7 Major pitfalls you may face with Magento migration

serhii — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 10:16:06 +0000

Magento 2 is a completely new platform — pages load much faster, it simplifies store management, and it offers customers better search and checkout capabilities.

But the process of migration is time-consuming. On average it takes about three months. Granted, this period can be longer if the site is complex or highly customized, and especially if you run into pitfalls.

So how to migrate Magento 1 to Magento 2 smoothly and how to avoid the most common pitfalls read below.

Pitfall 1 — Magento 2 data migration isn’t as simple as dragging and dropping
There is no way to copy Magento 1 data and paste them into Magento 2. First, the Magento 2 platform has to be prepared for your custom data. Then, a combination of custom migration scripts, the official Magento Data Migration Tool, and sometimes manual migration are used to migrate your settings and bulk data.

Pitfall 2 — Messy code and a shoddy data structure may mean a lot of custom development
During migration, you may run into problems related to data structure depending on how old your site is and who developed it. Messy code can also make migration difficult because sifting through disorganized code is time-consuming. So the only way to avoid this pitfall is a good site audit to determine if custom migration scripts are needed or it’s better to just start with a clean install of Magento.

Pitfall 3 — Poor SEO performance after Magento migration
Search engine optimization (SEO) can make or break your business. If you don’t migrate correctly, the following issues can occur:

lower search engine ranking;
broken URLs;
redirects that don’t work.

So, the best option for keeping your SEO healthy after migration is mapping out your old site architecture and matching it up with the new site to check that all of your pages retain their ranking and you don’t lose traffic as a result of broken or unavailable pages.

Pitfall 4 — You can’t use Magento 1 extensions in Magento 2
Extensions that run on your Magento 1 site can’t be copied over during migration. Simply put, they won’t work. But if your Magento 1 extensions have a Magento 2 version, it’s pretty easy to migrate settings and data so your business isn't affected.

Pitfall 5 — Store theme and design have to be redone from scratch
Just like extensions, your site’s theme and design cannot simply be transferred over. The reason is that Magento 2 uses a modern architecture and has different frontend and backend requirements. Plus, now that people are accessing the web more on mobile, it makes sense to take advantage of Magento 2’s mobile-friendly responsive design features.

Pitfall 6 — The process takes longer than you think
Migrating Magento 1 to 2 isn’t just another Magento 1 update. But Magento 2 isn’t an update, it’s a major upgrade — it has improved performance and scalability, faster checkout, mobile-friendly, more useful integrations than Magento 1, advanced reporting, and other new features. Because version 2 is so different from version 1, stages like creating a plan, installing extensions and custom development, and redesign take the most amount of time.

So first, you need to audit and evaluate your website. After this you will have a better understanding of the expected finish date of the migration process.

Pitfall 7 — No end in sight if there is no definition of done
Definition of Done (DoD) is a predetermined set of criteria that is applied to a project to ensure the development team agrees that tasks have been accomplished with a high level of quality. In other words, DoD is used to measure whether the project has been completed or not. What happens when we apply this to Magento migration? If we don’t have a clear timeline, plan, and understanding of what “done” means, the project can go on indefinitely.Ideally, we want to migrate as quickly as possible while keeping in line with the DoD.

Magento 2 Migration Checklist

serhii — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 19:09:48 +0000

In June 2020, Magento 1 will no longer be supported and no security updates will be issued. Thus, Magento store owners should consider upgrading their websites to Magento 2.

Migrating to the latest version of Magento 2 comes with different benefits such as improved performance, high scalability, strong security, mobile responsiveness, better SEO, improved checkout process, easy integration of third-party extensions, advanced reporting, marketing automation, and streamline dashboards.Magento 2 migration may seem like a daunting task if it’s not planned and executed properly. Read below the checklist for a Magento 2 upgrade to help you make a smooth transition.

Step 1: Create a migration plan. Before starting the migration process, the stakeholders, project management, and development teams have to gather together and plan the whole Magento migration process so everyone knows what to do.Divide planning into three phases:migration details for data; project specifications; project planning.

Step 2: Prepare a testing environment. Try to perform every phase of migration in a separate environment (on an allocated server). This way you can run your existing store without downtime. Before writing the code, prepare the test and development environments. To ensure that everything is ready to implement in the project, install the default Magento 2 platform (Open Source, Commerce, or Cloud), and configure the version control system (Git).

Step 3: Install extensions and develop specific functionality. Modules that have been installed on M1 cannot be moved to M2, as they are completely incompatible. Visit the Extensions Marketplace and check if there is a version of M1 extension for M2. If there is no such extension, then implement an extension with similar functionality or develop a custom extension.

Step 4: Data migration. Magento data migration is a crucial aspect during the migration, as all your website’s data (products, categories, customers, orders, store configurations, settings, and orders) will be moved to the new platform.

To complete data migration successfully, you should apply the Magento Data Migration Tool. This tool transfers all the data to your new store smoothly with the exception of files, layouts, media, custom code, and control access configurations.

Step 5: Create a design for Magento 2. In contrast to data migration, Magento doesn’t offer a standard tool that will manage your theme migration. The frontend themes and their codes from Magento 1 and Magento 2 are different and incompatible.

You could either purchase a Magento 2 template that fits in with your store’s style or design a custom theme. If time is a concern, a ready-made theme is a good option.

Step 6: Test the design and perform database synchronization. After making the changes and testing the design, you should configure the hosting server due to the new system requirements for Magento 2. Then you can synchronize a final database, so no orders are left behind in migration.

Step 7: Magento 2 store launch on a live server. The last stage of migration is the launch day. If everything was done properly and according to the plan, your development team will carry out the smooth transition to the new Magento 2 store so you can go to market right away.

DEV Community: serhii

7 Major pitfalls you may face with Magento migration

Magento 2 Migration Checklist