This tutorial covers the installation of extensions and themes in Magento 2, disabling extensions in Magento 2, how to install LiveChat,change domains, reset Magento 2 admin password, integrate Google Analytics and set up an sitemap in Magento 2.
Further reading:
How to manage content in Magento 2
How to manage sales and promotions in Magento 2
Magento 2 overview, installation and configuration tutorial
Magento2 products and categories management tutorial
Magento 2 maintenance and advanced tutorials
How to Install Extensions in Magento 2
The modularity of Magento was always the main reason for its success. Being able to install and update extensions on the fly changing the structure of your store is also an essential part of Magento 2
Note
Before you try to install and extension, we recommend that you create a backup of your Magento 2 installation by following our How to Backup your Magento 2 tutorial.
To install a new Extension in Magento 2, you will need to:
Step 1: Find the Extension Menu
Step 2: Start a Readiness Check
Step 3: Backup your Data
Step 4: Install the Extension
Find the Extension Menu
To install a new extension, you will need to access your admin dashboard and navigate to System ? Web Setup Wizard.
From the 3 blocks of options you have at your disposal, choose the Component Manager.
Here you will see the already installed extensions on your website, any new updates for them and new extensions which you can install. Click on the Install link below the New Purchases label.
Select the extension/s you want to install and click on the Install button or mark then and select a bulk install action form the top of the page.
Start a Readiness Check
In this step you will run a Readiness Check which will check if your Magento 2 installation has all of the necessary components required for the extension installation. Click on the Start Readiness Check button.
After the check has been completed and your installation covers all of the requirements, you will be able to proceed by clicking on the Next button.
If you have a component marked as red, you will be able to check how to fix the issues with it by clicking on the link below it. This will direct you to the official Magento 2 documentation section where you will find a guide on the matter.
Backup your Data
The second step involves creating a Backup on your Store. We have recommended you to do this at the start of this tutorial as sometimes the integrated Magento Backup system will not create a proper backup of your data which is something you want to avoid at all costs.
You can de-select the backup options here and click on the Next button or click on Create Backup if you have selected an option.
If you choose the latter, you will receive a confirmation screen that the backup has been successfully created and then you can hit the Next button to proceed.
Install the Extension
In the last step, you will see again the extension/s you wanted to install. Click on the Install button to continue.
Once the installation has been completed, you will receive a confirmation and the ability to go back by clicking on the Back to Setup Tool button.
Congratulations, you now know how to install extensions in your Magento 2 website
Further reading:
How to manage content in Magento 2
How to manage sales and promotions in Magento 2
Magento 2 overview, installation and configuration tutorial
Magento2 products and categories management tutorial
Magento 2 maintenance and advanced tutorials
How to Disable Extensions in Magento 2
If you no longer need a certain extension, you have the option to disable it thus removing its function from your Magento 2 store.
This can be easily be done, from the back-end of your website, so login to your admin dashboard and navigate to Stores ? Configuration.
Now, please access the Advanced ? Advanced section from the left navigation panel inside your Configuration menu.
Below the Disable Modules Output, you will see all of your extensions and you will be able to choose which of them are Enabled/Disabled.
Click on the Save Config button and clear the corresponding cache when you are done with the change.
Magento2 Advanced Tutorials
How to Integrate Zopim in Magento 2
Warning!
Zendesk bought Zopim on April 10, 2014. The new service does not abide by all of the previously established terms and no longer provides free accounts for partners rendering this Tutorial Section out of date.
A great way to provide your Magento 2 Store's guests with assistance is to have a live chat enabled for your website. This will increase your orders as you can help your clients with their request and offer them items they might have difficulties finding. In this tutorial we will review the integration of Zopim live chat in your Magento 2 website.
To get Zopim working with Magento 2 you will need to:
1. Get the Zopim Addon
2. Integrate Zopim with Magento
Get the Zopim Addon
In order, to get the Zopim Live Chat addon you will need to log into your Client Area and then navigate to the Order section.
Select the Product Addons tab, which will includes all of the extra services that we offer.
Scroll down till you find the Zopim Live Chat service. It is free of charge for our existing customers, so simply click on the Add to cart button.
Complete the order for and you will receive an email to verify it shortly after. The new email includes a direct link to your Zopim live chat dashboard and the login credentials for it.
Integrate Zopim with Magento
Start by loggin into your Zopim account and accessing the Widget tab under the Settings section.
Copy the script you are presented with, access the admin area of your Magento 2 and navigate to Stores ? Configuration.
In the General section, select the Design option. Expand the Footer section and paste the Zopim script in the Miscellaneous HTML field.
Save the changes on your website and access the front-end. You will be able to see the Zopim widget displayed at the bottom of the page.
Further reading:
How to manage content in Magento 2
How to manage sales and promotions in Magento 2
Magento 2 overview, installation and configuration tutorial
Magento2 products and categories management tutorial
Magento 2 maintenance and advanced tutorials
Changing the Domain associated with Magento 2
Rebranding or changing the goods you sell may lead to a need for a change in the domain name of your Store. In this Tutorial, we will help you reconfigure your Magento 2 Store to open via a new domain.
Before you continue, make sure your new domain is properly configured and pointed to the servers of the hosting provider on which your current Magento 2 installation resides.
Now you will need to login to the admin area of your Magento 2 website and navigate to the Stores ? Configuration section from the main admin panel.
Go to the General ? Web tab from the navigation menu on the left and expand the Base URL section.
If your current domain is example.com and you wish to change your Magento 2 to be accessible via your new domain example22.com you will need to make the change in the URL here. You will also need to expand the Base URL (Secure) section and make the same change on the URL.
Once you are ready, hit the Save Config button at the top right corner of the page to apply the changes and make Magento 2 open via your new domain.
Further reading:
How to manage content in Magento 2
How to manage sales and promotions in Magento 2
Magento 2 overview, installation and configuration tutorial
Magento2 products and categories management tutorial
Magento 2 maintenance and advanced tutorials
How to Reset the Admin Password in Magento 2
If you are not using an encryption program to save your passwords, you might end up forgetting it and being unable to access your admin area in Magento 2. Luckily you have 2 options in that situation.
To reset your admin password for Magento 2, you have two options:
Option 1: Automatic Reset
Option 2: Manual Reset
Automatic Reset
The easier way to reset your password is by using the Forgot your password? feature located in the admin dashboard login screen.
Type your admin email address and click on the Retrieve Password button.
On your email address, you will receive a link with which you can create a new password for your account.
Manual Reset
If for some reason, you have no access to the email address associated with your Admin account in Magento 2, you will have to edit the database manually in order to regain access. To do that, you will need to login to your cPanel and access the phpMyAdmin service.
Click on the database you use for your Magento 2, search for admin and access the admin_user table.
Click on the Edit button and then input your new admin email address in the email value field and the new admin password in the password value field using the MD5 function.
Scroll down and click on the Go button to save the changes. Now you will be able to login with the newly configured credentials.
Further reading:
How to manage content in Magento 2
How to manage sales and promotions in Magento 2
Magento 2 overview, installation and configuration tutorial
Magento2 products and categories management tutorial
Magento 2 maintenance and advanced tutorials
Integrating Google Analytics in Magento 2
Being able to track the traffic on your Magento 2 website will enable you to better manage the products on your store and have more customers. Google Analytics has you covered when it comes to traffic tracking.
To enable Google Analytics in Magento 2 you will need to:
Step 1: Obtain a tracking ID
Step 2: Configure the Google API in Magento 2
Obtain a tracking ID
To obtain this tracking ID you have to create an account with Google Analytics.
Select the Sign in with Google Analytics option and click Sign up.
Fill the account details and scroll to the bottom of the page to click on the Get Tracking ID button.
Now you will have to accept the Google Analytics Terms of Service, if you read and agreed with them.
You will now have to copy the tracking ID in preparation for the next step.
Configure the Google API in Magento 2
Login to your Magento 2 admin area and navigate to Stores ? Configuration.
Access the Sales>Google API section, expand the Google Analytics option, Enable it and paste the tracking code in the Account Number field. Also click on the Save Config button to apply the changes.
Wait a few minutes for the traffic data to load in your Google Analytics dashboard and you will be able to track the activity on your website.
Further reading:
How to manage content in Magento 2
How to manage sales and promotions in Magento 2
Magento 2 overview, installation and configuration tutorial
Magento2 products and categories management tutorial
Magento 2 maintenance and advanced tutorials
How to Generate a Sitemap in Magento 2
A Sitemap is a plain text XML file that contains link to all of the pages on your website. It is used by the Search Engines to properly crawl and index your website. In Magento 1.x this option was called Google Sitemaps and was located in the Catalog menu. However, things have changed in Magento 2.
To access your Sitemap's configuration page, you will need to access your website's admin area and navigate to Stores ? Configuration.
From there access the Catalog ? XML Sitemap section.
Here you will have to expand all of the individual parts of the configuration page:
For Categories, Products and CMS options you will have frequency and priority of creation of new entries as well as an option to add the images of products into the sitemap.
In the Generation Settings you will be able to Enable Sitemap Generation and set a time of the day for it (if you choose a daily frequency for example).
In the Sitemap File Limits section, you can choose the limit of URLs per file and the maximum size of a file (in bytes). Last but not least, you will have to decide, if you want to If you add a reference of your sitemap to your robots.txt file. This will make search engines find it automatically.
Once you have configured the XML Sitemap schedule and options, click the Save Config button at the top right corner of the page.
Congratulations, you have improved the SEO of your Magento 2 based Store.
