What is Magento and Why is it Important?
Magento platform is the most widely used CMS for doing business on the Internet today. This engine is commonly used to manage online stores.
The first version of the program was launched in 2007, and in 2011 it was purchased by eBay Inc. Despite the fact that the authors of this platform are US developers Roy Rubin and Yoav Kutner, 99% of its programmers are Ukrainians.
More than 150 thousand online stores have been created and are effectively operating on the Magento platform today, in particular, such online commerce giants as: Samsung, Gap, Lenovo, 20th Century Fox, Olympus and many others.
The pricing policy of the Magento platform is quite flexible, offering customers three different editions of the program:
- Free version (community edition) – freely available.
- The standard version (Magento go) with 4 payment rates ranging from $ 15 to $ 125 per month. features: a trial period of 1 month and a limited number of titles that can be added to the site (no more than 10 thousand).
- The premium version (enterprise edition) costs from 15 thousand dollars a year and provides customers with a full range of services, such as personalized service, and other benefits. Magento enterprise edition withstands up to 350 million catalog views and 487 thousand orders daily.
The purpose of the Magento platform
Thanks to its great power and performance, this engine is ideal for high-traffic online stores. The first version of the program had some shortcomings – installation complexity, inconvenience for users, incomprehensibility of the administrative panel for clients.
For small online stores Magento will be too heavy and expensive platform – for such projects it is better to choose simpler CMS.
Magento Platform: Advantages and Disadvantages
Among the advantages of this CMS are a large number of built-in functions and modules, the ability to scale, expand, as well as a huge number of templates for any topic of the online store.
The main disadvantages of Magento are considered to be too heavy administrative part and complex structure of the system itself. Therefore, it is not suitable for most untrained users and requires an experienced PHP programmer with experience working with this CMS in the team.
How Do I install Magento?
The process of installing the Magento platform is quite complicated, therefore you can get More Info on the official site, it requires a lot of experience with it and deep knowledge. Nevertheless, there are 5 main steps that you will definitely have to take during the installation of the system:
- Select the desired Magento version. it should be borne in mind that it is better to make new installations based on the second version of the program
- Make sure to install the correct version of php, MySQL, apache on your server
- Upload the Magento files to the server and start the installation process
- Install sample data (this is optional)
- Check the installation, making sure that the admin panel and the user part are working correctly
Where Can I Find Magento Themes and Extensions?
Magento themes can be purchased or obtained for free. Typically, the themes customers buy are always of good quality. The free versions are usually not as good and often lack support. However, they are perfect for testing an online store or a small online project. You can find free Magento themes and extensions and read reviews on Magento Connect.
Magento: Alternatives
If you are using a different platform or to add a small online store, it is better to use good plugins for the already installed CMS, rather than add a new engine. For WordPress, WooCommerce is considered the best plugin, and DrupalCommerce is ideal for the Drupal platform.
If you do not want to use too complex and high-tech CMS for online commerce, stick to an online store that will allow you to manage everything you need without a lot of money, and at the same time will have an easy installation and management.
10 Reasons for CMS
Choosing a management system for creating an online store is the main problem that all business owners face. Much, if not all, depends on the site. It is important that it provides:
- ü convenience of administrators
- ü high level of usability for clients
- ü many features that increase the level of sales
Today, there are various sites where stores are constructed. It would seem that there will be no problems with the choice. But it is precisely such a rich variety that leads to the fact that users, business owners are lost. They cannot properly assess each platform and make the right choice.
What is Magento: Key Takeaways
Magento is a modern and functional engine, which provides everything for creating cool inter no-shops. In addition, a large number of modules and plugins are offered.
Development time and cost of an online store on Magento depends on the complexity of the project.
