Black on the rocks

Make sure the file permissions are set correctly.

(0777 might be too generous, but we don’t have time to figure these things out for sure).

This happened to me today. Turns out my IDE (NuSphere’s PhpEd, an excellent PHP IDE by the way) has a setting for default folder/file permissions when creating new files. Insufficient file permissions were manifesting themselves as “Invalid block type …” errors. I’m sure it could be responsible for other quirkiness when doing custom work.

Or when one of your eyes starts twitching.

*sigh*

As with most payment gateways, the steps involved are a matter of:

1. Gathering the appropriate information (provided by the gateway service)
2. Enter the information into the Magento Admin Panel
3. Activate the payment module

Full procedure

Fortunately, I stumbled upon one possible solution.  The method doesn’t involve creating a full-blown module, rather, just a few database modifications using phpMyAdmin.

Summarized, the process comes down to:

1. Create a new row in the eav_attribute table, one that mimics a category’s meta-description attribute with everything being the same except for a unique identifier and a label.
2. Create a new row in the eav_entity_attribute table, to provide a sort order for your newly created attribute, following in the format footsteps of the existing rows.

For the fully detailed procedure, see Create Custom Category Attributes with phpMyAdmin

Basically, the procedure involves going into the database, finding the appropriate row that contains the password, and assigning the new password using MD5.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Firefox and once touted it as the best thing to happen to the Internet since broadband came out.  Too bad the rest of my system slows to the point where I’m experiencing issues with basic keyboard and mouse input.  I know I’ll have to come back to Firefox every now and then because of the developer toolbar, but it’s no longer my default browser.  Did I mention that Chrome is fast?

With Text attributes such as Name and Description, you can do something like:

$product->setName( 'My Sweet Shirt' );
$product->setDescription( 'This shirt will make you look good, thus impressing girls.' );

Unfortunately, this won’t work for attributes whose values are predefined.  Instead of cursing Magento, think of it as a data-integrity/validation measure.

Anyway, assuming you already have a $product object, our overall process will be to:

1. Load an attribute object for the attribute you want to work on
2. Load the collection of that attribute’s values
3. Make your choices (different for Dropdown and Multiselect)
4. Save the product

1. Load an attribute object for the attribute you want to work on

$attribute = Mage::getModel('eav/entity_attribute');
$attribute->loadByCode( 4, 'color' );

2. Load the collection of that attribute’s values

$values = array();
$valuesCollection = Mage::getResourceModel('eav/entity_attribute_option_collection')
	->setAttributeFilter( $attribute->getId() )
	->setStoreFilter( Mage_Core_Model_App::ADMIN_STORE_ID, false)
	->load();
 
foreach ($valuesCollection as $item) {
	$values[$item->getValue()] = $item->getId();
}

3. Make your choice – DROPDOWN

$product->setColor( $values['Blue'] ); // just do whatever you need to code 'Blue' instead of hard-coding it

3. Make your choices – MULTISELECT

$product->addData( array(
	'color' => $values['Blue'] .','. $values['Red'] .','. $values['Black']  // just putting together a comma-separated list of values
) );

4. Save the product

$product->save();

This builds off the solution posted by member “icvu” here: http://www.magentocommerce.com/boards/main.php/viewthread/69925/ — specifically the addData() part.

Thanks, and have fun setting attribute values.

var $actionBy = 'ACTION_BY_CONTACT';

in cc_class.php (provided via the “PHP Sample Forms” zip file). By default, this value is:

var $actionBy = 'ACTION_BY_CUSTOMER'

instead, which does not trigger the welcome email.

• Rebuild Catalog Index

  Mage::getSingleton('catalog/index')->rebuild();

• Rebuild Flat Catalog Product

  Mage::getResourceModel('catalog/product_flat_indexer')->rebuild();

• Inventory Stock

  Mage::getSingleton('cataloginventory/stock_status')->rebuild();

For more cache refreshes, such as:

• Catalog Rewrites
• Layered Navigation Indices
• Product Image
• Search Index

… please refer to the source of this knowledge http://www.magentocommerce.com/boards/viewthread/43238/#t156277

“For a start you could text-align: center the ul inside the #ul_container_div and display: inline the li instead of floating them left.”

#ul_container_div{ width:100%; text-align:center; }
#ul_container_div li { display: inline;  }

Source of knowledge: http://archivist.incutio.com/viewlist/css-discuss/59041

When viewing in Internet Explorer 6 and experiencing the “strange-repeated-text” problem, try applying this CSS to the element containing the text that gets repeated:

float: none;
clear: both;

Knowledge from: http://uxdev.blogspot.com/2008/10/phantom-text-in-ie6.html

Thanks “The Oatmeal“

<meta content='IE=EmulateIE7' http-equiv='X-UA-Compatible'/>

I think this has the effect of enabling “Compatibility Mode” that the user would normally have to turn on.

As a side note, the specific reason I used this was to make a Google Friend Connect widget render properly — there are plenty of posts on the web about those widgets not working in IE8.

• Turn up the heat.  Your ability to be warm-blooded is probably weakened.  Does it seem like blankets and comforters don’t make you any warmer?
• Wear socks.  I heard somewhere that one’s body temperature generally follows the temperature of one’s feet.  I normally don’t wear socks when I sleep (I feel they’re not as comfortable as not wearing them).  But socks will keep you warm.
• Move your bed away from the windows.  You never know if drafts (that you’d normaly be insensitive to) are agitating you.  If your bed is right up against the wall/windows, move it away about 6 inches.
• Take a lozenge.  For this particular illness, it hurt to swallow.  Taking a lozenge provides temporary relief.  It is also a mild anesthetic  so our mouth will be numb.
• Drink lots of Fluid and take some Soup.
• Avoid touching cold things and wear slippers or socks when roaming the house.
• Flip the pillow over a bunch of times.  It’s nasty to reposition your head only to discover that you’ve just landed your cheek in a huge puddle of drool.  Flipping the pillow over allows time for the puddle to dissipate.
• Listening to music is agitating.  Either don’t listen to any, or listen to soft music like opera or classical.
• Have a glass of water, a box of tissues, and some spittage receptacle nearby.  That way you’re not thirsty, blowing your nose on blankets/sheets, and spitting on the floor.

That’s all I can think of for now.  Stay well, everyone!

getSkinUrl() does more than just generate the proper URL, it also verifies that the file exists.  If it doesn’t find the file within the store’s /yourtheme folder, it will revert to /default.

The problem was that The page I was developing had an <img> in it with the “src” attribute set blank.  When the document was fully loaded, javascript was in place to dynamically assign the “src”.  This worked perfectly fine in the pre-server-side-logic stage of development so it was an easy decision to begin debugging server-side logic.

The double execute happens when Firefox sees <img src=”" />.  Not knowing what source to assign, it sends a request (the second request) to the current path (again) for the image.  Therein lies the problem.  It’s interesting to note that Firefox is not to blame, as it’s following HTML specification.

• Dynamic product data in Marketing Campaign Landing Pages
• Dynamic Information such as Recently Viewed Items into Content Pages
• Promotional images to position in different blocks, side columns and other locations throughout the storefront
• Interactive elements and action blocks (external review systems, video chats, voting and subscription forms)
• Alternative navigation elements (tag clouds, catalog image sliders)
• Create interactive and dynamic flash elements easily configured and embedded within content pages for enhanced user experience

Originally posted on the official Magento Blog.  Continue reading for more on:

• What are Widgets?
• How to Develop a Widget
• Terminology
• Widget Examples in Magento CE 1.4, EE 1.6

Widget ideas anyone?  What should I work on?