From the Support Team: Pre-Production System Configuration Checklist17 February 2010, 2:21 amThis post is part of a weekly series by the Magento Enterprise Edition subscription support team covering tips, tricks and hints to some of the most common, and uncommon, issues as submitted by support customers.+++++++
In previous posts, we showed you how to setup
multiple Magento websites, how to
change your favicon logo, and how to configure your
transactional email logos, all of which are about personalizing your web store. If you’re all done with the tweaking and configuring, then it’s time to take your shop live! Here’s an Admin System Configuration checklist which you can use once your site is staged, in preparation for going live. We’ll go through the back end, section by section and let you know which pieces are relevant and important.
1: System -> Configure -> GeneralGeneral -> Website RestrictionsEnsure that the website is not restricted to customers.
Web -> Unsecure URLWeb -> Secure URLA 100% Signed and Trusted Certificate should be installed in the server when using secure base URL.
Web -> Default PagesThe “Home Page” CMS can be redesigned according to your desired look in the Admin panel, under
CMS -> Pages -> Manage Content -> Home pageDesign -> PackageIf you are running
Magento Enterprise Edition you have so many more features, each with its own template and layout files in the default Enterprise theme. Thus, it is necessary to use the “enterprise” package or to synchronize your package with the enterprise package to ensure that all features have their corresponding templates and layout.
Design -> ThemesYou can use your own templates, skin and layouts by specifying their name. The
default field should contain a default theme which Magento will use in case the personalized theme you are using is missing template files.
Design -> HTML HeadUpdate the information according to your business information.
Design -> HeaderUpdate the Header details to reflect your business logo, description, etc.
The default Enterprise logo is located at /skin/frontend/enterprise/default/images/logo.gif. To change this logo, you can either upload a new image named logo.gif or update the
Logo Image Src value.
Design -> FooterUpdate the Footer details to contain your business information.
Store eMail AddressesThese email addresses will be used in sending and receiving email notifications (i.e. new order, invoice, shipment, credit memo, product price alerts, newsletters, etc.). So, make sure to update these fields with valid business email addresses.
2: System > Configuration > SalesInvoice and Packing Slip DesignEnsure that this is configured with your own business information.
TaxEnsure that the Tax configuration settings are properly configured according to your business tax rules.
Importing tax rates into Magento can easily be done under
Sales -> Tax -> Import / Export Tax Rates.
Shipping SettingsEnsure that the origin section contains the shipping origin of your business.
Shipping MethodsEnable the carrier and appropriate shipping methods that your company uses.
If you’re giving free shipping to some of these carriers, you can check out a previous article on different ways of offering free shipping. Also, you can
limit free shipping to certain countries.
Google APIMagento is integrated with Google API to allow your business to use the robust features of google such as Google Analytics, Google Base, Google Checkout, Google Website Optimizer. If you wish to use these features, you need to have Google Analytics, Base, & Merchant accounts.
PayPalSame as Google API, Magento is integrated with PayPal to allow your business to use PayPal payment methods. If you’re going to use this payment method, ensure that before going live, you aren’t using Sandbox Mode, which is the test mode for testing this payment method.
Payment MethodsEnable the payment method(s) that your company uses and ensure that these payment methods are properly configured (i.e. order status, accepted currency, allowed countries, etc.)
3: System -> AdvancedSystem > Cron (Scheduled Tasks) – all the times are in minutes
Ensure that Cron jobs are set to run at the desired time. These cron jobs are critical in ensuring that catalog price rules stick with the product prices, newsletters/customer alerts are sent, Google sitemaps are generated, automatic updating of currency rates, and scheduled database logs are cleaned.
For more information about setting up cron jobs, you may refer to
this page on the wiki.
System -> Log CleaningLog cleaning must be enabled to ensure that your database log tables are cleaned. The
Save Log days should be set to keep logs according your needs and server capacity.
4: System -> Transactional EmailsThe default email templates can be updated to reflect your branding more accurately by adding a new template and loading a default email template.
Under the
System -> Configuration section, the following sections below use transactional email templates and email senders:
General Section
Contacts -> Email OptionsCatalog Section
Catalog -> Product Alerts
Email to a FriendCustomers Section
Newsletter -> Subscription Options
Customer Configuration -> Create New Account Options
Customer Configuration -> Password Options
Customer Configuration -> Store Credit Options
Wishlist -> Share Options
Invitations -> Customer Invitation Email Template
Reward Points -> Email Notification SettingsSales Section
Sales Emails -> Order
Sales Emails -> Order Comments
Sales Emails -> Invoice
Sales Emails -> Invoice Comments
Sales Emails -> Shipment
Sales Emails -> Shipment Comments
Sales Emails -> Credit Memo
Sales Emails -> Credit Memo Comments
Checkout -> Payment Failed Emails
Gift Cards -> Gift Card Email Setting
Gift Cards -> Email sent from Gift Card Account managementAdvanced Section
Admin -> Admin User Emails
System -> Log Cleaning…and last, but definitely not least, once you’ve gone through this checklist, make sure to
test everything before going live.
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