Getting started with MageBridge - Yireo

Can I install MageBridge on existing sites?

Yes, you can. You can install MageBridge on top of existing Magento and Joomla! websites. MageBridge is a suite of extensions that can be easily installed, and do not modify the application core. Most of the work is done on the Joomla! side, which calls Magento through a so-called API to fetch data. The configuration of MageBridge is straight-forward but requires knowledge of both Joomla! as Magento.

If you have existing users in either Magento or Joomla!, these can be picked up by MageBridge and synced to the other side. For users the e-mail address should be used as username. With Magento this is default behavior, but with Joomla! it's a choice. Be warned that Joomla! users with a non-email username need to be migrated manually to Magento customers (or just change their username into their email address and be done with it).

Note that existing Joomla! modules might conflict with the Magento theme. These problems are due to JavaScript error. Though this is a problem of the choosen theme, not of the bridge itself, we provide all the help possible to solve these problems.

What are the minimum requirements?

On both Joomla! as Magento the following system requirements need to be fullfilled when running MageBridge:

• The PHP-version needs to be 5.2.8 or higher; PHP 5.3 is supported and recommended
• Joomla! 1.5 or Joomla! 1.6 or Joomla! 1.7 or Nooku Server
• Magento 1.3 or Magento 1.4
• The PHP-extensions SimpleXML, CURL, JSON and mcrypt need to be installed on your webserver
• For Joomla! the PHP-option "allow_url_fopen" needs to be enabled

Where should I install Magento?

MageBridge communicates between Joomla! and Magento using HTTP - the main protocol for the web. This requires networking to operate correctly (DNS, HTTP-access) but does not require Joomla! and Magento to be on the same host.

You could install Magento in a sub-directory of Joomla!. However, for improved security and performance-tuning, we recommend installing Magento in a seperate subdomain from Joomla! (a seperate VirtualHost in Apache) and using seperate databases. That way, you seperate the applications completely - using only the bridge to bind the two.

What are the hosting specifications for MageBridge?

By itself, MageBridge has some minimum requirements that can found in our MageBridge Installation Guide. These requirements equal the minimum requirements for running Magento and Joomla!. For optimal results, we also suggest that the hosting environment for both applications has APC (Advanced PHP Caching) enabled. For security, we highly recommend both applications to be installed in seperate VirtualHosts, each with their own PHP open_basedir value securely configured.

Does MageBridge support multi-site setups?

Yes, it does. Per Joomla site you can use only one single Magento Website (as defined by the GWS-terms of Magento), and using MageBridge Store Connectors you can load different Stores or Store Views under certain circumstances (language configuration, special promotions). You can even create your own store connectors.

Also, one Magento instance might be used for multiple Websites, and can therefor serve multiple Joomla! sites. If this is unclear, please see the Magento site for more information on their multi-site mechanism. MageBridge in this is not doing much special, it's just implementing things according to the Magento guidelines.

How do I setup MageBridge?

The setup of MageBridge involves the installation of a MageBridge Installer extension, which needs to be upgraded to the full version by using the right license-key. But after installing MageBridge, you will need to setup the bridge between Magento and Joomla!, configure the bridge and make sure Magento and Joomla! match. You can find all the details on the Yireo Tutorials pages.

The MageBridge System Check lists a shortage of PHP memory

Actually, the PHP-memory needed by Joomla! is only 16Mb or 32Mb. But Magento is a memory-hog and its minimum requirement is 512Mb.

However, the MageBridge System Check is accessed from the Joomla! backend and therefor only reports the PHP memory as seen from within Joomla!. It might well be that Magento is actually living up to the minimum requirements of 512Mb. If so, it's perfectly normal to ignore the reported error within the MageBridge System Check page.

What is APC and why do I need it?

APC stands for Advanced PHP Caching and it allows PHP-applications like Joomla and Magento to gain a lot more performance through caching. Because Magento runs dramatically slower when APC is not available in the hosting environment, we can only support Magento (and therefor MageBridge) fully if APC is available.

APC is a PHP-module. If it's not enabled for your websites, it is probably not available in the hosting environment. You will need to modify the hosting environment yourself or contact your hosting provider.

Can I use localhost?

MageBridge itself has no problem with using localhost as a domainname. If you enter localhost as well under your licensing settings within your Yireo Account, you can receive updates as well. Joomla! works fine under localhost.

However, Magento requires a full domainname, and therefor MageBridge needs this as well. We recommend you either install (and run) Magento under an IP-addresss (127.0.0.1), a localhost-domain like localhost.localdomain or a fake domainname configured in your hosts-file or personal DNS.