Design, develop, and deploy feature-rich Magento online stores with PHP coding

Extend and customize the Magento e-commerce system using PHP code

Set up your own data profile to import or export data in Magento

Build applications that interface with the customer, product, and order data using Magento's Core API

Packed with examples for effective Magento Development

In Detail

Magento is the most powerful e-commerce solution around and has gained popularity in a short period of time. You can create and manage online stores using the extensive suite of powerful tools it offers. However, because of its powerful features, developing with Magento can be easier said than done.

This book will show you how to develop better and do more with the Magento. You will be able to extend and customize modules for the Magento system without editing the core system code. It will show you how to create both basic and advanced functionality modules for your store and help you turn your ideas for extending Magento into reality by building modules from scratch.

This book starts by walking you through the server requirements for installing Magento making sure Magneto's installation and upgrade process can fit into your workflow and suit your hosting environment setup. Then it runs through the architecture behind Magento's system, covering the core file structure and how the template system works. You'll also learn how to build a basic shipping module, payment module, and a brand management module for Magento. As you delve deeper into the book you will learn how to integrate your favorite CMS into Magento for data portability.

By the end of the book you will be able to take your basic knowledge of Magento and turn it into something advanced that will help you develop turn your ideas for extending Magento into reality.

What you will learn from this book

Install and upgrade Magento to get ready for development

Get familiar with the architecture and internal structure of Magento

Learn about the best modules available and what they can do for you out of the box

Build a Shipping module for your Magento store to give users options for receiving their items once they have paid for them

Create a payment method for Magento and the various aspects that go together to complete the payment process

Speed up your module creation process using the Module Creator script

Build a basic brand-management module for Magento to manage brands and display their details

Integrate your favorite CMS into Magento including a walkthrough of integrating Wordpress into Magento

Create, update, delete, and retrieve customer data from within Magento by implementing the customer API

Integrate Magento data into an existing external web application or script using the Magento Core API

Import/export files to retrieve and store information from and to external sources using Excel Spreadsheet or CSV data

Chapter 1: Magento: Developer's Guide

Chapter 2: Installing/Upgrading Magento and Preparing for Development

Chapter 3: Magento's Architecture

Chapter 4: Building a Shipping Module for Magento

Chapter 5: Building a Payment Method for Magento

Chapter 6: Basic Modules to Extend Magento's Functionality

Chapter 7: Fully Featured Module with Administration Panel

Chapter 8: Integration of a Third-Party CMS

Chapter 9: Magento's Core API

Chapter 10: Importing and Exporting Data

Chapter 11: Appendix A - Resources for Further Learning

Approach

This book is a practical tutorial, filled with examples, aimed at people with no experience of programming web sites using the Magento system.

Who this book is written for

If you are a PHP developer who wants to understand the architecture of Magento, learn how to extend the system with PHP code, add new features, and integrate Magento with a third-party CMS, this book is for you.

You are expected to be a confident PHP 5 developer. No experience of Magento development is expected, although you should be familiar with the operation of Magento. No experience of the Zend framework is expected.

About the Author

Jamie Huskisson

A passionate 23-year old freelance developer from Nottingham, Jamie Huskisson has been working with Magento for the past two years since the very early Beta versions. His development client list features names such as the NHS, Volkswagen, and Nike building everything from web applications to e-commerce stores and small business sites. He also trains groups of developers and provides consulting on adopting open source technologies over closed systems for clients when required.