weeks time. MagMUG is an opportunity for anyone in the Melbourne area working with Magento to engage with others in the community.

Working with large Magento collections in PHP can often cause problems with memory usage and, to a lesser extent, computational overhead. The common method of loading all objects in the collection quickly becomes problematic as collection size increases. For stores with thousands of products or categories, chances are you'll be running into PHP memory limits more often than not. This post explains how to process collections in a less memory intensive way and should be a starting point for working with any large collection.

Sometimes, the unthinkable happens and an error occurs in your Magento system, causing everything to come grinding to a halt. Magento handles this by displaying a styled error page, which is better looking than a white page full of error text. However, the error page still doesn't look very professional, and potentially discloses information that could be abused by a malicious user. This post details a method for using a custom error page, and outlines some of the benefits of doing so.

Online retailing is a rapidly growing market and it is becoming an increasing necessity for anyone in retail in the 21st century to establish an online presence. Recognising this, National Media, a specialist B2B media and marketing company, are holding the inaugural Online Retailer Expo & Conference, which will focus on the state of eCommerce in Australia. It will also be a chance for retailers and vendors to make connections, share knowledge and ideas, and explore new business opportunities.

Fontis is pleased to announce that we will be exhibiting at this event, which will take place at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre on August 18th and 19th 2009. If you're interested in Magento or any of the other services and solutions we provide, drop by our booth and say hello. We'll have Magento demonstrations and materials available throughout the exhibition, and would be happy to chat about how we can help you grow your business online.

We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of Fontis M2M Sync for synchronising customers, products and orders between Magento and MYOB. Using our software will allow you to speed up your sales and accounting processes and eliminate the errors associated with manual transfer of the same information.

If your Magento site supports reviews and ratings for products, as many do, then adding a way to sort by product rating is a feature that your customers may appreciate. The following is a quick way to add in "Rating" as a valid sort selection in category toolbars.