Setting the MageBridge URLs in Magento - Yireo

[General] Hosting environment

When running MageBridge on a hosting environment, especially when Magento and Joomla! are installed in the same webdirectory, system resources need to be adequate to run Magento and Joomla! simultaneously. We've seen shared hosting environments where resources were not sufficient. The problems encountered include the following:

• Memory problems while running PHP-scripts
• HTTP Internal Errors because of PHP timeouts
• Timeouts of the MySQL server

We do not give refunds if MageBridge is unable to operate correctly due to a lack of resources. Please make sure your hosting environment is completely optimized for running Joomla! and Magento, before purchasing MageBridge.

There will be no direct attempt to solve this issue, because most hosting environments that are less fit for MageBridge are actually not optimized at all for Magento.

[General] JavaScript-based problems

MageBridge by itself does not use JavaScript and there for does not create any problems regarding JavaScript. However, the current Magento themes make heavy use of the JavaScript frameworks Prototype and Scriptaculous, which conflict with the framework MooTools which is included in Joomla!.

To resolve this conflict you need to remove one of the frameworks on the MageBridge pages of your site. The simplest way to do this is to disable conflicting Joomla! modules on MageBridge pages. We provide you with all information needed to accomplish this.

We do not give refunds if the only reason for this is the JavaScript-conflict explained here. There is no way to fix this problem through coding. Perhaps we will  work in the future on a separate Magento theme that uses more jQuery than Prototype.

[Joomla! config] Debugging

Joomla! debugging should be disabled (in the Global Configuration) when installing or upgrading MageBridge. The MageBridge installer-script performs various database queries which are designed to fail if they are not needed. Joomla! debugging causes these failed queries to abort the installation.

[Joomla! config] JFTP and file uploads

When JFTP is enabled, file uploads do not work as expected. This is partly due to the fact that the concept of FTP-mode only exists in Joomla! and not in Magento. We recommend you switch to a proper hosting environment where JFTP is not required.

[Magento config] Compiler

The Magento Compiler module copies class-files to a separate include-folder which gives a performance boost. However, the compiling process does not work together with the Magento Downloader, so there for the MageBridge updater fails if the Magento Compiler is enabled. To bypass this problem, disable the Magento Compiler temporarily when you want to update MageBridge in Magento. As soon as the update is completed, you can safely enable the Magento Compiler again. Rerun the compilation process.

[Joomla! extension] 3rd party SEF extensions

Joomla! is shipped with support for Search Engine Friendly (SEF) URLs, but there are several third party extensions that add different SEF behaviour to Joomla!. Some of these extensions work together with the Joomla! core SEF behaviour, but others require extra plugins for specific components like MageBridge.

MageBridge does not offer support for SEF extensions that require extra plugins, and are not compatible with the default Joomla! core SEF. The following extensions therefor do NOT work with MageBridge:

• SEF Advance
• sh404SEF
• AceSEF

Third party SEF extensions that maintain compatibility with the core SEF functionality will work without a problem:

• Artio JoomSEF
• RSSEO

[Joomla! extension] RokModuleOrder

The System Plugin RokModuleOrder developed by RocketTheme does not work together with the MageBridge feature to hide module positions on specific pages.

[Joomla extension] RSFirewall

RSFirewall adds enhanced security to Joomla!, but some of the tricks seem a little tight for Magento. The simple solution is to configure RSFirewall (the Firewall Configuration page) to skip the entire MageBridge component under the option Skip the following components when verifying for PHP injections.

Also note that numerous MageBridge requests might trigger DoS-alerts. If your MageBridge logs are filled with 403-errors, it's probably best to turn off DoS-detection.

[Joomla! extension] RSForm System Plugin

The System Plugin of RSForm does not work together with the MageBridge functionality of flushing positions (available in the theming settings of MageBridge). If you want to use tricks like hiding the left-column on product-pages, you can still use RSForm but instead of using the MageBridge theming settings you will have to modify your Joomla! template manually.

[Joomla! extension] 2J Tabs Plugin

The System Plugin 2J Tabs Plugin does not work together with the MageBridge feature to hide module positions on specific pages.

[Joomla! extension] Kunena System Plugin

Various problems may arise when using the Kunena System Plugin together with MageBridge. Primarily, the MageBridge User Plugin may stop synchronizing user-data correctly (for instance, a password that is not synced correctly between Joomla! and Magento). And also Remote Single Sign On (which is not used often on MageBridge sites) does not work.

[Magento extension] Fooman Speedster

Some versions of Fooman Speedster give problems with MageBridge, because CSS and JS files are merged together, while MageBridge still needs to find them individually. Because Speedster gives only a performance benefit under Magento stand-alone, and not under MageBridge, it's fine to disable this module - either on a global level, or for a specific Magento Store or Magento Store View.

[Magento extension] Developer Toolbar

The Magento Developer Toolbar resets a couple of settings when activated for the frontend. Mainly it disables the SEO rewrites and enables the store code in URLs - two settings that conflict with MageBridge. When developing the Magento site, using the developer toolbar: Once you turn to MageBridge/Joomla! you should disable it.

[Magento exension] Mollie Ideal

The Mollie Ideal calls upon a Magento script ideal/setup.php that is added to Magento without following the Magento MVC-standards. The URL is therefor incorrectly transformed into a Joomla! URL, therefor causing a 404-error. The only way to fix this, is by hacking the code of this Magento extension: While this is discussed in the forum, it's not something we can agree with - therefor this extension is listed as incompatible.

[Magento core] Can't save API-role

Because MageBridge is API-based, the setup procedure requires you to setup an API-user in Magento and assign an API-role to this user. Under Magento 1.6 it is impossible to save the API-role for a specific API-user. This is a well known bug in the Magento core, and it was supposed to be fixed by upgrading to Magento 1.6.1.0. However it seems 1.6.1.0 still contains the same bug.

This issue is added to the Magento Bug Tracker under number 12192. Within the tracker-comments, you'll find a PHP-based solution from user okerret (post 16).

[Joomla] RocketTheme dies with a PHP Fatal Error

When using MageBridge under Joomla! 2.5 combined with a RocketTheme template, the MageBridge configuration-option Joomla! template (under the Theme-tab) does not work, but throws a PHP Fatal Error. This is due to the fact that Joomla! has introduced template-styles, but the RocketTheme framework is not excepting setting a template on the fly while not specifying a template-style. There is no solution for this, except for not using the MageBridge option Joomla! template. It is advises to assign the right Joomla! template using the Joomla! core functionality instead.

[Magento Extensions] Temgra ColorLast

MageBridge has some issues when using Temgra ColorLast, due to which customers are not logged in during checkout. Because this module is ionCube-encrypted, we do not support its usage whatsoever and have marked this entire module as incompatible with MageBridge. Our general advise is to stay away from ionCube-encrypted (or other closed source) extensions.