[Deprecated] Your Thoughts on Prestashop 1.4 (1.4.0.17) Final ???

[uddhava]

I just downloaded and installed the final version.

I must say it is amazing. I am overwhelmed by the features and new functions. Thumbs up to the programmers for doing this. I tried a few things like importing and product customizations. It seems to work nicely.

Some things that caught my eye are :

 

* Fancy back end templates

(New decent front-end template? Now the backend looks better then the front-end !!!)

* Importing of images now also works with real URLs (http).

* Importing of taxes is not strictly on ID... (dont know if that is so handy)

* New JQzoom/Thickbox methods. Now the image is added to the cart with Jquery.

* Amazing Store locators with google maps...

* Does PS seem to be quicker? I am not sure yet.

 

All in all great stuff. What have you experienced?

[jhnstcks]

The guys at Prestashop created this alternative theme that is free http://addons.prestashop.com/en/2197-prestashop-14-alternative.html

The new live positions page is really useful although not easy to find.
Can't find where to define logo size, so have had to edit the file directly.
Onepage checkout AND guest checkout work really well and look good.
Customer service message systems looks good, although havent used it yet.
I like the new look backend geneally, although i dont like the new modules page.
The new instant search (like the new google search) is good, have only tried it on wamp, but it looks a bit slow.
The new caching and CCC for themes is good, makes my site loads faster.

Still no mail alerts for merchandise returns.

Overall I think its a good upgrade and definitly worth the extra work to update my theme, only took me a few hours so not too bad.

[bigstef]

I have tried it on my WAMP server and thought it was well thought out and looks pretty good.

I have to agree that the modules page is not very good on the eye but I suppose it does the job.

I am still using the old 1.2.5 version and as it works so well I am very uneasy about changing over to the newer version.

Is it the same upgrade process as the earlier ones?? Like the upgrade wiki or has it changed much??

I would hate to have to start all over again as I have around 550 products on my site and to start again would be heart breaking.

Good work on the extra theme as well, I actually use the original theme and my site does very well for sales so the old original cant be that bad!!

Brilliant to see that PS have kept it free not like the Magento developers.

[jhnstcks]

The upgrade process is exactly the same.

I downloaded my whole site to wamp and upgraded it there too see what would happen.

[noesac]

I've customized so much of my site that it's just not feasible to upgrade unfortunately:(

Also I don't think all the bugs will be ironed out for a while, so I figure I'll wait a year and reap the benefits of a few more iterations!

[utfcmac]

oh...a silent launch of the final version?! no homepage entry etc ... mmhhh.

[MrBaseball34]

And what makes you think that 1.4.0.17 is the final?

[utfcmac]

called "stable" on http://www.prestashop.com/en/downloads/

[MrBaseball34]

It is not a final until it is announced.

[Smartje]

Backend looks great, loads great. Frontend not so much. PS 1.4.0.17 seems to try to load a lot of non-existing CSS files (everything is split-up?) which causes enormous high page load times. Talking about CSS files for all the different standard modules, which have no CSS files packed with the latest version.

Aside from that, new features seem pretty neat.

[uddhava]

It is not a final until it is announced.

In my backend (was 1.4.0.15) it said :

Upgrade to 1.4.0.17 Final....

So i did.

[uddhava]

The guys at Prestashop created this alternative theme that is free http://addons.prestashop.com/en/2197-prestashop-14-alternative.html

.

I tried this theme. But i cannot find any install document or info about it. The layout is messed up and i think this is because of the incorrect install procedure. And there seems to be a Config.xml file in the zip file. Where does this go??

Any info on that?

[jhnstcks]

Did you change your shop preferences to use smarty3 and not smart2 as is the default. This could affect the lauout of the site.

The guys at Prestashop created this alternative theme that is free http://addons.prestashop.com/en/2197-prestashop-14-alternative.html

.

I tried this theme. But i cannot find any install document or info about it. The layout is messed up and i think this is because of the incorrect install procedure. And there seems to be a Config.xml file in the zip file. Where does this go??

Any info on that?

[uddhava]

Did not touch the Smarty setting. It is just a default install. The Smarty setting is set for v3.

but every theme i encountered before always needed configuration (like enabling/disable modules and more like that.)
And this strange Config.xml.....

[jhnstcks]

Did not touch the Smarty setting. It is just a default install. The Smarty setting is set for v3.

but every theme i encountered before always needed configuration (like enabling/disable modules and more like that.)
And this strange Config.xml.....

The default smarty setting is for smarty2 i think not smarty3.

The option Use Smarty 2 instead of 3 should be set to no for new themes.

[MrBaseball34]

Yes, and remember, that if you want to use Smarty3 and are upgrading, you MUST fix a hell of a lot of the smarty code in the old stuff that doesn't get overwritten in the upgrade.

Smarty 3 does not like spaces between the '{' and '}" and any other text in it's tags. I ran into a lot of problems with this in upgrading a 1.2.5 site to 1.4.0.9.

Also includes in the templates need to be fixed, too because this is how the old ones were written:

{include file=$tpl_dir./errors.tpl}

and this is how Smarty3 is requiring it to be:

{include file="{$tpl_dir}/errors.tpl"}

[uddhava]

The default smarty setting is for smarty2 i think not smarty3.

The option Use Smarty 2 instead of 3 should be set to no for new themes.

The setting in the back-end is again a very confusing language garble... aah the french...
The default setting is Smarty v3 from PS1.4

If you dont want that (because of old theme's) then you set it to yes... Soo confusing.
why dont they use easier english, for example :

Use Smarty v3. : Yes or No
or
Use old theme compatibilty : Yes or No.

This makes it much easier to understand. Now the setting reads "Use Smarty 2 instead of 3". That is bound to create confusion.

[airsoft4you]

I have a problem

I have now installed the new version twice completly from scratch with new databases. Both times the modules tab and payments tab have not worked I click on them and nothing shows. Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this.

[uddhava]

And they other tabs do work ?

[jhnstcks]

Yes, and remember, that if you want to use Smarty3 and are upgrading, you MUST fix a hell of a lot of the smarty code in the old stuff that doesn't get overwritten in the upgrade.

Smarty 3 does not like spaces between the '{' and '}" and any other text in it's tags. I ran into a lot of problems with this in upgrading a 1.2.5 site to 1.4.0.9.

Also includes in the templates need to be fixed, too because this is how the old ones were written:

{include file=$tpl_dir./errors.tpl}

and this is how Smarty3 is requiring it to be:

{include file="{$tpl_dir}/errors.tpl"}

Rather than trying to upgrade my files I found it easier and quicker to start with the default theme and copy across my css and any file alterations I had done.

Paul at ecartservices has come up with a good way of applying modules without hooks http://www.ecartservice.net/07022011/tired-of-hooks-try-a-plugin-prestashop-1-4/

[airsoft4you]

And they other tabs do work ?

Yeah the other tabs work fine

[enagen]

Some problems here:
Updating from 1.3.7 to 1.4 very big times to load pages in Front Office, between 15 and 20 seconds


Any idea how to improve performance? with version 1.3 everthing was fast.

[jhnstcks]

Here you go MrBaseball http://www.prestashop.com/forums/viewannounce/97266_2/news___releases/prestashop_v_dot_1_dot_4_final_is_now_available

[phrasespot]

Looks pretty, but I would say stick with 1.3 branch if you value your sanity!

[MrBaseball34]

For 1.5, I'd like to see the usage of stored procs and functions for a lot of stuff. Get as much of the SQL out of the classes as possible.

[jhnstcks]

According to Alain there is nothing wrong with the description of the smarty setting.
http://www.prestashop.com/bug_tracker/view/8395/

The default smarty setting is for smarty2 i think not smarty3.

The option Use Smarty 2 instead of 3 should be set to no for new themes.

The setting in the back-end is again a very confusing language garble... aah the french...
The default setting is Smarty v3 from PS1.4

If you dont want that (because of old theme's) then you set it to yes... Soo confusing.
why dont they use easier english, for example :

Use Smarty v3. : Yes or No
or
Use old theme compatibilty : Yes or No.

This makes it much easier to understand. Now the setting reads "Use Smarty 2 instead of 3". That is bound to create confusion.

[BWT]

I like it much better then 1.3.7 but the one thing i see in my shop thats not quite qorking right is the store locater I deleted all that wwas there and added two new locations and it does not display them and still displays the old ones i deleted? My opinion of it is still high however I am not done going over it.

[rudders18]

Having tested 1.4.0.17 locally and also just about every version of 1.4.x up to 17 I think there are still too many fundamental bugs to consider using it in production. Some of these bugs have been there since 1.4.0.6 or earlier. For example it still creates a .htaccess file with errors or you cannot delete customization files attached to an item.

[noesac]

Having tested 1.4.0.17 locally and also just about every version of 1.4.x up to 17 I think there are still too many fundamental bugs to consider using it in production. Some of these bugs have been there since 1.4.0.6 or earlier. For example it still creates a .htaccess file with errors or you cannot delete customization files attached to an item.

Personally I just don't understand why people are rushing into it. Only experienced developers should bother IMO...who can afford to have their site down for days or weeks while you try to troubleshoot a bug.

I'm going to wait 6-12 months before bothering.

[thehandlestudio]

I think they have released it with still too many bugs, fair play it looks nice in the BO with some good features, but I upgraded up to the last copule of versions before final and I couldn't change my website logo so I posted the bug with access also to my FTP and still 2 weeks later the bug is still assigned.

I also think the guest checkout should have a invoice address as well as a delivery address, I also saw this posted in the bug tracker and the answer was this is a feature request...? How can this be? you can't just have a delivery address?

Mark.

[BWT]

Got the store locater working right but the map area is not listing right areas. also on the basic store locater it doesn't display hours? is that right? or does it display them and it's just not working right? Over all this version is awesome thanks for all your hard work on making this version better then the 1.3x versions Last time i installed a version of prestashop was 1.3.1 and am glad i waited a good amount of time because a lot of changed has been made thank you

[SPIG]

I must say the new version is very nice,,
The only issue i have is every version i upgrade to it gets slower and slower,, im now on 1.4 and it will literaly take 45 seconds plus to load a page in the back office,, and thats everything i click on. The webpage is about the same. how can i go back to 1.2

[Simon-AV]

Looks good with some nice features, but I can't load any pictures at all on to the site any more!

Not sure its final enough to have been released as a Final production version.

[rajbasnet]

I have few problems in new prestashop, one is the changes that i make in CSS doesn't shows quickly, for example, I added a link in header permanent link and it never showed until I renamed the tpl file to something else, why is this? Like if I will change the footer no change happens, even if i delete all code in footer.tpl nothing happens until and unless i delete the whole file from server. It happened both in local and remote server.

Second problem is I enabled the Migration module of oscommerce to prestashop, but now how will i import the oscomerce, there isn't any configure or any link in module,

There are many other issues, like I hooked Wishlist block in header, it shows no where, my link is 1cashmeresweaters.com

[Scotty501]

Love the new features - looks slick - however looks are deceptive. Slow load times, many errors during updates - zero support. Shame, as up to now I was in love with PS - now its becoming less so.

[BWT]

I like what it could be! Maybe in the future it will be all i had expected but still good

[xbfish]

There was a problem with translation page at the Back Office. I can't import my saved translation to Prestashop 1.4.

[xbfish]

the module blockvariouslinks used to display footer in Prestashop front office is also not available in Prestashop 1.4.

hmm...

[christmascrackers]

Loved it at first, now very disappointed. Removed my old site running CubeCart and put PS 1.4 on instead. Big, big mistake and now in the process of going back to CubeCart.

And a dead forum. Dozens of help requests on the forum go unanswered. I have a business that can't take orders this weekend because there's an error when a customer enters their postcode. I'll come back in 6 months when things should be fixed. This is fine at the moment for testing and playing with, but if you have an online business think really carefully about switching to PS 1.4. Wait till 1.5

[cagrie]

a little patience is all you need. anything new can cause frustration. believe me you'll get accustomed to it in time.

once you love it, you cant do without it.

[MrBaseball34]

Loved it at first, now very disappointed.
This is fine at the moment for testing and playing with, but if you have an online business think really carefully about switching to PS 1.4. Wait till 1.5

Yes, I, too loved the fact that they were maybe, finally, going full MVC in this version.
Not so fast my friend. What they call MVC is nothing more than a kludge.

I wouldn't wait til 1.5 either because if they get the bugs fixed in 1.4, there'll be more bugs in 1.5. And don't even get me started on these forums and their spanking new "bug tracker".

Their version of JIRA, bug tracker, is as slow as molasses in a Siberian winter and you can't find resolutions there, you must get the SVN version of the file instead of them telling you in the bug report what they did.

These Frenchies are a piece of work. If an American company operated like they do, they'd be out of business before they started.

[christmascrackers]

Well, I've stuck with it so far. I managed to sort out my problem myself. Still better than CubeCart which cost me £100 ($150). And this is free after all.