Gyles Seward Gyles Seward
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Magento is a much praised e-commerce platform thanks to its open source spirit and the long list of features. Magento is highly complex thanks to the number of features that the platform has, but this can be daunting to anyone who is used to the easy to use Joomla backend. Things that seem easy in Joomla can take longer in Magento, for example, template customisation involves css, xml and phtml files – something a little more advanced than the same thing in Joomla! You might be on Joomla and be tempted by the functionality of Magento, so here’s a handy guide to why you should integrate them now.

The best of both worlds is the functionality of Magento alongside the friendly, easy-to-use charm of Joomla. One way to achieve this is with Magebridge – a Joomla and Magneto extension which integrates the systems together built by Yireo.

Usability

With Magebridge, all of your store content is held in Magento’s backend admin, but you can render the front end with your Joomla template. All functionality like the shopping cart, customer login and wish list is accessible through Joomla. Hotlinking can also be done through Joomla, saving you a lot of time.

Modules

Magento content blocks can be accessed on the Joomla front end. All Magento content is accessible through Joomla with Magebridge.

Templates

Magento uses ProtoType with its JavaScript framework and Joomla uses MooTools. You will need to turn off MooTools within Magebridge on Joomla to stop interference.

In Summary

Magebridge removes some of the more challenging aspects of the Magento backend, however, you’ll still need a basic understanding of Magento, including theming. Thankfully, Magento, Joomla and Magebridge all have extensive community support.

For help with integration or any other aspect of your online retail space, get in touch with Elementary Digital today!