Magento Features

The large array of the Magento features is one of the main benefits of Magento. Through them you can easily develop and manage a successful online store. Magento features like different payment engines and shipping options along with the international support and high security using a private SSL certificate will make your shop an attractive place for e-commerce.

Magento main features include:

• Analytics and Reporting - the script is integrated with Google Analytics and offers many different reports.
• Product Browsing - multiple images for products, options for extensive reviews, wishlists and much more.
• Catalog Browsing - easy navigation, advanced product filtering system, product comparison.
• Catalog Management - inventory management, batch import and export of products, different tax rates per location, additional product attributes.
• Customer Accounts - order status and history, e-mail and RSS feeds for products in the wishlist, newsletter subscription, default billing and shipping address.
• Customer Service - enhanced features for customers' accounts, Contact Us form, comprehensive order tracking and history, customizable order e-mails.
• Order Management - create orders through admin area, create multiple invoices shipments and credit memos, call center order creation option.
• Payment - different payment methods: credit cards, PayPal, Authorize.net, Google Checkout, checks, money orders, support of external payment modules like Cybersource, ePay, eWAY and many more.
• Shipping - shipping to multiple addresses, flat rating shipping, supports UPS, UPS XML (account rates), FedEx (account rates), USPS and DHL.
• Checkout - one page checkout, SSL support, checkout without having an account.
• Search Engine Optimization - 100% Search Engine Friendly, Google SiteMap support.
• International Support - multiple languages and currencies, list of allowed countries for registration, purchasing and shipping, localization.
• Marketing Promotions and Tools - coupons, discounts and different promotion options.
• Site Management - control of multiple web sites, multiple languages, tax rate with support for US and International markets, customizable outlook through templates.

 All the SiteGround servers are optimized in order to support the best Magento features hosting.

Magento Encryption Key

The Magento Encryption Key is generated during the Magento Installation. It is used for the encryption and the security storage of the sensitive data in the script's database.

The Magento Encryption Key is kept in the app/etc/local.xml file. You can open it through cPanel->File Manager. You can find more details on how to view the file content in our cPanel tutorial.

The code which you should look for is:

<crypt>
            <key><![CDATA[ENCRYPTION_KEY]]></key>
        </crypt>

The ENCRYPTION_KEY string is replaced by the actual encryption key.

You need it if want to move your store data to a new Magento site. The Encryption key is used to recover the encrypted data.

When you migrate your database content to a new Magento installation, make sure that the encryption key from the existing installation is written in the new web site's local.xml file. Otherwise the encrypted data, stored in the new database will not work.

Magento Installation

Get Magento installed for free with Magento hosting pack!

There are several ways to install Magento. The fastest and easiest one is to use the Softaculous autoinstaller available in cPanel. To learn how to install Magento via this tool, check our Magento Softaculous Installation Tutorial. 

You can also perform a manual Magento installation using the Magento Installation Wizard.

SiteGround also offers a third way to install Magento via the Site Software section in cPanel. Note that this tool will be deprecated soon and new Magento versions are not available for it. We recommend installing Magento via Softaculous.

Manual Installation of Magento

The steps which you must follow in order to complete the Magento manual installation are:

 Step 1: Download the latest stable Magento package from:

http://www.magentocommerce.com/download.

 Step 2: Upload the package on your hosting account through your cPanel -> File Manager or using an FTP client.

You can learn more about cPanel from our cPanel Tutorial.

There are 2 options where you can place the Magento download file:

• Either under the public_html folder, which is the main one for your web site content. Then your web site will be accessible directly through your domain.
• Or under a subfolder, for example if your domain name is called yourdomainname.com and you decide to install the script in the public_html/magento folder, you will open the web site at:http://yourdomainname.com/magento.

Once you upload the package, you can extract it through your cPanel -> File Manager. Using the same tool, please change the file permissions for the Magento files to 755.

 Step 3: Create a MySQL database and assign a user to it through cPanel -> MySQL Databases. Remember the database details, since you will need them during the script installation. 

The MySQL database is created with your username as prefix - username_databasename, and this is the name you have to use for your application.

 Step 4: In our example we will install  Magento in the public_html/magento folder. Once the package is uploaded and extracted and you have a MySQL database, navigate to http://yourdomainname.com/magento:

Click on the check box next to "I agree to the above terms and conditions" and click on the Continue button.

 Step 5: Choose the preferred Time Zone, Locale and Currency:

Click on the Continue button.

 Step 6: Enter the database details: Database Name, User Name and User Password. You can leave the other options intact.
Click on the check box next to "Skip Base URL validation before next step".

Click on the Continue button.

 Step 7: At this point you should enter the personal information and the admin login details which you want to use. You can leave the Encryption Key field empty and the script will generate one for you.

Click on the Continue button.

 Step 8: Write down your encryption key; it will be used by Magento to encrypt passwords, credit cards and other confidential information.

Well done! Your Magento installation was successfully completed. Now you can navigate to its Frontend or Backend.

Automatic Magento Installation via cPanel Site Software

Magento installation is easy and fast through the Softaculous autoinstaller tool in cPanel. If your web host doesn't offer such a tool, you may consider the SiteGround exclusive Magento hosting or proceed with the Magento manual installation.  

First go to cPanel find the Site Software icon.

Find Magento in the Ecommerce section and open it.

Enter the admin user name and the corresponding password.

You can also define the folder for your Magento installation. Leaving it blank will install the script directly in the web root directory for your account.

Click on the Install button to complete the script installation.

At the end you will get a confirmation screen with the URLs of your installation's front and back ends, the Magento admin login details and the link to the SiteGround Magento tutorial. The Magento encryption key will also be visualised.

Magento Softaculous Installation Tutorial

In this tutorial we will show you how to use Softaculous to install a Magento application to your site. The installation process is pretty straightforward and it will take only a few minutes. You don't need any advanced skills to perform it and at the end you will have a fully functional Magento application on your hosting account. 

First , you need to access your cPanel account and find the Softaculous icon under the "Software Services" section. It should be located in the lower part of your cPanel page, right under the "Domains" section.

You have to click on the Softaculous icon and then you will be redirected to the auto installer's home page. On the left side of the screen is the categories menu. The next step is to find the "E-Commerce" category and click on it to expand it. You will see a lit of apps that you can install. Click on the Magento link, so that Softaculous will open the Magento installation page.

On the next page, you will find out more information about the Magento application and the different features that it offers. To proceed to the installation screen click on the blue "Install" button.

This is the most important step at which you should configure the new Magento application. Most of the fields are automatically filled in by the installer and you don't need to change them. However, we advise you to change the text in the following fields: 

• Admin Username: By default this field is set to "admin". You can change it and we strongly advise you to do it, so that an attacker will not be able to guess your administrative username. 

• Admin Password: The administrative password for your website is a randomly generated one. If you want to change it simply type the new password in the field. 

• Admin Email: In this field you should type your email address. It is needed, so that the application can send you a new password in case you can't login. 

• First Name and Last Name: Here you can type your real name if you want to. 

Please note that by default Softaculous will install the Magento app in a "magento" sub-folder. That being said, if you would like to be able to access the website only via your domain name you should delete the magento string from the "Directory" field. If you want to install the CMS in another sub-folder simply type it in the field.

Finally, scroll down to the end of the page and click on the "Install" button:

That's it! Your Magento application is installed and ready to use. The installer will redirect you to a new page where you will see the details for the completed installation. You can now login and create your Magento website.