Disabling event observers programmatically in Magento
I started using unit testing on a project and it took a while to figure out why my tests were not running. Every time I ran phpunit it only ran the first test and then nothing happened: No matter what the assertion, the outcome was the same, the script was ending after the first test. […]
Proofpoint.com misinforms their audience, makes false malvertising allegations
On Sunday, Sep 7 2014, 11:10am CentralPark.com received a message from Wayne Huang (whuang@proofpoint.com) from proofpoint.com informing us that we’ve been hit by malware. To be more precise he was saying our Ad Server had been compromised. Here’s the entire message we received: I’m writing to inform you that your website has been hit by […]
New Magento Minifier version
A new version of the Mangadreen Minifier is out, 1.0.4. Since the previous post there have been a few tweaks, fixes and performance improvements. The code has also been migrated to GitHub. Here’s a direct link to the latest version (zipped): https://github.com/firewizard/Mandagreen_Minifier/archive/master.zip. The plugin is currently in production on several Magento CE 1.5, 1.7, 1.8 […]
Magento ‘Can’t get filling percentage’ memcache issue
This is a known problem for anyone who runs Magento and uses memcache as a caching backend. But it’s actually not a Magento issue, it’s a Zend Framework problem, and it seems that even newer versions of ZF still have the same approach. I suspect this is actually a memcache problem, but even so, one […]
Safari clear/float text flow issue
Here’s a strange and annoying Safari quirk I’ve stumbled upon yesterday, applies to both the Mac and Win versions. Basically, if there’s a text and two right floated elements (read images), and the first element is longer than the paragraph it precedes, and the next paragraph is also preceded by such a floated element, the […]
Javascript version compare function
Here’s quick javascript function for comparing versions. It works with any type of version strings, but it does not check for suffixes like ‘RC’, ‘alpha’, ‘stable’, etc. This was written in less than 10 minutes, so let me know if you find any bugs. Suggestions are welcomed anytime!
Convert all MySQL tables and fields to UTF8 charset & collation
At some point in your web dev life you might face the “Illegal mix of collations” mysql error. Nothing complicated, you just need all your tables to use the same charset and collation and this can be fixed really easy using phpmyadmin or even from the command line. However, when the database has 300+ tables, […]
Magento memory leaks and custom options
Most software, if not all, has memory leaks. Some are really bad at collecting garbage, other manage it better, but not enough. Magento had its problems since the beginning, and a lot of them have been fixed in the latest releases (using 1.6 to test this). However, it still has a long way until all […]
The amazing world of Magento
Magento has its positives and negatives, but this one is a must-share issue. While testing a payment gateway problem I discovered the following error (on Magento 1.7): Wow, so let’s see, subtotal 33.15 – discount 33.00 = grand total of 0.14. Not exactly correct, I would dare say.
Updated version of the Magento CSS & JS Minifier
I’ve released the first version of the magento css&js minifier more than a year and half ago. Since then, it has been downloaded over 200 times – roughly 10 downloads per month. It’s a decent number, considering its utility and the fact that it hasn’t been promoted or included on Magento Connect. The first version […]
