Table of Contents
Background
Naturkost.com is a German retailer of organic goods, natural cosmetics, baby food, cleaning agents and simply everything for those who enjoy making organic living a part of their everyday lifestyle. Having worked in the organic business since 1994, Naturkost.com had been selling natural products long before it became a trend.
MageWorx obtained a successful track record of completed upgrades and customizations, helping Naturkost.com to remain one of the most popular stores in its segment. Moreover, both companies managed to become good friends and loyal partners.
The cooperation between MageWorx and Naturkost.com dates back to 2012, when Magento 1.6 was the most up-to-date version of the platform. Since then, eCommerce industry has dramatically transformed, as well as the Magento platform, allowing its users to benefit from multiple speed, security and functionality improvements.
The most recent “project” for Naturkost.com took place in the late 2016, when Jan-Cristoph Gack, CEO of Naturkost.com, asked MageWorx to upgrade the store to the most up-to-date version of Magento – 1.9.3.1.
Challenge and Development Process
The previous version of the website was running a version that contained numerous fixes and a number of important security enhancements that prevented potential cache poisoning, remote code execution and many other vulnerabilities.
However, specific changes made to Magento API caused malfunction of the 3rd party extensions vital for the store’s operation. Furthermore, the client faced urgent issues related to calculating shipping charge taxes.
One of the top priorities of the upgrade was to perform it with as little downtime as possible and make sure all the data is kept intact. Another thing to consider was theme and extensions compatibility.
The upgrade process consisted of 4 stages.
- Moving the website to the test hosting server
To ensure safe operation of the live website, database and sources were moved to the Mageworx test hosting server.
- Store upgrade
The team performed the store upgrade, which includes adjusting the store design theme, modules, Magento core and the whole store database to the updated version. All found database issues were fixed, as well as compatibility issues with the 3rd party extensions that were present in the previous version.
- Testing
After the upgrade, the client and the team were able to test the updated version and make sure that everything was working as it should.
- Site publication
When the client approved the upgrade, it was performed on the live version of the website.
At MageWorx, we stick to a certain procedure when performing an upgrade. We stick to best practices when it comes to making the upgrade procedure swift and comfortable. There are two crucial points that can affect the upgrade:
- The upgrade usually takes a couple of hours, so it should be scheduled at a specific time to make sure no sale is lost
- Along with checking the server settings, the team has to synchronize the database of the live and test versions of the website to get all the latest data
Result
Naturkost.com is now running the latest version of Magento 1 with improved tax calculation algorithms and API fixes. The 3rd party extensions are functioning again. The client and the technical team are satisfied with the upgrade.
For the future, Naturkost’s management are planning to use the most up-to-date version of Magento platform.
“I’ve been a fan of MageWorx for many years now. This a rare example of the company I can entrust my whole Magento business to. With all the years they’ve been in Magento development, they succeed at everything they do, from minor website upgrades to serious custom development tasks. Nothing can surprise these guys. MageWorx have always managed to predict potential complexities and pitfalls and give the result I needed. Fast.”
Jan-Cristoph Gack
CEO, Naturkost.com
About MageWorx
At MageWorx, we stick to the point that upgrading to a newer version of Magento is not about having the latest version number. It is about improved security, enhanced functionality and stability along with the support of 3rd party software vital for the store’s functionality.
Since 2008, we’ve supplied more than 30.000 online businesses with industry-leading extensions and helped with all kinds of services that a web store may need – from SEO to complete website redesign.
