$_aIds = array();
foreach( $prod->getAttributes() as $attribute ) {
	//need the attribute_id which is missing from the attribute object
	if( !isset($_aIds[$attribute->getAttributeCode()]) ) {
		$_aIds[$attribute->getAttributeCode()] = $attribute->getIdByCode('catalog_product', $attribute->getAttributeCode());
	}

	//if there's not store_label try to set it
	if( !$attribute->getStoreLabel() ) {
		$labels = $attribute->getResource()->getStoreLabelsByAttributeId( $_aIds[$attribute->getAttributeCode()] );
		if( array_key_exists(Mage::app()->getStore()->getStoreId(), $labels)) {
			$attribute->setStoreLabel( $labels[Mage::app()->getStore()->getStoreId()] );
		}
		else {
			$attribute->setStoreLabel( $attribute->getFrontendLabel() );
		}
	}
}
// end workaround

Applies to Magento 1.5.x

This issue has been reported on magentocommerce.com bug tracking system and it’s also discussed in the forum. USPS makes it clear that they’ll discontinue all API versions prior RateV4 ad IntlRateV2:
“All Rate Calculator API integrators are encouraged to migrate to the latest API versions (RateV4, IntlRateV2):
RateV4 and IntlRateV2 will be the only Rate Calculator API versions to offer the full range of new products and functionality
Rate, RateV2, RateV3 and IntlRate will be retired in May 2011, requiring all integrators to migrate to the latest versions”

As explained on the forums, the fix is quite simple, as USPS only added the <sup>®</sup> which is the encoded (twice ) version of the registered sign in a sup tag. Magento values are defined without those so when the code tries to match them it fails. All you have to do is clean that string and you’re good to go. I don’t like to modify core files so the fix involves copying app/code/core/Mage/Usa/Model/Shipping/Carrier/Usps.php to app/code/local/Mage/Usa/Model/Shipping/Carrier/ and working on the local version of Usps.php. Strip the special chars:

$mailService = str_replace('®', '', strip_tags(htmlspecialchars_decode(htmlspecialchars_decode((string)$postage->MailService))));

and

$svcDescription = str_replace('®', '', strip_tags(htmlspecialchars_decode(htmlspecialchars_decode((string)$service->SvcDescription))));

Here’s the archive with the patch. Just download it and unzip it in the root of your Magento distribution. Download USPS patch for Magento 1.4.2.0 (8.59 kB)

Note: This patch applies to Magento CE 1.4.2.0. For all other versions you will have to do it manually as explained above.

One of the things I liked from the start (as a developer) was the ability to extend it in a very simple and loosely coupled way (unlike other solutions). Adding the OOP and design patterns made it perfect for my way of thinking. And I think this is the way to go for any major application, even if it might seem cluttered or with a steep learning curve at a first glance. I remember one of the first problems I faced was module creation – I was adding all my code in the core/Mage folder, I was overwriting a lot of the core code although I knew it was bad and so on. However, once I understood how to create a module, things became clearer and much simpler. So here’s a beginner’s guide to creating a new module. Although it’s meant for beginners, you should know the basic folder layout (skins, library, js, apps).

All Magento code resides in app/code and the lib folder. If you check app/code you’ll notice three subfolders: community, core, local. You should be adding your stuff in local or community (usually only when it is a community contribution). So let’s create our first module. I’ll use the namespace mandagreen and the module will be called HelloWorld. For this I need to create the following folders under app/code/local:
Mandagreen/HelloWorld

To keep things simple, in this example we’ll be creating one Block, one Helper and one Model – no controllers & no Resource Models. Here’s where each of these will reside:
blocks – app/code/local/Mandagreen/HelloWorld/Block
helpers – app/code/local/Mandagreen/HelloWorld/Helper
models – app/code/local/Mandagreen/HelloWorld/Model

Create these three folders and then also create a new etc folder. The structure will then look like this:

    app/code/local/Mandagreen/HelloWorld/Block
    app/code/local/Mandagreen/HelloWorld/etc
    app/code/local/Mandagreen/HelloWorld/Helper
    app/code/local/Mandagreen/HelloWorld/Model

The etc folder holds configuration information – in this case we’ll focus only on the module configuration file, which is config.xml. Let’s create it and start adding some xml into it:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
	<modules>
		<Mandagreen_HelloWorld>
			<version>0.0.1</version>
		</Mandagreen_HelloWorld>
	</modules>

	<global>
		<models>
			<helloworld>
				<class>Mandagreen_HelloWorld_Model</class>
			</helloworld>
		</models>

		<blocks>
			<helloworld>
				<class>Mandagreen_HelloWorld_Block</class>
			</helloworld>
		</blocks>

		<helpers>
			<helloworld>
				<class>Mandagreen_HelloWorld_Helper</class>
			</helloworld>
		</helpers>
	</global>

	<frontend>
		<layout>
			<updates>
				<helloworld>
					<file>mg_helloworld.xml</file>
				</helloworld>
			</updates>
		</layout>

		<translate>
			<modules>
				<Mandagreen_HelloWorld>
					<files>
						<default>Mandagreen_HelloWorld.csv</default>
					</files>
				</Mandagreen_HelloWorld>
			</modules>
		</translate>
	</frontend>
</config>

That’s a lot, isn’t it? No worries, I’ll explain. Under the main node (config), youll usually need the global node. The modules node is being used to hold mode info about the current module, maybe dependencies and so on. The frontend node is usually used for defining layout handlers and translation files, but they can do more than that. In this example, we’re gonna have our own layout file called mg_helloworld.xml – you can use any name on it (as long as it’s unique), but I prefer to namespace it as well. Also, I’ve defined a translation file Mandagreen_HelloWorld.csv which needs to be created in app/locale/en_US (or whatever your default locale is).

The global node defines all the classes you’ll be using, in this case helpers, models and blocks. You can see that they are defined the same way, but in different locations: <helpers />, <models /> and <blocks />. Let’s use the helpers node as an example.

		<helpers>
			<helloworld>
				<class>Mandagreen_HelloWorld_Helper</class>
			</helloworld>
		</helpers>

The helloworld node defines a handle and you should be careful to always use unique names. If you’re not sure if a certain name exist, namespace it (mghelloworld for example). This handle will be used to instantiate models, call helpers or use blocks using the Magento factory. For example, for models, you’ll be using Mage::getModel('helloworld/modelname'); instead of new Mandagreen_HelloWorld_Model_Modelname();. Same with helpers, inside a block template – $this->helper('helloworld')->someMethod();.
The other node, class is being used to define the namespace of the class name. In the example above, the name of the Modelname class has to being with Mandagreen_HelloWorld_Helper. A few examples might help:

• Mandagreen_HelloWorld_Model_Salute, will be found in Mandagreen/HelloWorld/Model/Salute.php and can be accessed via Mage::getModel('helloworld/salute')
• Mandagreen_HelloWorld_Model_Salute_Hi, will be found in Mandagreen/HelloWorld/Model/Salute/Hi.php and can be accessed via Mage::getModel('helloworld/salute_hi')
• Mandagreen_HelloWorld_Helper_Help, will be found in Mandagreen/HelloWorld/Model/Help.php and can be accessed via Mage::helper('helloworld/help')

Now that we explained the config file, let’s move on to actually creating the classes and code. I’ll use the example above and create the following files:

Mandagreen/HelloWorld/Block/Standard.php

<?php

class Mandagreen_HelloWorld_Block_Standard extends Mage_Core_Block_Template {
    function getSomething() {
          return Mage::getModel('helloworld/salute')->getName();
    }
}

Mandagreen/HelloWorld/Helper/Help.php

<?php

class Mandagreen_HelloWorld_Helper_Help extends Mage_Core_Helper_Abstract {
    function shouldSayHi() {
          return true;
    }
}

Mandagreen/HelloWorld/Model/Salute.php

<?php

class Mandagreen_HelloWorld_Model_Salute extends Mage_Core_Model_Abstract { //or Varien_Object or none
    function getName() {
          //do some heavy logic here
          return 'John';
    }
}

One more file is required for the translations to work with this module – a “default” Data helper, defined in Mandagreen/HelloWorld/Helper/Data.php like this:

class Mandagreen_HelloWorld_Helper_Data extends Mage_Core_Helper_Abstract {}

We have the classes but we also need to use them in a template, so let’s create standard.phtml in app/design/frontend/default/default/template/helloworld (create all additional folders if needed). Also, create mg_helloworld.xml under app/design/frontend/default/default/layout.

For the template, things are very easy:

<div style="background: red; padding: 20px;">
	<?php if( $this->helper('helloworld/help')->shouldSayHi() ): ?>
	Hello <?php echo $this->getSomething(); ?>
	<?php else: ?>
	Can't say anything...
	<?php endif; ?>
</div>

while for the layout we’ll use this approach:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<layout version="0.1.0">
    <default>
        <reference name="content">
            <block type="helloworld/standard" name="helloworld" template="helloworld/standard.phtml" after="-" />
        </reference>
    </default>
</layout>

This should display “Hello John” at the end of the content area on most of the pages, including the homepage. But wait, before you try that you’ll have to enable the module in app/etc/modules. Create a file called Mandagreen_HelloWorld.xml with the following code:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <modules>
        <Mandagreen_HelloWorld>
            <active>true</active>
            <codePool>local</codePool>
        </Mandagreen_HelloWorld>
    </modules>
</config>

Clear all magento cache and refresh the page – your first module, up and running! And here’s the archive for this tutorial – Download Hello World Magento Module (2.99 kB)

Further/recommended reads:

• Namespaces Rationale
• Custom Module with Custom Database Table
• uScaffold extension by Unirgy

$observer->getEvent()->getOrder()->setOnestepcheckoutCustomercomment($orderComment);

add this line:
$observer->getEvent()->getOrder()->setState( Mage_Sales_Model_Order::STATE_NEW, true, $orderComment, false );

$observer->getEvent()->getOrder()->setState(
    $observer->getEvent()->getOrder()->getStatus(),
    true,
    $orderComment,
    false
);

This will add the comments on the regular comments/statuses thread, as well as a customer comment. If you want to disable customer comments, just comment the original code.

Actually, this approach should also work with the out-of-the-box Magento one step checkout. Add an input on the last step, create a listener for

checkout_type_onepage_save_order

and use the same piece of code:

$observer->getEvent()->getOrder()->setState( $observer->getEvent()->getOrder()->getStatus(), true, $this->_getRequest()->getPost('order_comments'), false );

Note: Tested on Magento 1.4.1.0 & 1.4.1.1

What it does

This quick optimizer parses all javascript & css files included on a page and removes all unnecessary characters. The most simple step is to remove spaces, tabs and new lines – but there’s more than just that. Of course, for small files compression is insignificant, but when you work with almost 600KB and around 30 requests, you can save a lot. Here’s a quick math on one of my Magento installs:

Javascript – 26 requests, 479 KB
CSS – 4 requests, 102 KB

With Magento’s default merging enabled:
Javascript – 1 request, 360 KB (not sure why this is smaller then the 26 summed up, but nvm)
CSS – 1 request, 108.2 KB (same for this one too, but again, nvm)

We’ve already saved 28 requests, which means less overhead – quicker download times for user, less stress on the server.

With the Minifier enabled:
Javascript is 255 KB, which means almost 47% compression
CSS is 92 KB, which means almost 10% compression

Advantages

• Faster loading times
• Less stress on the server and on bandwith
• Improving PageSpeed score with 4-8 points
• Checking 4 to-do’s from the Web Performance Best Practices Guide

Disatvantages

• Need to write javascripts very careful, adding a semicolon after almost everything
• Have to rewrite of Mage_Core_Model file
• Have to override two Magento methods
• Additional processing time (insignificant in my opinion)

Credits

This plugin wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for these two outstanding PHP projects:
Joe Scylla’s CssMin
Ryan Grove’s JsMin
Big thanks to both of them.

Download & Install

First, Download Minifier for Magento (10.54 kB), then unzip it and copy the app/ folder to your Magento root folder.

Logout from the admin if you’re already logged in, then login. Go to Cache Management, click on the “Fulsh cache storage” button, then go to Configuration > Developer and enable all the options, as shown in the attached screenshot. Go back to Cache Management and this time click on the “Flush Javascript/CSS cache”.

Go to your store frontend and behold, you’re now using compressed js’s and css’s.

Works on Magento 1.4+

SET @etID := (SELECT entity_type_id FROM eav_entity_type WHERE entity_type_code = 'order_address');
SET @atFn := (SELECT attribute_id FROM eav_attribute WHERE attribute_code = 'firstname' AND entity_type_id = @etID);
SET @atLn := (SELECT attribute_id FROM eav_attribute WHERE attribute_code = 'lastname' AND entity_type_id = @etID);
SET @atEmail := (SELECT attribute_id FROM eav_attribute WHERE attribute_code = 'customer_email');

SET @startDate := '2010-08-06 00:00:00';
SET @endDate := '2010-08-13 23:59:59';

SELECT o.increment_id, e.value as email, ln.value as lastname, fn.value as firstname
FROM sales_order o
INNER JOIN sales_order_varchar e ON e.entity_id = o.entity_id AND attribute_id = @atEmail
INNER JOIN sales_order_entity lne ON lne.parent_id = o.entity_id AND lne.entity_type_id = @etID
INNER JOIN sales_order_entity_varchar ln ON ln.entity_id = lne.entity_id AND ln.attribute_id = @atLn
INNER JOIN sales_order_entity_varchar fn ON fn.entity_id = lne.entity_id AND fn.attribute_id = @atFn
WHERE o.created_at BETWEEN @startDate AND @endDate
GROUP BY o.increment_id
ORDER BY o.increment_id DESC;

The only problem is when the Shipping Name is different than the Billing Name – there’s no control over that, as we’re grouping by increment_id. This could easily be fixed in a PHP script, but the approach there should be different (using collections).

Hope this helps anyone, as it did the trick for me.

Solution tested under Magento 1.4.0.1

Bug details/behavior

So, updated from 1.4.0.1 to 1.4.1.0, everything looks fine, catalog price rules are being applied in the catalog (categories and product pages), but when adding the product to the cart the quote item price was the regular price not the special one.

Solution/Fix

After a few hours playing with the rules, observer and other core elements I found the problem. A big “thank you” goes to “myself” who posted the second comment for the issue mentioned above. The problem was within the CatalogRule Observer, when fetching the ID of the Customer Group. Here’s how to fix it:

1 – create the following folders in your Magento distro: app/code/local/Mage/CatalogRule/Model
2 – copy app/code/core/Mage/CatalogRule/Model/Observer.php to app/code/local/Mage/CatalogRule/Model
3 – open the new/copied file and go to line 105. Change this code:

        if ($observer->hasCustomerGroupId()) {
            $gId = $observer->getEvent()->getCustomerGroupId();
        } elseif ($product->hasCustomerGroupId()) {
            $gId = $product->hasCustomerGroupId();
        } else {
            $gId = Mage::getSingleton('customer/session')->getCustomerGroupId();
        }

to:

        if ($observer->hasCustomerGroupId()) {
            $gId = $observer->getEvent()->getCustomerGroupId();
        } elseif ($product->hasCustomerGroupId()) {
            $gId = $product->getCustomerGroupId();
        } else {
            $gId = Mage::getSingleton('customer/session')->getCustomerGroupId();
        }

To be more precise, you have to change hasCustomerGroupId to getCustomerGroupId on line 105.

You can now enjoy your store again!

One cool thing is that it comes with the option of activating Customer Order Comments – it adds a textarea field on the checkout page, and a box with the customer comments in the admin, when viewing the order.

However, one of my clients requested I added these comments in the invoice PDF’s. So, here’s how to do it:

Step 1
Copy app/code/core/Mage/Sales/Model/Order/Pdf/Invoice.php to app/code/local/Mage/Sales/Model/Order/Pdf/Invoice.php

Step 2
Open the new file and create a new method:

	function insertOscComments(&$page, $order) {
		if( !$order->getOnestepcheckoutCustomercomment() ) { return; }
		$this->y -= 20;
		$page->setFillColor(new Zend_Pdf_Color_Rgb(0.93, 0.92, 0.92));
		$page->setLineColor(new Zend_Pdf_Color_GrayScale(0.5));
		$page->setLineWidth(0.5);
		$page->drawRectangle(25, $this->y, 570, $this->y - 20);
		$page->setFillColor(new Zend_Pdf_Color_Rgb(1, 1, 1));
		$page->drawRectangle(25, $this->y - 20, 570, $this->y - 40);

		$page->setFillColor(new Zend_Pdf_Color_RGB(0.1, 0.1, 0.1));
		$page->drawText(Mage::helper('onestepcheckout')->__('Customer Comments'), 35, $this->y - 13, 'UTF-8');
		$page->drawText($order->getOnestepcheckoutCustomercomment(), 33, $this->y - 33, 'UTF-8');
		$this->y -= 50;
	}

Step 3
At the end of method getPdf add a call to the new method you created:

  /* Add totals */
  $this->insertTotals($page, $invoice);

  /* Add OneStepCheckout Customer Comments */
  $this->insertOscComments($page, $order);
}

And that’s all you need.

First, let’s retrieve the reviews collection (this method will go into the block):

	function getReviews() {
		$reviews = Mage::getModel('review/review')->getResourceCollection();
		$reviews->addStoreFilter( Mage::app()->getStore()->getId() )
						->addStatusFilter( Mage_Review_Model_Review::STATUS_APPROVED )
						->setDateOrder()
						->addRateVotes()
						->load();        

		return $reviews;
	}

We’re using Mage_Review_Model_Mysql4_Review_Collection, which is a resource model. First setup the collection, filtering by store – we only want to retrieve the product reviews in the current store -, by status – show only approved reviews -, and ordering by date in reverse order, then load the collection.

addRateVotes() helps loading all the ratings/votes for that review. We’re gonna use this collection to compute the average rating.

Next, let’s move on to the template for a second. We’re gonna call the getReviews() method, then iterate through all the reviews. For each review you would probably want to display the title, nickname, date and details, but also the product associated and the user rating. For the first four, things are pretty easy, all you have to do is call getTitle(), getNickname(), getDetail(), getCreatedAt() on each review object.

To display the product name & link, we need to retrieve the product associated with each review – unfortunately I wasn’t able to find a way to join the product tables inside the query for retrieving all the reviews. So, we need to create a helper method inside our block, called getProduct(). We’re gonna use a storage/registry variable called _loadedProducts, so that we avoid loading the same product multiple times.

	function getProduct( Mage_Review_Model_Review $review ) {
		if( !isset($this->_loadedProducts[ $review->getEntityPkValue() ]) ) {
			$this->_loadedProducts[$review->getEntityPkValue()] = Mage::getModel('catalog/product')->load( $review->getEntityPkValue() );
		}

		return $this->_loadedProducts[ $review->getEntityPkValue() ];
	}

And inside the template:

<?php $_prod = $this->getProduct( $review ); ?>
<a href="<?php echo $_prod->getProductUrl(); ?>"><?php echo $_prod->getName(); ?></a>

One last thing, if you intend to display the average rating of each review, add another helper method inside the block:

	function getAverageRating( Mage_Review_Model_Review $review ) {
		$avg = 0;
		if( count($review->getRatingVotes()) ) {
			$ratings = array();
			foreach( $review->getRatingVotes() as $rating ) {
				$ratings[] = $rating->getPercent();
			}
			$avg = array_sum($ratings)/count($ratings);
		}

		return $avg;
	}

And then call it in the template (in this example we’re using Magento’s default styling):

<div class="rating-box">
	<div class="rating" style="width: <?php echo ceil($this->getAverageRating( $review )); ?>%;"></div>
</div>

That is all! You now have a page where all product reviews can be display.
Things to consider: pagination and cache!

Update: Seems that Magento comes prepared for reviews on products, categories and customers. We only need to load product reviews, so it would be wise to filter by entity. Unfortunately, the current version of Magento doesn’t allow filtering for a certain entity, only by entity and entity PK (which is the product ID in this case). Of course, we could write a decorator and write a method to just add a filter for entity_code = 'product', but the quickest (and dirtiest) way of doing it is by adding a check inside the template foreach loop (or adding a helper method in the block):

if( $review->getEntityId() == 1 ) { continue; }
//1 is the id of the 'product' entity - if you write a method, use a class constant