3rd Magento Poznań Meetup – recap

Was it the fact we met on Friday that so many people attended or was it the streaming that helped to spread the Magento eCommerce Message? Possibly both because finally we could meet again and share some interesting cases and ideas for dealing with development issues. Thank you Snowdog, Centuria, and Macopedia for organizing and supporting the event.   

We extend our sincere gratitude to the talented presenters who shared their insights and expertise on the following important topics. Thank you for contributing to a valuable and successful event!

1. Adam Marcinkowski – Server-Side JavaScript Rendering through PHP – an example of Vue.js and Magento.
2. Adam Hanczewski – AI and Magento: Future opportunities and challenges for developers.
3. Jan Biesiada – Upgrading Magento 2: A Guide to the Top Tools.

To ensure uniformity, we’ve put together an English recap of the presentations held in both Polish and English. Now, you can easily catch up on everything that was covered without language barriers getting in the way.

Happy developers and good SEO with Magento 1

If the eCommerce business is currently using Magento 1 and has no immediate plans to migrate to Magento 2, there’s still a way to boost the catalog filtering performance. Adam Marcinkowski, has presented a solution specifically designed for this situation. This way you can optimize the platform while staying put on Magento 1.

The solution is all about rendering JS through PHP using Vue JS Library with Magento. It was tested and it works giving satisfying effects. Here you can find an example of Vue.js Server Side Rendering through PHP – https://github.com/mercs600/vue-php-ssr.

Discover a method for optimizing your Magento 1 eCommerce site, even if migration to Magento 2 and redesign with Hyvä Theme is currently unavailable. 

AI and development possibilities

Adam Hanczewski presented some case studies from Chat GPT usage for Magento development. But first, he depicted what a significant influence technology has on society, by presenting how long it took Chat GPT to reach 100m monthly users. It was only 2 months and the result was the fastest ever.  To compare to 9 months and a second position for TikTok, and 30 months with 3rd position for Instagram. To compare Google Translate needed  78 months to reach this goal. 

All the developers and other digital experts worldwide ask the same question – Will AI take over our positions and do the developing job instead of us? 

The possibilities are endless and it’s exciting to think about what lies ahead, even though it’s difficult to predict the future. We must embrace the fact that things will be different, and change is imminent. It won’t be long before we witness these changes unfold.

 Magento development with ChatGPT 

Adam presented how ChatGPT can support each stage of the development process. From gathering requirements, through developing, code review, testing, and troubleshooting. In all these stages the results were at least good. Chat GPT seems to be an efficient assistant for Human Developers especially since the feedback from ChatGPT is calm and with no emotions which makes the communication pleasant and highly accepted by IT geeks.   

The conclusion was also that ChatGPT is as good as the question you ask and the better knowledge level you present the more valuable output you can receive. There are still some drawbacks in ChatGPT that will be improved for sure in the coming future but still, at the present stage, it is a great tool to assist in development and teaching as it gives answers based on a bunch of data and experiences of other experts. 

Artificial Intelligence – predicting the future?

Technology is dynamic, constantly changing our world like all previous inventions. However, its development is happening at an unprecedented pace, and we cannot predict its direction. This leaves some of us feeling uncertain, while others are fascinated by the possibilities. 

As technical experts, our responsibility is to be aware of the potential consequences, positive and negative, and use our expertise with responsibility. Our commitment to shaping the future can be witnessed through the Magento Open Source Community. 

Upgrading Magento 2 – toolbox

Jan Biesiada presented a toolbox for Magento 2 upgrade, starting from the reasons why the upgrade is necessary. These are as follows:

• security enhancement
• bug fixes and stability
• new features and functionalities
• performance and Scalability Improvements
• extension and Theme Compatibility
• long-term support. 

The upgrading process consists of 5 steps:

1 step. Pre-upgrade checklist

• system requirements, 
• changes in versions, 
• 3rd party extensions.

2 step. Upgrade

• backup/vendor
• upgrade Magento 
• upgrade 3rd pirates

3 step. Customization checks and fixes

• custom modules
• custom themes

4 step. Testing

• as much as possible
• fixing occurring bugs

5 step. Deployment

• database backup
• deploy

Jan characterized the following tools:

• Upgrade Compatibility Tool,  that is available for Adobe Commerce only, so can not be used with the Open Source version. It requires Adobe Commerce, and Access Keys. Before using, please check if you have appropriate versions of Node.js, PHP, and Composer. 
• Ampersand Magento 2 upgrade patch helper, is an open-sourced tool. It identifies modified files related to the upgrade and cross-checks them against your site’s overrides. By highlighting only the specific changes affecting your site.
• Magento 2 Upgrade GUI – GUI tool that enables you to quickly identify differences between the previous version of Magento 2, the current upgraded version, and your personal preferences, plugins, and overrides. This approach streamlines the upgrade process. 

Conclusion

It was another great chance for us to come together, engage in stimulating discussions, exchange our insights, and broaden our perspectives. With the rapidly evolving nature of technology, this kind of approach and a supportive space for personal interaction is imperative. We’re delighted that Snowdog has graciously extended an invitation to us at any time, and we’re eager to take part in upcoming gatherings. Let’s keep the conversation going!