Top5 Content Management Systems to choose from in 2020
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Top 5 Content Management Systems to choose from in 2020

Making a website of your own has become more exciting and easier than ever before because of the sheer number of Content Management Systems or CMSs available. A CMS is a web application that enables you to publish and manage content on the Internet.

While most think CMSs are meant for blogging, the truth is that CMSs today are highly customisable and can be used for absolutely any kind of project including ecommerce sites and private membership sites. Here is a list of top CMS platforms you can use to develop your website.

WordPress

This open source software is unarguably the most popular one today and it boasts the largest market share among competitors. It is ultra easy to use and navigate and it is highly customisable with a large database of themes to chose from.

Joomla!

This open source platform, like WordPress, has a large library of templates and extensions to choose from. But it is not advisable for beginners because of its complicated interface. It is a good option to build your ecommerce site on for it has extensions for this.

Drupal

This open source software powers some of the most prestigious websites out there including The Economist’s. Many universities use it too. It is suitable for developers to handle especially for websites that are very complicated and designed to manage a large amount of content.

Magento

This powerful open source ecommerce platform from the software giant Adobe is one of the most competent and customisable CMSs available. It is, however, on the expensive side of things and you need specialised developers to build your website for you.

Shopify

This is an all-in-one hosted CMS platform. You do not need to purchase hosting or manage updates and backups. It is a brilliant platform for setting up an ecommerce store with an easy drag-and-drop interface. You can accept both debit card and credit card payments through Shopify Payments.

There are many more CMSs out there in the market. We have covered only five. What we suggest you do is first identify the purpose of your website – will it be a blog or an ecommerce platform or a private membership website? And then proceed to research on the type of CMS you want to go for. Sprout Road, a premiere website development company in Kolkata, recommends WordPress for websites and Magento for ecommerce platforms.

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15 Reasons Why You Must Migrate To Magento 2 From Magento 1
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15 Reasons Why You Must Migrate To Magento 2 From Magento 1

There is news! Magento 1 will sunset by June 2020, with its official support, security patches and updates to be withdrawn by the parent company. Magento itself warns, “(c)ontinued use of unsupported software risks negative impacts to your business”.

So it is advisable to get a team of experts to evaluate your e-commerce website and conduct a risk assessment or upgrade your platform to the latest technology available.

The Great Debate: Magento 1 versus Magento 2

For the uninitiated, Magento is the ultra popular open source e-commerce platform which is being used by hundreds and thousands of businesses including Coca Cola and Nike. It is a crucial application which helps you open an online store with ease and a small investment.

All you need is a basic understanding of English and technology to go about opening your store. In fact, according to some sources, 26 per cent of the world’s leading e-commerce websites use Magento as a platform. Others peg it at 31 per cent. Irrespective, none can refute the popularity of the application.

A decade after Magento was introduced in the market, Magento 2 has been launched. With the advent of the upgraded platform, there have been frenetic debates in the online community about which platform to use and the key differences in the two.

Here, we compare and discuss some features of Magento 2 vis a vis its predecessor.

Highlights:

  1. Faster loading time –
    Magento 2 is way faster when it comes to loading time over Magento 1’s 2 to 3 seconds time frame.

  2. Better responsiveness–
    Magento 2 has a more responsive interface and can be browsed on all devices as compared to Magento 1.

  3. Streamlined checkout–
    Magento 2 has a new streamlined checkout feature which makes it easy and smooth for customers to checkout of the platform post shopping.

  4. Improved search–
    Magento 2 affords greater user experience and improved quality of searches, handling 33 languages.

  5. Easier extensions–
    Compared with Magento 1, it has become easier to make extensions to Magento 2 (because of HTML5) and thus cheaper as well.

  6. Faster add-to-cart–
    Every time a product is put in or added to the cart in Magento 1, the system reloads the page thus wasting seconds, something that negatively impacts user experience. Ajax add-to-cart in Magento 2 does not reload page.

  7. Simpler navigation–
    Magento 2 has simpler navigation which makes it easier for the owner to set up and manage his/her store as compared to Magento 1 which needs the assistance of developers to navigate the platform.

  8. Split databases–
    Magento 1 has a single database for the admin end and the customer side, thus throwing up a problem of overloading. Magento 2 has a split database for product data, checkout and orders.

  9. Informative dashboard–
    Magento 2 has a great dashboard which features all the important information at one place and you can view your business reports in a jiffy.

  10. Better product upload–
    Magento 2 has innovations like simpler step-by-step product upload process and the provision for uploading videos as well.

  11. Robust customization–
    Magento 2 lets owners view on-site behavior of customers and thus determine what customers can see on their end in the form of discounts or offers.

  12. Advanced platform compatibility–
    Magento 2 supports advanced technologies like CSS3, HTML5 and MySQL as compared to Magento 1.

  13. Convenient testing–
    Regressive testing on Magento 1 is not easy while it is comparatively more convenient in Magento 2.

  14. Smoother integration–
    A plus point of the Magento 2 is its message queue framework that monitors the communication between Magento and other systems. Magento 1 has the facility for integrating various systems but if the integrations do not go smoothly, it becomes difficult to track messages.

  15. Better SEO–
    When Magento 1 was launched in 2008, SEO was only an upcoming idea. Today it has become indispensable to businesses. Magento 2 is equipped with technologies like SHA-256 that aid better SEO than its predecessor.

So, it is clear that Magento 2 has better facilities and features as compared to Magento 1. And it is advisable that you go in for an upgrade as soon as possible. Sprout Road would love to assist you in making the necessary migration to Magento 2. We are just a phone call away. Best, Sprout Road

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Follow These 5 Tips and Secure Your Magento E-store
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Follow These 5 Tips and Secure Your Magento E-store

Approximately 240, 000 eCommerce stores use Magento – reflecting nearly 30% of the eCommerce platform market is occupied by this worthwhile program.

Unfortunately, with great power comes great responsibility – though Magento is superb as a program, it tends to be a soft target for cyber criminals across the globe. Being an eCommerce platform, its security remains a crucial factor to consider.

There are a handful number of customizations, security settings and auxiliary best practices to turn your Magento powered e-store safe and secured. We will take you on a ride through 5 interesting tips to make your Magento eCommerce site impregnable like never before..

Power up a strong password policy

The worst thing that Magento e-store operators and administrators can think of is to have a weak, regular and easy to crack password. We understand, your entire focus remains on setting up Magento initially, in situations like this, often you may forget to give due importance to password setting. However, if your system lacks automated password policies, implement one on your own.

Layer it up by a secure two-step authentication – it helps when your system password is shared among the employees at a certain point of time.

Alter the admin path

Chances are high that you won’t be bothered at all about the admin path. In reality, the default or admin path makes it easier for the cyber criminals to crack your login credentials – thus by modifying the admin path, you can add a protective layer to keep your credentials safe and secured.

 Here are the steps in which the default admin path can be changed:

  1. Select admin backend. Then, go to system and config. In the options, hit Admin – Admin Base URL. Choose ‘Use Custom Admin Path’, and click Yes.

2. The alternate method includes manipulation of some codes in your Magento store’s local.xml file. Access local.xml file through app/etc/local.xml.

Open the file, and look for the following code.

<admin>
<routers>
<adminhtml>
<args>
<frontName><![CDTA[admin] ]</frontName>
</args>
</routers>
</admin>

What you need to do is replace [admin] with the new path. Once done, save the file, and refresh the cache.. That’s it!

Encrypt crucial pages

Never take the risk to send any sensitive information, like your credentials over encrypted platforms. You know how easy it is now for hackers to commit data theft – seek for Secure URLs. Magento can help you here:

Go to System – Configuration – Web. Choose the Secure tab, and tick Yes for the pop up ‘Use Secure URLs in Frontend’ and ‘Use Secure URLs in Admin’.

Lastly, remember it is very important to secure URLs, which processes financial transactions.

Use Magento to add SSL in your web store

Trust reliable security extensions for Magento

High-profile security risks and attractive eCommerce websites go hand in hand. Fortunately, Magento comes with some time-tested efficient extensions that can help fight all sorts of security issues. Explore the top notch extensions for functions like scanning for vulnerabilities, blocking security threats, blocking malicious codes, log activities, enforce strong password policies, and implement firewalls

Take a look at the noteworthy Magento security extensions given below:

  • ET IP Security
  • MegaSecure
  • Spam Killer
  • Mega Firewall

Be ready with Backup

To ensure your website remains unaffected even in the adverse event of security breach – opt for regular backups and store them on the cloud. Also, make sure you have an offline copy so that you can quickly push up your website back to the previous form in no time, in case of emergency.

In a nutshell, Magento is applaudworthy – not only for business development, and from a management perspective, but also from a security point of view. In this extremely volatile and threat-prone cyber world, the responsibility to secure your Magento rests on your shoulder. So, Good Luck!!!

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