Module Licenses- Some
modules from Magento connect require you to enter a license key when
setting up. Make sure that this key is still going to be valid when
you move domains and obtain a new key if required.
PHP Configuration-
Make sure that you have reasonable values for memory_limit and
max_execution_time. This way, the heavier operations that Magento
carries out can complete successfully. If either are too restrictive
a product export/import will fail.
Turn on the Crons-
Some things in Magento
development require scripts to be run periodically in order
to keep things up to date, e.g. Google Sitemap.xml. In order to
configure these you will need to look in System ? Configuration ?
Advanced ? System and modify the Cron.php file in the root of your
Magento installation. The Magento Wiki has a page on this.
Log Cleaning- Magento
website keeps logs in the database, which, over time, can
become bloated. There is an option in admin to clean the logs
periodically, it can be found in: System ? Configuration ? Advanced ?
System ? Log cleaning. This will need enabling as it is disabled by
default, I recommend daily cleaning. Some articles suggest that use
should optimize the log tables regularly as well in order to keep
their size down.
Disable Unnecessary
Modules- It’s not likely that your store uses every feature built
in to Magento, so why have it enabled? You can disable modules in
System ? Configuration ? Advanced. For example, ones that you might
not be using include Mage_Wishlist, Mage_Newsletter, Mage_Poll,
Mage_Rating and Mage_Tag.
Database Backup and
Restoration Strategy- I’m not going to suggest any particular
strategy, but take database backups regularly, and know how to
restore when the time comes. There’s even an Automatic Database
Backup module to do it for you.
The Web should be fast,
Test your site out for speed. There are many different tools that you
can use for this. I’d recommend either the YSlow extension for
Firebug in Firefox, or GTMetrix. These will then show your weak
points and offer suggestions on how to make improvements.
Speed should still be a
priority even in the broadband age. Remember that even with
increasing internet speeds, there are still many on very limited
connections. What’s more, you are always being compared to other
sites, so if you are too slow, your customers may move to a
competitor.
Get organized
Once you have gone live,
don’t expect that to be the end of magento
development. There are likely to be many bug fixes, editions
and further development work. When developing sites with Meanbee, we
use a git repository and keep this up to date with all changes.
This way we can always
have two identical versions of the site; one that is public facing
and the staging area. Once we are happy with changes we can push them
live. With ssh access this could not be simpler with a git pull but
becomes slightly more difficult if only FTP access is available.
Unfortunately, this is
often the case with managed hosting. A service that I was recently
introduced to by Nick and we now use at Mean bee is Deploy. Although
still in Beta, it allows you to release the changes to the live site
effortlessly even when using FTP. Marvelous.
Have you learnt from
this experience and want to add a product to this list?
Share it; your Magento
buddies will be most grateful.
