Page 11 - Blog
News, insights and resources from the world of e-commerce
- 4 min read
Оnce you finally set up Google Tag Manager for your website, you need to make sure your efforts pay off. Otherwise, you'll just sit there waiting for some data to appear in GA4 reports and find nothing after a while.
That's exactly why you need to check if Google Tag Manager is working right after you install it on your website and . Though it might be overwhelming to set up GTM, let alone test it, we'll try to make it simple.
Today you'll find 5 simple ways to test Google Tag Manager that work for both — developers and non-technical people. However, note that they are not alternatives to each other. We recommend using several methods for testing.
Should we start?
1. Enable Preview And Debug Mode
The easiest way to check if Google Tag Manager is working properly is to use the resource you already have — Google Tag Manager itself. There are preview and debug modes that enable you to preview created tags and fire them on your website.
To enable preview mode, navigate to your GTM homepageihor
- 6 min read
When your Google Ads campaign is up and running, you start generating a great number of clicks. However, how many of those clicks actually end up in sales? If you don't know that, you're actively throwing your money down the drain.
That's why you need a good Magento Google Ads Conversion Tracking strategy to measure how well your campaigns perform. It allows you to change keywords, adjust the bidding and choose a different budget.
Regardless if you're starting fresh or just want to improve your current campaign, you'll find everything in this comprehensive guide. We'll discuss how you can set up Google Ads Conversion Tracking in Magento using GTM and Extension. But we'll also show you the default option.
Key takeaways
Default Magento connects Google Ads under Stores > Configuration > Sales > Google API.
Conversion ID and Conversion Label values from the Google Ads conversion action are required to connect Magento with Google Ads.
It's recommended to set up Google Ads and Googleihor
- 4 min read
Magento self-checkout POS is the best option if you want to improve your service at a lower cost. It offers customers more flexibility and allows store owners to reduce the costs of hiring a lot of staff to check customers out. It's a win-win situation, isn't it?
Though there's still some debate on whether self-checkout is a threat to in-store human interaction, you must have already made up your mind.
So, in this guide, we'll walk you through the benefits of self-checkout POS and the prerequisites of enabling it in your store. You'll also learn how to set up self-checkout in Magento and go through the customer journey with the .
Benefits of Self-Checkout
Since we've already mentioned some benefits of the self-checkout POS, let's just sum it all up here.
Reduced business costs
The biggest benefit of self-checkout is not that it reduces the burden on employees. It eliminates the need to hire a lot of staff in the first place.
Self-service systems installed in restaurantsihor
- 7 min read
It's no news that without valid data reports, you can't make any relevant decisions about your business, especially in eCommerce. Concise data reports on page views, traffic sources, bounce rates, session times and other important allow you to improve your marketing campaigns.
As the suggest, Google Analytics is one the most widely-used website analytics platforms that provide you with all that data. And since we're all used to it, the news about Universal Analytics going away took us by surprise.
Many have started to look for an alternative, not even giving Google Analytics 4 a chance, though it deserves it.
So, in this guide, you'll learn what Google Analytics 4 has to offer and how you can add Google Analytics 4 to Magento 2. You'll see that it is much easier than you think if you use Extension.
What is Google Analytics 4?
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a next-generation measurement solution built upon previous Universal Analytics (GA3) properties that have been publicly testedihor
- 5 min read
The appeal of your Magento 2 store significantly influences your conversions. Custom layouts, templates, images and colors not only improve your customer experience but build brand awareness.
Since it is hard to find a theme that would contain all your brand colors by default, changing theme colors becomes a daunting task. You usually need a developer or some technical assistance. But not with the .
Apart from 5 preset color schemas, you can customize your website colors to your liking. And today, you'll learn how in this comprehensive guide.
Should we start?
Each element of your theme could be changed. So we structure them in paragraphs. But first, go to Stores > Configuration > Optimized Theme > Color Schema to change theme colors in Magento 2.
Theme Colors
In this section, you define colors that represent your brand and are used the most across your store.
Theme Color Primary — sets the primary color used the most frequently across your store.
Theme Color Primary Alt —ihor
- 3 min read
The hardest part about building a is translation. You have to localise your entire store to make shopping easier for your global customers. Starting with , as the most important pages.
However, to help people navigate your catalogue more easily, you have to translate Magento categories next.
So, in this guide, you'll learn multiple ways to do that manually, automatically and in bulk with the help of AI.
Category Translation in Default Magento
Same as with products, you don't have to create an entirely new category to translate it. You just need to go to Catalog > Categories and switch to a corresponding store view to add all translations.
Note: once you create a new , all default category values and texts will be applied to that store view by default.
Then just remove the checkmark and set the translated values of this or that attribute. You can translate category names, content, and metadata here.
Translate Magento Categories via Translation Tool
Default category translationihor
- 4 min read
Hello, dear friends,
Today we’d like to tell you more about all the latest updates we at Magefan have been working on this April.
Let's go!
New features of the !
In the latest version, we added new tracking for sign-in, creating an account and searches (features are available in GTM Extra version). Also, the extension is now compatible with the Hyva Theme. We improved compatibility with Magento 2.3.x.
In the last version, we also fixed the JS error on the checkout page when the module is disabled in the admin panel (in GTM Plus version). Another fix of an issue to when instead of brand name dataLayer contained just brand ID was made in the recent version.
New features of the !
In the latest version of Magento 2 POS System Plus, we added a customer search by VAT or Company name. Also, we added the display of customer VAT and Company name on customer search results (available in the POS Plus version).
We also added an option to add a logo at the top of the receipt. Anotherihor
- 1 min read
Since it is in our nature to "follow the crowd" and do what others do, people like to read what others read, when it comes to blogs. In , except for the and widgets, you can also display popular posts.
Unlike other posts in a blog sidebar, you can't choose what is displayed as popular posts. The app calculates the views and displays the most viewed articles as popular posts.
Today, you'll learn how to set it up.
To display popular blog posts in Shopify:
Navigate to Apps > Magefan Blog > Configuration > Sidebar, find the Popular posts widget and enable it.
Choose a Template for the widget and enable the Post image.
Set the Number of posts you'd like to display in the popular posts section on the frontend.
Set the Sort order.
Note: the sort order option defines the position of the widget in the sidebar. The lower the number, the higher the popular posts widget will be displayed in the sidebar.
Don't forget to Save the setting once you finish and checkihor
- 2 min read
Although comments are one of the best ways to engage with your audience and get feedback on your posts, there always are some irrelevant ones. Malicious actions, spam or simple typos could be the reason why you need to edit or delete comments in the Shopify blog.
While you usually need an additional app to edit blog comments in Shopify, you can forget about this with the . It already has 3 built-in types of : Facebook, Disqus and Magefan.
So, if you want to edit, approve or delete comments before publication, you need Magefan comments. Let's find out how you can configure and use them.
How to Enable Blog Comments in Shopify?
To use comments in your Shopify blog, you need to enable them first. For that go to Apps > Magefan Blog > Configuration > Post Page (Post View) > Comments and choose to Use Magefan Blog Comments.
Here you also need to specify the Number of Comments and the Number of Replies to comments you want to allow for a .
How to Approve and Delete Comments in Shopifyihor
- 2 min read
Just like in catalogue search, the blog search bar in Shopify helps your readers to find relevant posts faster and navigate through them more easily. As you might know already, the default Shopify search bar is outdated and requires a lot of steps to modify, let alone implement in your blog.
So, for those of you who don't want to spend tons of time on development, we introduce . It allows you to add a search bar to the Shopify blog.
Today, you'll learn how to enable blog search in Shopify and how to integrate it with Shopify catalogue search.
Add Search Bar in Shopify Blog
1. Navigate to Apps > Magefan Blog > Configuration and find the Sidebar section.
2. Unfold the Search form section, enable the widget and set a Sort order for it.
Note: the sort order option defines the position of the search bar in the Shopify blog sidebar. The lower the number, the higher the search bar will be displayed.
Don't forget to Save the settings and that's it. Nothing else is required. Youihor
- 5 min read
Getting your Facebook Ads to work is not a piece of the pie. Without accurate insights into customers' behaviour, setting up effective Facebook campaigns is going to be challenging.
That's why you need Facebook pixel — a small piece of code that makes a huge difference. You add Facebook pixel to Magento 2, allow it to track information about different events customers perform on your website and send it to Facebook Ads Manager.
In this guide, we'll walk you through each step you need to take to make Facebook pixel work. You'll learn how you can set up Facebook pixel in Magento 2 with no technical skills, using only .
Prerequisites for Facebook Pixel in Magento
Before you add Facebook Pixel to Magento, make sure you:
Create Facebook Business page (mandatory) — needed to represent your business in ads.
Create Facebook Ads account (mandatory) — needed for managing and tracking your ads.
Create a Business Manager account (recommended) — needed for managing ad accounts, pages and paymentsihor
- 9 min read
While there is a multitude of Magento 2 themes available on the market, you might still want to create custom theme for your store. Why? Templates, layouts, graphics and styles offered in a theme don't always satisfy your business requirements. Besides, the default Magento 2 themes Luma and Blank won't suffice if you're .
So, to create custom Magento 2 theme that conveys your brand's "feel" you need to resort to custom development.
In this guide, we'll walk you through all steps you need to take to create a theme for Magento and cover the basics of how to override basic and theme layouts.
Ready to start?
In case you're looking for a ready-to-use speed-optimized Magento 2 theme, we already have one — .
Before Custom Theme Development in Magento
The first important thing to remember before starting theme development in Magento is that you shouldn't change or edit the default Luma and Blank theme files. If you customize the default theme files, the update to the latest version of Magentoihor
- 2 min read
Magento flexibility allows you to display CMS blocks in a multitude of ways. However, for those of you with technical knowledge, there are only two options.
You can either , or call them in the PHTML file. Today we'll focus of the second one.
Call CMS Block in PHTML File
To programmatically call the CMS block in .phtml template file use this code:
<?php echo $this->getLayout() ->createBlock(\Magento\Cms\Block\Block::class) ->setBlockId('my_cmsblock_identifier') //replace my_cmsblock_identifier with real CMS bock identifier ->toHtml();?>
Note: you need to for this method to work. If the CMS block is disabled or does not exist, this code will not display any content.
Using createBlock method is fast but not ideal in terms of best practices.
So what you can do is add a CMS block into your block using layout. Use the following code in a proper layout XML handle file and don't forget to once the layout is changed:
<referenceBlock name="my-main-phtml-block">ihor
- 1 min read
Although CMS blocks are managed directly from Magento admin using widgets there are other ways to .
If you have some technical skills you can just call CMS block in Magento using the XML file.
Call CMS Block Using XML File
Use the following code to add CMS blocks using Magento 2 layout XML:
<referenceContainer name="content">
<block class="Magento\Cms\Block\Block" name="unick_block_name">
<arguments>
<argument name="block_id" xsi:type="string">my_cmsblock_identifier</argument>
</arguments>
</block>
</referenceContainer>
You need to replace "my_cmsblock_identifier" with your CMS block Identifier or ID (we recommend using Identifier).
Display CMS Blocks Dynamically (by Date)
Even if you add CMS blocks programmatically using the XML file, they will still be static. It means that you'll need to replace the identifier or disable a block manually. But not if you use the .
This way, you can display your CMS blocks dynamically, by different dates, times and days of the week.
But that'sihor
- 9 min read
Magento 2 static blocks are a great way to drive customer's attention to certain products, offers, or services. Although creating is super easy, adding them to pages is quite a challenge.
All because there are different ways to insert CMS blocks in Magento. Everything depends on how and where you prefer them to appear.
This guide covers the main tools and locations to add static blocks, including how to display them dynamically: by custom group, date or other conditions.
Key takeaways
You can display CMS blocks in Magento through category settings, widgets, the WYSIWYG editor, and page builder.
Category settings are the fastest way to add banners in Magento, but they allow placement in predefined areas only — at the top of the category, near the description.
Magento widgets are the most popular method to insert CMS blocks since they give full control over the pages and containers where the block will appear.
The WYSIWYG editor and Page Builder let you add blocks directly into page contentihor
- 2 min read
When it comes to purchasing decisions, customers pay attention to a lot of things in your store. Loading speed is one of the most important ones. While you can improve website speed by enabling lazy load or images or disabling the JS bundling, it is not always enough.
In this guide, you'll learn how to lazy load CMS blocks in Magento using the and Pages Extension.
CMS Blocks Display Modes
We've created two CMS pages with the same content: a banner and a product slider. One page contains a CMS block with default display mode, second — a CMS block with display mode Ajax load on first scroll.
Now, let's compare display modes Default and Ajax load on the first scroll.
CMS Block - Products Included In DOM
CMS Block - Products Loaded Via Ajax Request
Param
Default mode
Ajax load on first scroll mode
Page Size
26.2kb
15.9Kb
Time To Load Page Content
783 ms
591 ms
DomContentLoaded
1.43 s
1.11 s
Page Load
3.13 s
2.58 s
Page speed score is better if some elements like sliders, and widgetsihor
- 5 min read
Even though you improve and focus on getting more organic traffic, sometimes you need to change your approach to increase conversions. While SEO will help you to drive traffic to your store, it doesn't guarantee this traffic will bring conversions.
So, if you want to improve the conversion score, since there are people who browse your website but buy nothing, you've landed on the right page.
Today we want you to learn more about Google Ads Dynamic Remarketing and help you to set it up for your store with .
Before we start, let's define what dynamic remarketing is and how it is different from remarketing.
What is Google Ads Dynamic Remarketing?
Google Ads dynamic remarketing is the campaign you can set up to display personalized ads to people who visited your website previously but didn't make a purchase.
Unlike remarketing, dynamic remarketing allows you to go one step further and display ads with products and services people visited.
A great advantage is the dynamic remarketingihor
- 2 min read
If you're a Magento developer, you certainly know that effective store management often requires programming work. There are lots of tasks you need to perform — from running static content deploy and to and media URLs. Some of these are rather time-consuming or even complicated at times.
However, it is much easier if you know the proper methods to use.
In this article, in particular, you'll learn how to get media URLs in Magento 2.
Get Media URL Using Dependency Injection
The dependency injection method is among the most common ones when it comes to getting media URLs in Magento.
So, to apply it, go to your phtml block file and create a _construct function:
public function __construct ( \Magento\Store\Model\StoreManagerInterface $storeManager ) { $this->_storeManager = $storeManager; }
After that you can get a media URL in your phtml file:
$mediaUrl = $this ->_storeManager-> getStore()->getBaseUrl(\Magento\Framework\UrlInterface::URL_TYPE_MEDIA);
echo $mediaUrl;
Get Media URLihor
- 2 min read
The began on February 24, 2022. It was a day that changed us and our way of living. We thought these terrific events would last for a few days or at least a . Unfortunately, this horrible war that has already taken so many lives of adults and children has lasted for a and is still not over.
Donations have become a part of Ukrainians’ ordinary lives throughout this year.
And Magefan is not an exception. Our company keeps working and donates to the humanitarian aid organizations.
Here are some main foundations we support with our monthly donations.
Comeback Alive Fundation
Comeback Alive is one of the biggest Ukrainian charitable foundations. Ukrainians and people from around the globe had donated to this fund over 140 million dollars since February 24, 2022. The main project of this fund is Army Assitance. This is also one of the first charity funds that has been providing army assistance since 2014 when russia first invaded Ukraine.
Prytula Foundation
Prytula Foundation is anotherihor
- 2 min read
Creating and adding different ensure visitors can find relevant content on your blog faster. However, it is equally important that readers can navigate through your blog post content. One of the best ways to achieve that is Post Contents.
In the Magefan's , post contents is generated based on the <h> tags and added through a widget. So, today, you'll learn how to do that.
Note: Blog Post Contents feature is available only in the edition.
How to Add Contents to Post Content?
1. Navigate to Content > Blog > Posts and choose a blog post you'd like to add the contents to.
2. Jump to the Content section and click on widgets.
3. Choose Magefan Blog Extra Extension - Blog Post Contents as a Widget Type and press Insert Widget.
Don't forget to Save your post and check the contents on the frontend.
However, if you want to display post contents in the sidebar, keep reading.
How to Add Contents to Blog Sidebar?
1. Go to Content > Blog > Configuration > Sidebar > Post Contentsihor
- 4 min read
Hello, dear friends,
We are ready to share with you the first news and updates digest of spring 2023. A lot of great updates from Magefan this March. Let’s start!
New features of the !
Big updates to our bestseller – Magefan Blog! We added an option to set a custom blog category canonical URL. Another great addition — is an option to reset extension configuration options to use system values.
We also updated some localization vocabularies and improved import for Hubspot Wizard and via CSV. We made some design improvements for compatibility with different themes. New PHP 8.1 code compatibility changes was added too.
We have also fixed the "Previous" and "Next Post" links that lead to the wrong articles.
New features of !
We changed the default value for the "Apply By" option. We also removed the option "Assign Product With Attributes" from the category. Now, this option is hidden and for technical use only.
In this version, you will also be able to rename categoriesihor