MageBridge FAQ

Who needs both webshop as CMS?

Traditionally an online shop was only setup for selling products. Nowadays customers are asking more. They do not only visit an online webshop to get the products they need, they also use the online shop to get extra information to base their decision on.

This not only includes the neccessary product information but also background information and extra information which is often not needed but adds to the overall impression a customer gets from your shop. Perhaps you could even offer a complete life-style (the "IKEA-effect").

Joomla!^TM has much better ways to be interactive with customers besides the regular selling-trail that is offered by Magento^TM. Think about a forum, FAQ, a guestbook, but also even more advanced opportunities like a helpdesk or social networking site. Choosing Joomla! is just a smart strategy to give your customers what they need: Information.

Is MageBridge for me?

Setting up a Magento webshop is not easy, and combining Magento^TM with Joomla!^TM isn't either. It requires work - both on the configuration-level as well as on the theming-level - and we need you to realize this before jumping ahead.

While MageBridge can be promoted as the competitor of VirtueMart, it should be noted that the functionality of MageBridge^TM and Magento is much more advanced than VirtueMart. With the functionality, the complexity also grows. We offer many tutorials to guide you through the implementation of MageBridge, but you need to it yourself.

Still, we welcome you to join us, because we believe that MageBridge and Magento will outrun any other open-source e-commerce system on various levels. It's a rush.

Is MageBridge all I need to connect Joomla! with Magento?

With MageBridge^TM you can integrate Magento^TM into Joomla!^TM easily. You don't need any other integration software like JFusion. But getting the bridge up and running is only part of the job.

MageBridge doesn't add theming to your webshop - you need a Magento theme for that. MageBridge will just pick up the theming that is currently in use in the Magento store and dump it in the Joomla! layout. It is your own responsibility to choose or create a Magento theme that matches your Joomla! template.

When combining the Magento theme with the Joomla! template, you might run into problems: Double HTML-elements, weird CSS-layouts and even conflicting JavaScript frameworks. If you want to create a beautiful combo-site, you will need to be a webdesigner to solve these problems. However, MageBridge doesn't require you to hack into PHP-code. Also with our help on the support-forums and the information found in our tutorials, you have the right tools to make your site to a success.

What's the difference between MageBridge and other bridges?

MageBridge has the same functionality as other bridges, but is capable of doing much more. Other bridges only offer a cross-application user authentication. MageBridge^TM can do that too, but also allows you to show Magento^TM content inside Joomla!^TM - whether it be the main component or modules on the left or right.

While other bridges are already planning visual integration, MageBridge is ahead of the wave with its visual integration being complete, multi-lingual and search integration being available and extra plugins for Community Builder and JomSocial coming up soon.

Another difference that has to be pointed out is that MageBridge is sold commercially while other bridges may be downloaded for free.

Does MageBridge support multiple stores?

Yes and no, it depends if we are talking about the same thing. Within Magento^TM the multi-site mechanism is implemented through three different store-types: websites, store groups and store views.

MageBridge^TM itself only allows you to configure one Magento website in one Joomla!^TM site. In most cases this is just fine. For multi-lingual content, MageBridge supports Joom!Fish and Nooku out-of-the-box and allows them to connect to different store views. Support for store groups through customizable plugins is under way.

When will MageBridge X.Y.Z be released?

We do not release versions in the conventional way. Versions should be seen as milestones: The features of a new version are implemented through intermediate builds, so existing installations can be upgraded contineously to stay up-to-date with new features. The actual version-change is more a marketing decision with which we say "Hey everbody, we've know finished implementing all new features".

Where can I find more information on MageBridge?

We plan to launch a good number of tutorials on MageBridge. An installation guide and configuration guide are to be considered the basic documentation, while there will be also tutorials on architectural plans using MageBridge^TM, a theming guide that shows you how to combine Joomla!^TM and Magento^TM in themes, a performance and tuning guide, a security guide, and so on.

The basic documentation will be available for public view, but the advanced tutorials are only accessible for paying customers.

Can I extend the MageBridge behavior?

The MageBridge-module in Magento catches Magento events and wraps objects related to these events in arrays and sends these arrays through XML-RPC to Joomla!, where the MageBridge XML-RPC plugin converts these calls into Joomla! events. In effect, this process of "event forwarding" causes Magento^TM events to be used in Joomla!^TM, and offers a clean generic way of extending MageBridge. With this concept other products like Community Builder or Anahita can be integrated more easily with MageBridge^TM and Magento.

Unfortunately this "event forwarding" has to enabled for each event manually. The reason for this is that every event is shipped with some objects, but in many cases these objects do not offer the full information needed to extend the functionality. For instance the event that is fired when an order is saved, includes an order-object but doesn't include any details on the products of that order. That's why we try to extend that event with usefull information before sending it to Joomla!.

Check out the development-FAQ

Can you help me with the implementation of my site?

Setting up a MageBridge-based website requires a good knowledge of Joomla!^TM, Magento^TM and MageBridge^TM. We can help you setup the best website. Also if you need custom modules or plugins, you can contact us.

For now, as Yireo, we only concentrate on MageBridge and the Yireo Tutorial Club. If you want our help with implementations or custom development, feel free to contact us through Jira ICT (the Dutch company behind Yireo^TM). Please see the Jira ICT website for more information.

To www.jira.nl

Does MageBridge involve any hacks?

No, it doesn't. MageBridge^TM doesn't modify the core of either Joomla!^TM or Magento^TM. Most features are implemented by using the available APIs and event-systems.

A warning has to be issued regarding the Magento-extension. Magento allows core-classes to be overridden by third-party-classes, and MageBridge uses this trick to fetch data needed from Magento which could normally not be fetched. For instance, the breadcrumb-class only allows for fetching HTML, not the data-array that lies underneath. The MageBridge override adds a method to the class that does fetch this data-array. Note that these modifications are not core-hacks, but adaptions of the override-technology offered by Magento.

Is multi-currency supported by MageBridge?

Multi-currency is totally independant from the multi-site mechanism, and
is configured per store. Because one Magento^TM store is brought to one
Joomla!^TM site, this just works - just like many other Magento features.

Recommended reading

To understand MageBridge^TM fully, you need to know the difference between Websites, Stores and Store Views (or the GWS-system) as they are defined by Magento. This is explained in the Magento Designers Guide and the Magento^TM Wiki-pages.

For Joomla!, you need to have a solid understanding of Joomla!^TM templating for which docs.joomla.org is a good starting point. Besides that, we also recommend taking a look at our MageBridge tutorials - they range from the basic level to the most advanced, but provide important clues on how to implement MageBridge properly.

To the Yireo Tutorials

Doesn't MageBridge add extra overhead?

Yes, it does because the bridge is running over HTTP, which costs extra bandwidth. But because only those parts that are needed for the MageBridge page are fetched from Magento, a lot of times a MageBridge site gives the same performance as Magento^TM stand-alone. There are even circumstances in which MageBridge^TM will perform better!