[Solved] - How to Find Composer Name of Mageplaza Paid Extensions - Magento 2

Don't know why Mageplaza haven't still listed the composer name of their paid extensions. Look at the comment section of this tutorial: https://bit.ly/2Z9P7jC; you will see users asking for composer name, and still no solution is provided by them. Today I tried posting this solution as a comment in the aforementioned page, and each time my comment got deleted for reasons unknown to me. That's why I have decided to post this solution here.

The solution is very simple. Just download the extension, and look in the composer.json file. You will see a key/value pair entry as follows:

  "name": "mageplaza/module-search"  

Here module-search is the composer name of the paid extension Ajax Search for Magento 2.

NOTE: If you are installing Mageplaza extensions for the first time via composer, make sure to run the following command first:

 $ composer config repositories.mageplaza composer https://repo.mageplaza.com  

[SOLVED]: Module 'Amasty_Base' from 'app/code/Amasty/Base' has been already defined in 'vendor/amasty/base'

If you have been trying to install Amasty Extension(s) in your Magento 2 installation by using SSH, and run into this error 'Module 'Amasty_Base' from 'app/code/Amasty/Base' has been already defined in 'vendor/amasty/base'', use the solution below to resolve your issue.

This issue occurs if you have installed Amasty Extension(s) manually and the 'Amasty Base' file already exists inside the directory 'app/code/Amasty/Base.' & later when you try to install another Amasty extension using SSH, composer will notice this file in app/code and hence the error. Composer creates the 'Base' directory in the following location 'vendor/amasty/base'.

>> SOLUTION:

1. Go to the root directory of your Magento Installation.
2. Enter the following commands:

1:  composer remove amasty/composer_name_of_your_extension  
2:  rm -rf app/code/Amasty/Base  
3:  rm -rf vendor/amasty/base  
4:  composer dump-autoload  

3. Now INSTALL your Amasty Extension by running the following command:

1:  composer require amasty/composer_name_of_your_extension  
2:  php bin/magento setup:upgrade  
3:  php bin/magento setup:di:compile  
4:  php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy  

NOTE:

To find the composer name of your extension:

• Log into your Amasty Account
• Goto to My Downloads page and look under Composer Name column. See image below to get an idea.

Click on image to enlarge

[SOLVED]: Same Web Property ID Is Tracked Twice | Google Tag Manager | Magento 2

Click on image to enlarge

If your Tag Assistant is firing this warning 'Same web property ID is tracked twice' while testing in your Magento 2 site, then it's because you've enabled Google Analytic in your Magento store backend, and also in Google Tag Manager.

SOLUTION: Enable Google Analytics tracking either from your site's backend or by using Google Tag Manager, but not both.

Click on image to enlarge

If you want to use Google Tag Manager for Google Analytics then disable tracking from your site's backend.

[SOLVED] - Delete Categories in Magento 2 using MySQL & phpMyAdmin

You can use the SQL code below to DELETE your Categories in your Magento 2 installation. It will reset your categories to as it was after a fresh installation.

Copy the code below and execute it as shown in the image:

Click on image to enlarge

Successfully Install Porto/Magento 2 Theme Quick Start Package

This was the second time I was using Porto/Magento 2 theme in one of my project. The instruction provided in their documentation to install their Quick Start Package is not at all clear, and doesn't help at all. So, after some trial and error, I have found the following steps to work me, and sharing it with everybody here:

1. First Install a fresh copy of Magento with no sample data. Make sure your Magento's Version matches Porto's Quick Start Package version, else you will get error. Do not use table_prefix in your database. You can create table_prefix later on after successfully installing the Quick Start package.
2. After installing Magento, now unzip the Quick Start Package zip file in your Magento root folder.
3. Import the database provided with your Quick Start Package File. Don't use any table_prefix because the Quick Start Package database doesn't have any, and you will encounter errors if you use one.
4. Check whether the base-url in the core_config table are correct. If not set them to the admin-url you set in Step 1 during the Magento Installation process.

   

   Click on image to enlarge

5. Delete the following folder/files using the command below: 

    rm -rf var/di/* var/generation/* var/cache/* var/page_cache/* var/view_preprocessed/* var/composer_home/cache/*   
   

   If in localhost, you might have to use sudo to exectute the commands.
   
6. Run the following command:
   

    php bin/magento setup:di:compile  
   

   It will compile and generate the factory class and depended proxy classes. Also, if in localhost run the following command
   

    sudo chown -R www-data:www-data magento-folder  
   

7.  Clean your site cache.
8. The admin login that you created in Step 1 might not work now after importing Porto's Quick Start Package database, so create a new one using this tutorial: Create Admin User from Terminal in Magento 2.x.
9.  Activate SW Extensions, open command line in folder root of magento and run commands via ssh using putty or others, php bin/magento setup:upgrade.
10. Log into your site's backend and Select Smartwave Porto theme in Stores > Configuration > General > Design > Design Theme > Design Theme for Magento 2.0.x version, and select Smartwave Porto theme in Content > Design > Configuration page for Magento 2.1.x version. You can select Smartwave Porto RTL theme, if you want to build a RTL site.

Upgrade/Update Magento 2x Using Web Setup Wizard

NOTE: Depending on your server's computing power, the upgrading time may vary. For me it took a good 15-17 mins. I have trimmed/edited the video to shorten the process. So, once the check are successful and you START the UPGRADING PROCESS, do not terminate it, unless the whole process is complete and you see a SUCCESS message as shown in the end of this video.

[SOLVED] - Could not open input file: bin/magento in localhost and Magento 2x

If you are getting this error 'Could not open input file: bin/magento' while trying to run certain magento commands in your terminal in localhost, then you can try this solution which worked for me.

I ran into this issue, because I'd accessed the root directory of my Magento installation from my terminal. Everything was working fine until now. I then deleted my Magento installation, created a new folder with the same name as the deleted folder. Now remaining in the same terminal window, without changing path or closing the terminal, I was trying to run the magento shell commands. This was the reason I was running into the above error.

To solve this issue, I simply closed my terminal, opened it again, checked into the root directory of my magento installation, and now the commands were running fine.

Also check, while at the Terminal, you are inside the Root Directory of your Magento Installation, else you will get this ERROR again.

[Explained] - Multistore/Multisite Key Points & Concepts in Magento 1x/2x

>> Inventory

It is global across all the websites and stores. Either the product is IN STOCK or Not! If you need different inventories, you will have to use third party modules.

>> Fundamental Concept

A single installation of Magento can have multiple stores that share the same Admin. Multiple stores can share the same domain, be set up as subdomains of the same domain, or have entirely different domains. Stores that have the same IP address and domain, use the same security certificate, and share a single checkout process. If you want each store to have a dedicated checkout process under its own domain, each store must have a distinct IP address with a separate security certificate. Here are some examples of how URLs can be configured for multiple stores:

• yourdomain.com/store1 - Each store has a different path, but shares the same domain.
• yourdomain.com/store
• store1.yourdomain.com - Each store has a different subdomain of the primary domain.
• store2.yourdomain.com
• store1.com - Each store has a dedicated domain.
• store2.com

The important thing to understand is that the stores uses the same Magento code, shares the same Admin, and catalog. They can, however, have different identities, product selections, and themes.

The multi-store feature is one of the most important and powerful feature of Magento. (Multi store is also known as multi site.) It allows growing businesses to manage multiple websites and stores through one Magento installation under a single admin panel.

The primary purpose behind the Magento Store layer is the ability to sell various different products, structured within different categories to the same user base with the same checkout parameters.

Because the Magento Store Layer requires that you create a new Magento Store View you will have all of the functionality of the aforementioned, plus some additional functionality.

Magento uses the terminology of GWS (Global, Website, Store) to explain the ability to create multiple websites and stores through one installation. There is one more part called Store View that is added to each Magento installation automatically.

The three components of GWS are explained below:

• Global refers to the complete installation of Magento
• Website is the domain you are utilizing. Each domain or website can have multiple stores, while you can also have multiple domains on a single installation
• Stores are your actual product catalogue. Multiple stores can be created on a single domain or more than one domains
• Store View – Mainly for language or separate design on store-2-store basis

And while we are at it, I think it would be wise to explain the Store Views term too. Store Views can be defined as the multiple presentation of your front-end data. Most e-Commerce stores use this feature to have stores in multiple languages.

Click on image to enlarge

The only use of Magento Store View is for multi- language or different theme design. You will typically have one Store View per language.

>> Magento Multi Store

>>> Features that CANNOT be implemented in a multi-store:

• Payment Method: You will not be able to have specific payment methods for each Store
• Shipping Method: You will not be able to have separate shipping methods for each Store
• Products:
• You cannot change the tax structures within Stores
• You cannot manage a separate inventory with Stores
• Configuration Settings: You will not be able to manage ANY configuration settings between Stores

>>> Features that CAN be implemented in a multi-store:

• Products: You will be able to manage a completely different catalog between Store
• Categories: You will be able to manage a completely different category structure for each Store

Stores are ‘children’ of websites. They are your actual product catalog. Products and Categories are managed on the store level. A root category is configured for each store. They are your actual product catalog. Products and Categories are managed on the store level.

>> Multiple Magento Websites

The primary purpose behind the Magento Website layer is the ability to change every aspect of the customer experience, including the ability to manage a completely different set of customers for each Website.

In mutli-website — From one administration you can manage a few shops.

There’s essentially nothing that you cannot do with multiple Magento Websites. From the reporting and orders to the customer base and checkout configurations, you can manage everything with different parameters. Basically Multiple Magento Website is just like Multi-site in Drupal.

>> When to use Magento Multiple Website?

If you want to sell your products in several stores and have to change one of the following criteria in these shops, then you have to go for different websites:

• different price
• different tax classes
• different (base) currencies
• different payment options
• different shipping options

>> If you just create store groups, your customers will be able to log in to all shops with the same credentials whether you like it or not.

>> If you create websites, it's up to you whether your customers can log in to all shops with the same credentials.

>>  Conceptual Example

Imagine that you sell electronics, software and DVDs. For that you want to create 3 websites. You would like them on separate subdomains, so we have companyname.com/electornics, companyname.com/software and companyname.com/dvds.

In companyname.com/electornics store you would like to sell mobile devices and computers, thus you create 2 separate stores for them - Mobiles and Computers. Each of them has lots of categories and subcategories, so it makes sense to create separate category tree with own root category for each. From one website your clients can switch between the stores.

Additionally, Mobile phones you you need to be available in English and Spanish and Computers in English, Spanish and French. Thus, for ‘Mobiles’ you create 2 store views and for ‘Computers’ 3 Magento store views.

The following scheme illustrates the mentioned above:

Click on image to enlarge

 

WARNING!!!

When using Store Code in URLs, in some cases system may not work properly if URLs without Store Codes are specified in the third party services (e.g. PayPal etc.). – Setting s can be found at: Store >> Config >> General >> Web

Source: http://devdocs.magento.com/guides/v2.0/config-guide/multi-site/ms_websites.html

Updating Magento 2.1.x to a Newer Version

To update Magento 2.1.x to a newer version, say your current Magento installation is version 2.1.2 Community Edition, and you would like to update your Magento to the latest version 2.1.3 Community Edition, then use the following commands. Firstly open up your terminals and execute command as below:

Note: Don't use sudo while using composer for the reasons best explained here: http://bit.ly/2rDTRPk

 composer require magento/product-community-edition 2.1.3 --no-update  
 composer update  
 rm -rf var/di/* var/generation/*  
 php bin/magento cache:clean  
 php bin/magento cache:flush  
 php bin/magento setup:upgrade  
 php bin/magento setup:di:compile  
 php bin/magento indexer:reindex  

Same method can be applied for Updating Magento from:

• Magento 2.1.3 to Magento 2.1.4
• Magento 2.1.4 to Magento 2.1.5 and so on...

[SOLVED] - Disable Merged CSS & JavaScript using phpMyAdmin in your Magento Installation

If your Magento site is malfunction because of enabling CSS & JavaScript merging and minification, then you can apply the solution explained in the following page: https://magento.stackexchange.com/questions/80765/how-do-i-disable-merged-css-and-js

[SOLVED] - Web Setup Wizard/Component Manager Not Working - Magento 2

The first thing you need to do when you are unable to access your Component Manager page in your Magento 2x installation is to press F12, Click on Console & view the error message displayed there. Please look at the image below:

Click on image to enlarge

The message displayed in red are the error messages(s). With this error message in hand you will begin to get some idea about the direction you need to take to troubleshoot.

Click on image to enlarge

In my case, I copied the link that was causing the Error & tried to view it in the browser. When I did that I got new error messages generated as below:

Click on image to enlarge

This was the error I was getting precisely:

[RuntimeException]                                                                                                                                                                                                      
  Failed to execute git clone --mirror 'git@github.com:rusdragos/m2-weltpixel-backend.git' '/var/www/html/var/composer_home/cache/vcs/git-github.com-rusdragos-m2-weltpixel-backend.git/'  
                                                                                                                                                        

I checked the 'composer.json' file in the Magento root directory and found the above git command and simply removed it. & voila!, my problem got solved.

Redirect One URL To Another URL Using htaccess in Magento and Other Websites

Below is the technique which you can use to redirect a URL to another URL using htaccess in Magento or various other websites.

 Redirect 302 /en/php/index.php http://www.example.com/newpage.html  

Note: A 301 redirect means that the page has permanently moved to a new location. A 302 redirect means that the move is only temporary. Search engines need to figure out whether to keep the old page, or replace it with the one found at the new location. So, if your link has changed permanently then go for 301 redirect else go for a 302 redirect.

For various other redirect techniques you may check the link below:

http://bit.ly/2l91rf5

Reset Product ID to One (1) in Magento 2x

If you have deleted your sample products and would like to reset the product id to one (1) or any number of your choice, open up your phpMyAdmin or any MySQL client of your choice and enter the following command:

 ALTER TABLE `catalog_product_entity` AUTO_INCREMENT =1  

If you have used table prefix don't forget to append that as well before catalog_product_entity. Example: table-prefix_catalog_product_entity.

Product Automatically Converting To Virtual Product Instead of Simple Product in Magento

If you are experiencing a queer problem where by your products are automatically converting to virtual product instead of the default simple product then one of the reason might be —while creating the product, under the weight field you might be selecting the option - 'This item has no weight.' & when you do this Magento saves the products as virtual product. To save a product as simple product you must select the option as 'This item has weight.'

In case you have lots of product that are virtual and you would like to convert them to simple products, you can run this simple SQL query as below:

 UPDATE catalog_product_entity SET type_id = 'simple' WHERE type_id = 'virtual'  

product-automatically-converting-simple-product-virtual-product

Marketplace or Multi Store/Multi Website Solution in Magento 2 - Know which to use

Just like I had been all this while, you too must be confused between Marketplace or Multi Vendor/Multi Website solution, and unable to make your choice. In this post I will explain to you as to whether you should go for a Marketplace or Multi Store/Multi Website solution. There can be many reasons, but the ones below, were the ones that made me eventually go for a marketplace, in spite of successfully building a Multi Vendor Solution.

1. Marketplace: You should go for a marketplace solution if you are looking to provide the following features/services in your website:

• Multi Vendor Solution
• Ability for users to register as vendors and start selling their products on your website. All this can be done from your site's frontend which isn't the case with Multi Store/Website.
• Amazon/Ebay kind of solution

Fig: Multi Website/Multi Store (click on image to enlarge)

 2. Multi Store/Multi Website: You should go for a multi store/multi website solution in the following case:

• Use a single Magento installation to create several stores & websites which eases website maintenance related tasks.
  
• The following features are shared in a multi store setup:
• Payment Gateway (shared)
• Shipment (shared)
• Category (optional)
• Catalog is shared or not shared depending upon how you have set up your Category. If you have same category for all the stores then the products will be shared between all the stores. If you have separate categories for separate stores then the product can be restricted to each store. 
• Users are shared across all the store enabling single account log in across stores.
  
•  The following features are shared/not shared in a multi website setup, depending upon your configuration:
• Payment Gateway (Can be unique for each website)
• Shipping (Can be unique for each website)
• User account (Can be restricted or shared across websites depending upon your configuration)

Top Open-source eCommerce Marketplace Solutions 2018

Below I have complied some Top Marketplace solution for the year 2017. Please note the list below are Not as per Ranking. It's just I have listed it that way.

1. Ecommerce Engine: Prestashop

     Solution #1.1:  

          Module Name: Advanced Market Place Module
          Cost: $199

          Web: http://addons.prestashop.com/en/8057-advanced-marketplace.html

     Solution #1.2:  

          Module Name: Knowband Marketplace Module (Basic)
          Cost: Free

          Web: http://www.knowband.com/prestashop-free-marketplace-modules

     Solution #1.3:  

          Module Name: Knowband Marketplace Module (Premium)
          Cost: $159.99 $145.99

          Web: http://www.knowband.com/prestashop-marketplace

     Solution #1.4:  

          Module Name: Prestashop Advanced Marketplace
          Cost: $199

          Web: https://store.webkul.com/Prestashop-Advanced-Marketplace.html

2. Ecommerce Engine: OpenCart

     Solution #2.1:    

          Module Name: Multimerch
          Cost: $349-$749

          Web: https://multimerch.com/features/

     Solution #2.2:    

          Module Name: Webkul Opencart Marketplace
          Cost: $199

          Web: https://store.webkul.com/OpenCart-MarketPlace.html

     Solution #2.2:    

          Module Name: Clerkscart
          Cost: Free

          Web: https://store.webkul.com/OpenCart-MarketPlace.html 

3. Ecommerce Engine: Magento

     Solution #3.1:    

          Module Name: Magento Marketplace Multi Vendor Module
          Cost: $349

          Web: https://store.webkul.com/Magento-Marketplace.html

     Solution #3.2:    

          Module Name: Marketplace Multi Vendor Extension
          Cost: $349

          Web: http://bit.ly/2ccX7JS

      Solution #3.2:    

          Module Name: Medma Marketplace
          Cost: $299

          Web: http://bit.ly/2bTE8oN

      Solution #3.3:    

          Module Name: Vnecoms Market
          Cost: $349 - $399 - $999

          Web: https://www.vnecoms.com/magento-marketplace/

4. Ecommerce Engine: CS Cart

     Solution #4.1:    

          Module Name: CS Cart Marketplace
          Cost: $1450

          Web: https://www.cs-cart.com/compare.html

5. Ecommerce Engine: X-Cart

     Solution #5.1:    

          Module Name: Multivendor/Ultimate
          Cost: $1495 - $3955

          Web: https://www.cs-cart.com/compare.html

6. Ecommerce Engine: Dokan using WooCommerce/Wordpress

     Solution #6.1:    

          Module Name: Dokan
          Cost: $199 - $299 - $499

          Web: https://wedevs.com/products/plugins/dokan/#product-features

Unable to Create New User/Administrator in Magento 2.x

Yesterday, I tried creating an account from the Admin Panel but was unable to do so. After filling up all the fields in the User Creation Form and when I hit the Save Button, the screen would just get stuck with the rotating GIF image.

There are many causes to this issue but below I will discuss the one I experienced and how I resolved it.

The thing is, few days ago, I'd created a role called 'Store Owner' & assigned to it some permissions. Yesterday, I renamed the role to 'Store Manager' and assumed that like other CMS that I use viz. Drupal, changing the role name wouldn't revoke the erstwhile granted permission to the renamed role biz. 'Store Owner to Store Manager.'

Once I granted permission to the newly created role my problem was resolved.

Hope this helps!

Create Admin User from Terminal in Magento 2.x

If you would like to create Administrator accounts in your Magento 2x installation from your Terminal/SSH then try the following command:

N.B:The password must be at least 7 characters in length and must  include at least one alphabetic and at least one numeric character. A longer & more complex password is recommended. Enclose the entire password & other fields string in single quotes & NOT DOUBLE QUOTES.

For example: --admin-password=''A0b9%t_3`g'

 php bin/magento admin:user:create --admin-user='your_username' 

--admin-password='your_pass' --admin-email='your_email'

--admin-firstname='your_firstname' --admin-lastname='your_lastname'  

The following parameter & values are compulsory:

1. Name: --admin-firstname
   Value: Magento administrator user's first name.
   Required: Yes
   
2. Name: --admin-lastname
   Value: Magento administrator user's last name.
   Required: Yes
   
3. Name: --admin-email
   Value: Magento administrator user's e-mail address.
   Required: Yes
   
4. Name: --admin-user
   Value: Magento administrator user name.
   Required: Yes
   
5. Name: --admin-password
   Value: Magento administrator user password.
   Required: Yes

Change Admin URI/URL in Magento 2 using Terminal or Admin Page

First and foremost never change your Admin URI directly from the 'env.php' page because that alone isn't sufficient to change/update the URI. Best is to use the terminal because along with the URI value in the 'env.php' file, you will also have to change/update the following database values:

• db-engine
• db-model
• db-init-statements

If you update the admin-uri values using the terminal below is what you get:

Click on image to enlarge

1. Change Magento 2 Admin URI/URL FROM CLI/Terminal:

  php bin/magento setup:config:set --backend-frontname="your_admin_path"  

Note: No forward slash at the front or back of your path admin path.
Example:

  php bin/magento setup:config:set --backend-frontname="vXc12eR_1991"  

Note: Please do not use names such as 'admin' or your store name in the Admin URL.

1. Change Magento 2 Admin URI/URL FROM Store Back End:

 Click on STORES > Configuraiton > Advanced > Admin. Please view image below for example:

[Solved] - How to Change Table Prefix in Magento 2.x

Please follow the instructions below to change your Table Prefix in Magento 2.x:

1. Open the file 'env.php' located at ''app/etc/env.php'.
2. On line number 17 change your table prefix. Please look at the image below: