Magento 2.3.3 New features

On Oct 8th, Magento announced the new version, Magento 2.3.3, bringing with its numerous significant platform upgrades and functional fixes. We were amazed when 2.3.0 was introduced with 11 exciting features -- some of which were represented for the first time. So let’s explore what’s different and what can we expect from this new 2.3.3 release.

What are the updates for Magento 2.3.3?

Here are the key updates according to the official Magento 2.3.3 release notes:

  • Substantial security enhancements
  • Core platform component upgrades boost platform security and support PCI compliance, including PHP 7.3.x, PHP7.2.x, Varnish 6.2.0, Zend Framework 2 Components
  • Performance boosts with new Generate “category/product” URL Rewrites; moving non-critical CSS elements to the bottom of the page; refactored jQuery/ui library
  • The WYSIWYG editor has been upgraded to TinyMCE v. 4.9.5
  • Introducing Adobe Analytics integration which allows to track user actions and events on the Admin.
  • Inventory Management enhancements
  • Expanded GraphQL functionality and improved coverage for PayPal payment integrations, gift cards, and store credit features.
  • PWA Studio 4.0.0 with new hooks in Peregrine.
  • Google Shopping ads Channel available as a bundled extension
  • Improved Magento Shipping
  • And multiple fixed issues

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Sample Magento 2 websites

What are some of the top Magento 2 websites around? We were curious to know too, so we went looking.

Here, we’ve curated a list of our favorite Magento 2 stores, including some of the earliest adopters, to inspire your own.

Whether you are about to migrate your Magento 1 store to Magento 2, or create a brand new Magento 2 store, this list is sure to give you new ideas and inspiration for improving your Magento 2 store.

Let’s dive in. Continue reading

Compile LESS to CSS

Magento 2 utilizes the LESS preprocessor to simplify theming. This makes theme customization intuitive and promotes the writing of reusable and maintainable CSS codes through features like variables, mixins, and inline imports.

From standpoint of a frontend developer, LESS compilation (aka CSS preprocessing) is one of the most important part of M2’s static content deployment that you work most of the time on your Magento 2 custom projects.

To help you understand the context of this subject, this post will explain in brief about the LESS preprocessor for Magento 2, three types of LESS compilation. It also walks you through steps to compile LESS in server-side compilation mode for customizing your theme styles. Continue reading

Interview Jim - Magento 2 Case study

So you’re launching a new Magento 2 store. One of the first things you’ll need to decide is if you should start with a premade theme with some customizations or if you need a fully custom theme developed just for you. Obviously, there are certainly pros and cons to both.

We asked Jim Weston of the Cellar2door.com a couple of questions about his experience using premium UB Mago theme and how all that came with using a fully Magento 2 Open Source platform.

Magento 2 theme case study - UB Mago

The case study indicates that if there is an existing premade theme that suits your needs, you will ideally get the best of both worlds: a solid theme framework from a premium Magento development vendor that has great support, updatability, community, etc. and you will also get the custom elements you’re after too.

Read on to learn about all factors before you making your final choice.
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Magento 2 CLI

Magento 2.0 has a Command-Line Interface (CLI) to help developers manage installation and configuration tasks. It saves a lot of time for developers during the development time. The new command-line interface can do many things, such as:

  • Installing Magento
  • Clearing the cache
  • Managing indexes, including reindexing
  • Configuring and running cron
  • Compiling code
  • Setting the Magento mode
  • Setting the URN highlighter
  • Creating dependency reports
  • Creating translation dictionaries and language packages
  • Deploying static view files
  • Creating symlinks to LESS files
  • Running unit tests
  • Converting layout into XML files
  • Generating data for performance testing
  • Creating CSS from LESS (CSS real-time compilation)

Let’s see how this feature works. Continue reading

magento 2 checkout improvements

According to Baymard Institute, a web research company in the UK, the average cart abandonment percentage is 69.23% (last updated: Jan 9, 2017).

Think about that. Clearly shopping cart abandonment is a big problem. Common reasons for checkout abandonment vary from shipping costs or additional taxes, shipping times or problems with the checkout such as too many steps, bad site performance etc.,

Since the checkout is one of the most crucial aspects to increase conversion, Magento 2 checkout has been completely redesigned from the ground-up. Unlike Magento 1.x, the new checkout gets a big overhaul with simpler 2-step navigation, standard anonymous checkout, payment method integration, dynamic delivery cost estimation.

The new Magento 2 checkout keeps your basket free of clutter, clean and faster. And with better checkout experience, it effectively reduces the chances of the customers abandoning their basket.

Let’s dive into those key features and improvements in Magento 2 checkout: Continue reading

Magento 2.2.2 Plus Xmas Bundle

Two days ago, Magento announced the latest release ver 2.2.2 with a few incredible new features.

Instant Purchase -- an Amazon-like one-click ordering -- is one of them. I’m going to share in more details about this feature below. If you’re looking for an effective way to eliminate cart abandonment, Instant Purchase is definitely a new enhancement you’re going to love.

There’s a good chance that you start planning for 2018, so we have been working hard on updates to make all our premium Magento 2 extensions fully compatible with Magento 2.2.2. Make sure you have all Magento 2 extensions you need (at a huge discount) to exceed your 2018 goals.

Instant Purchase: Amazon-like checkout experience

1-click checkout was a patent solution of Amazon way back in 1999. You might wonder why it was such a game changer? The answer is straightforward, it’s the simplest, fastest way to place an order. Most importantly, it allows customers to complete purchase with a single click using payment credentials and shipping information previously stored with Amazon. It means that when you click Buy now with 1-Click on any product page, it lets you skip the shopping cart and automatically creates an order for that product.

You see, the patent expired on Sept 12, 2017. This is an exciting news for ecommerce merchants everywhere, as it enables all merchants to use similar 1-click checkout technology without having to license it from Amazon.

Creatuity Brings One Touch Ordering to All Magento Merchants

Creatuity Brings One Touch Ordering to All Magento Merchants

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Magento 2 wallpaper pack

The Christmas is almost near the corner, and it’s also time to start looking forward to 2018, as it is shaping up to be another ambitious year to engage in many new and exciting updates from Magento 2.

We decided to create 5 Magento wallpapers in a variety of resolutions, feel free to download and use them for your desktops. We hope you will find one to refresh and invigorate your workspace in 2018.

Take a look, and enjoy!

Magento 2 Revolution:

Magento 2 Wallpapers pack from Ubertheme
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progressiveparts

People use UB Instant Layered Navigation for all sorts of things. Here’s the story of progressiveparts.com, a car parts store that bridges the gap between part suppliers, garages and end consumers themselves. And their story is truly inspiring.

We sat down for a Q&A interview with Ben Thomas, Progressive Parts’ founder about why they chose Magento 2, how it all came together and the process of building their store with UB Instant Layered Navigation extension.

Filter by Parts with UB Instant Layered Navigation

Filter by Parts with UB Instant Layered Navigation

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UB Mega Menu v1.0.5

Jan 31, 2020 Update: UB Mega Menu v.1.1.8 release is fully compatible with Magento 2.3.4 and natively supports Magento PWA Studio.
Nov 4, 2019 Update: New enhancement in UB Mega Menu ver 1.1.7 -- allows to restrict access to specific menu groups to selected customer group(s). Fully compatible with Magento 2.3.3.

We’ve just released Magento 2 Mega Menu version 1.0.5 for Magento 2.1.8, which we think you are going to like. Technically, this update is not just a Magento compatibility release, it has been completely revamped throughout LESS/CSS code base. If you look back at the original code of the old version, you can see that, this update offers such advantages as easier and unlimited customization. The version 1.0.5 introduces an absolutely new default style and restructures all existing 4 styles much simpler. Overall optimizations are to make the extension run smoother with the latest Magento 2.

And you can try it right now here.

UB Mega Menu members, just head to your profile at Ubertheme to download the latest version 1.0.5 and follow our user guide here to keep you up-to-date on what changes we have applied to UB Mega Menu.

Below I’d run you through the new 5 default styles -- a very brief Before & After changes in the Magento storefront layouts: Continue reading