subject: How To Create And Customize A Magento Store? [print this page] Introduction: Introduction:
Magento is a very popular open source e-commerce software that is already empowering more than 60000 e-commerce businesses.
Magento engine installation procedure:
Start by downloading the latest Magento package. The latest version will ensure that earlier bugs and other issues are resolved. After downloading and extracting the files, upload them to the server through FTP. You may also do it through cPannel -> File Manager.
Set the necessary file permissions and change FTP mode to writable. You may do it via cPannel. If you dont feel comfortable making these changes, you can go though the whole Magento customization process with the help of Template Tuning services. Here you can order the template customization where the concerned developers will do all the necessary changes on your behalf.
Magento template installation procedure:
For a robust Magento development, you need to install Magento templates. Heres how to start the Magento template installation:
1. Open hosting control pane
2. Get to database management tool (usually phpMyAdmin is used)
3. Create new database
4. Import the dump.sql file from the template sources>sample data folder
5. Run your website (the installation procedure begins)
6. Enter all required data (host name, database name, user name, and password)
7. Go through all installation steps
8. Upload the app and skin folders from the template themeXX folder to your Magento root folder (accept the replacement)
9. Upload the media folder from the Magento template sources>sample data folder to the Magento root folder on your server
10. Refresh the website
Sometimes its required to clean the Magento cache:
1. Go to your_domain_name.com/index.php/admin
2. Select System>Cache Management
3. In Cache Control box check all options and in All Cache dropdown select Refresh
4. Then click Save Cache Settings in the top right corner
5. Open your website and refresh the page (CTRL+F5)
6. And now the most interesting and creative part of your web store customization
7. Once you have completed the Magento installation, you can proceed with the configuration of your web site
Web store customization procedure:
1. Configuration settings:
Navigate to System -> Configuration. Here you can configure the script options per your personal needs. Most options are self-explanatory.
2. Changing your stores name and Home page texts:
Do this with the help of Adobe Photoshop. Create a customized logo and upload your logo.gif file to the server so that it replaces the default one. Once you have completed, you may proceed with the Home page banners editing. Using the Horizontal Type Tool modify banner texts and then re-save them and upload to the server as described above.
3. Customizing HTML Title and Meta Data:
Navigate to the Magentos admin area. From there, go to CMS section. Click on the Manage Pages link in order to proceed with the pages modification. Here you will see the list of all existed sub-pages. Select the Home page to edit it. Home Page General Information will open. Edit the page title and add a description.
4. Managing Static blocks:
Static blocks is another useful option. For example, you can edit the footer block which contains the links located at the bottom of your main page.
5. Managing Polls:
The Poll Manager allows you to create and edit your polls.
6. Managing Categories and Products:
Open the Catalog section -> Manage Categories to set categories. Also go to Catalog -> Manage Products section to add products.
7. Managing Promotions:
From the Promotions section you can set promotions, define the rules for them and the customers groups for which the promotions are valid.
8. Managing Reports:
Go to the Reports section and monitor your sales, products, customers, shopping cart, reviews, tags and search terms.
Choosing a hosting provider:
When choosing the hosting services you should be guided first of all by other people reviews, prices and quality.
Website Promotion:
Select online promotion services for better visibility of your new store.
