Magento Extension update 15.47.0
by Pawel Kuznik
Is has been a while since we posted an update about the new Magento extension and Magento Sync. This doesn't mean we didn't do anything. Contrary to that, a lot of things have changed, improved and implemented.
Upgraded design
The first thing you will notice: it looks different. Nearly the whole application has been given a new look and feel. But that is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Abandoned carts mailings
Inside Magento Sync it is now possible to send a mailing that repeats itself with any interval to a predefined dynamic target. This is particularly useful in Abandoned Shopping Cart mailings. Just create a list based on 'quotes' with the new filter option 'last modified within e.g. the last 24 hours'. The list will now have all customers that put products in their baskets within the specified period of time, but that did not finalize their purchase.
Compatible with the newest Magento Connect
The Magento Community just released version 1.9.2.2 which features a bundle of patches that improves the security of your Magento installation. Copernica Sync is fully compatible with this version.
Support for modman
Everyone who tried to install any extension via Magento Connect knows the thrill of it. Will your web shop still work after it? Installing via the Magento Connect is unsafe, because it needs writing permission to your whole code base, with the risk of screwing up your entire web shop. Once the damage was done, there was no proper functioning rollback option to undo the whole operation.
To deal with the above situation, the community came up with modman. This is a PHP package/module manager, especially designed to work with Magento 1.x installations. We are happy to announce that Copernica Magento Sync can now also be installed with modman. Actually, this is a very easy operation. More information about modman, and how to use it with Copernica, can be found in our online documentation.
Of course, the old Magento Connect way of installation (via Magento Connect) is still supported.
Personalizing emails with product attributes
Products have all sorts of attributes. Attributes can be seen as product properties, such as color, manufacturer, description et cetera. If you are an advanced user of Magento you are likely familiar with the EAV (Entity Attribute Value) data model. This is a specific way Magento uses to store information about products. You can think about it as an extra information layer between products and the real database. Previously when personalizing emails, product information from the EAV was very limited accessible and custom product attributes were not accessible at all. This has changed now. Magento Sync now has full support for product attributes and all of these are made available for email personalization.
Custom options
Emails can now be personalized with custom options. The product option is one of the custom options that can be set inside a product. A web shop owner can predefine product options at products, later to be selected by the customer to customize the product he wants to purchase.
Custom options can be marked as required. The customer is then required to choose an option before he can add the product to his basket. Think of the size and/or color of a t-shirt.
