In this Month’s Newsletter…

* Security patch applied: SUPEE-6285
* Interesting Magento Articles…

Security patch applied: SUPEE-6285
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All Magento hosted stores greater than version 1.5 patched

Magento released a new round of security patches named SUPEE-6285. These patches cover a number of smaller information leaks and cross-site scripting vulnerabilities. Details on what was patched may be in the Magento patch document:

http://merch.docs.magento.com/ce/user_guide/Magento_Community_Edition_User_Guide.html#magento/patch-releases-2015.html

All LexiConn hosted Magento stores running Magento version 1.6 or higher have been automatically patched. As is our policy, we auto apply security patches once they are released and after we’ve tested them for stability. We do *not* auto apply bug fix patches or version upgrades.

We post updates about when security patches are applied in our News Forum:

http://support.lexiconn.com/news/forums/forum/news/

The only minor issue we’ve heard about with this patch is a few custom third party extensions may not work in the admin panel for users that do not have full admin privileges. If you find an extension not working, please reach out to the extension developer to see if they have a patch to fix this.

Interesting Magento Articles…
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Here are some recent Magento blog posts and articles:

USPS Rate Change Issues with Priority Mail International – USPS change that affects Magento.

http://www.lexiconn.com/blog/2015/06/usps-rate-change-issues-with-priority-mail-international/

The Reports of the Magento Core Being Vulnerable are Greatly Exaggerated – No zero day vulnerability…

http://www.lexiconn.com/blog/2015/07/the-reports-of-the-magento-core-being-vulnerable-are-greatly-exaggerated/

Increase Conversion with these Magento Checkout Layout Changes – Demac Media mini tutorial.

https://www.demacmedia.com/magento-commerce/magento-checkout-layout/

As always, feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. Complete contact and support options can be found at:

https://support.lexiconn.com/

Sincerely,

- The LexiConn Team

If you have a moment, please let us know how we’re doing!

http://www.shopperapproved.com/surveys/full.php?id=3552

* Security patches – automatically applied by LexiConn
* Use a CDN for faster image rendering
* Magento 2 – Getting closer
* Interesting Magento Articles…

Security patches – automatically applied by LexiConn
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LexiConn has got your back when it comes to security.

Magento has released a number of security related patches this year. From the nasty Shoplift bug to the latest round of miscellaneous vulnerabilities, it’s been a busy year for keeping your Magento store safe from hackers.

Fortunately, we here at LexiConn make it easy by auto applying these security patches (after we test them) to all hosted Magento stores. Note that we only automatically apply security patches, and not bug fix patches, or version upgrades. Those are only performed upon request.

We post updates about when security patches are applied in our News Forum:

http://support.lexiconn.com/news/forums/forum/news/

Use a CDN for faster image rendering
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A Content Delivery Network (CDN) helps make your Magento store faster. It does this by storing a copy of your images in datacenters throughout the globe, and then serving these images to your customers from locations that are physically close to them. This makes your site load faster, and has the added bonus of reducing server load by off-loading the delivery of these images.

Integrating a CDN into Magento is easy to accomplish. We offer a CDN Service for $20/month that includes 50 GB of monthly bandwidth. It uses the Edgecast Global Network, which is seen as one of the best CDN networks available. We can install and configure the CDN for your store with no downtime.

http://www.lexiconn.com/services/cdn.html

Magento 2 – Getting closer
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Magento version 2, under development for past several years, is getting closer to becoming a reality and being available to merchants. The published “go live” date is the fourth quarter of 2015. However, the migration to version 2 will not be a seamless process.

First things first, Magento 1 is not going away. Magento will be supported and patched through 2017. So, there is no driving force to quickly upgrade to version 2. There also is no easy path to migrate from version 1 to version 2 of Magento. There are some scripts that can port over data, but themes and extensions would have to be completely re-done.

Magento 2 is a complete re-write. It is almost a completely new product as opposed to a version upgrade. It incorporates new technologies, a revamped admin interface, and a host of new features and ways of running a store. aheadWorks has a great blog post about Magento 2:

http://blog.aheadworks.com/2015/05/all-you-need-to-know-or-once-again-about-magento-2/

Interesting Magento Articles…

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Here are some recent Magento blog posts and articles:

Magento 2 Developer Beta – What you need to know about Magento 2.

http://www.lexiconn.com/blog/2015/01/magento-2-developer-beta-what-you-need-to-know/

Magento Tip – Setting Up Free Shipping – Tips on ways to offer free shipping.

http://www.lexiconn.com/blog/2015/01/magento-tip-setting-up-free-shipping/

Google Wants Your Ecommerce Site to be Responsive – Being mobile friendly is a necessity these days.

http://www.lexiconn.com/blog/2015/03/google-wants-your-ecommerce-site-to-be-responsive/

As always, feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. Complete contact and support options can be found at:

https://support.lexiconn.com/

Sincerely,

- The LexiConn Team

If you have a moment, please let us know how we’re doing!

http://www.shopperapproved.com/surveys/full.php?id=3552

In this Month’s Newsletter…

* Full Page Cache – A MUST for any Magento store
* Magento Version Upgrades and Development Accounts
* GoDataFeed, MageMail Services to Increase Sales
* Interesting Magento Articles…

Full Page Cache – A MUST for any Magento store
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Using a Full Page Cache (FPC) plugin makes your pages fly, and can help convert more sales.

If your Magento store is not using a Full Page Cache (FPC), you’re missing out on making your site blazing fast. An FPC is separate from Magento’s built-in caching, or PHP/MySQL caching. An FPC caches the catalog pages themselves, so they load instantly without having to be built from scratch each time they are requested.

Luckily, it’s easy to integrate a Full Page Cache into Magento. We recommend and fully support Extendware’s Full Page Cache Plugin. It has many features such as automatic flushing of only affected pages/products when changes are made, easily hole punched for custom dynamic data, fast page loads even when items are in the cart, and more.

Although not free (one time $475 fee, a 10% discount), it is the best Full Page Cache system out there today. You can purchase it through us, and we’ll install and configure it for your site. It’s that easy. More details may be found on our website:

http://www.lexiconn.com/ecommerce/magento/full-page-cache.html

Magento Version Upgrades and Development Accounts
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Upgrading Magento to a new version is not a simple task. Besides the steps involved in the upgrade itself, many stores have made changes to core Magento files that get wiped out on an upgrade. Plugins or themes may not be compatible with a newer version of Magento. Functionality may change that your site relies upon to work optimally.

Fortunately, we have a process in place to help a Magento upgrade go as smoothly as possible. For a one time $99 fee, we can upgrade your store to the latest version of Magento. Read more about it on our website:

http://www.lexiconn.com/blog/magento-upgrades/

If you’re in need of a development / staging area to test with, we can provide this service as well. For shared hosting, the cost is $25 per month and a one time $40 setup fee to copy the live store into a dev. account and adjust it to work properly. For VPS and managed server clients, there is no additional monthly fee, just the one time $40 setup fee. We also set the dev. account so it is *NOT* indexed by search engines.

GoDataFeed, MageMail Services to Increase Sales
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Looking for services to help increase sales? We recommend two companies that work great with Magento and provide valuable add-ons.

Go Data Feed:
They provide a complete shopping site and Marketplace Feed Solution. Translation: They help you sell your products in more places like Google Shopping, Amazon, Nextag, Shopzilla, and 100 more channels. They have a plugin for Magento that makes integration a snap. More info (and a free trial) may be found on our website at:

http://www.lexiconn.com/services/godatafeed.html

MageMail:
Send triggered emails based on events or actions in a customer’s life cycle (abandoned cart, review request, product recommendation, purchase anniversary, and more). The service integrates seamlessly in Magento. Pay nothing unless sales are generated. Find out more on their website:

https://magemail.co/

Interesting Magento Articles…
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Here are some recent Magento blog posts and articles:

Extending Magento – What to look for when searching for new features.

http://www.lexiconn.com/blog/2014/09/extending-magento/

Our Magento Knowledgebase – Our ever growing list of KB articles about Magento.

http://support.lexiconn.com/kb/categories/Magento/

Magento Extension Selection – What to look for when adding a plugin/module to your store.

http://www.demacmedia.com/magento-commerce/magento-extension-selection-2/

As always, feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. Complete contact and support options can be found at:

https://support.lexiconn.com/

Sincerely,

- The LexiConn Team

If you have a moment, please let us know how we’re doing!

http://www.shopperapproved.com/surveys/full.php?id=3552