Need to Migrate from Magento 1 to 2? Here’s how to do it.

by Rob Stephen getaprogrammer

If you need to migrate your online store from Magento 1 to version 2, you need to consider a few things and follow a few steps. Here’s all about it shared by an expert Magento developer in Sydney.

A large number of online retailers around the world are now switching to Magento version 2 from its previous version, Magento 1. The trend of migrating to V-2 is driven by both the functional benefits and the strategic planning as Magento has already stopped supporting its first version. This is another reason why businesses are making a fast move to this new version of the platform.

To give you a better idea about this, a Magento developer in Australia has stated the reasons for migration here.

Security Risks:

The first reason to migrate to version 2 now is the security factor. Magento has stopped supporting version 1. The deadline has already crossed and still maintaining the store with the same old version can lead to security risks. As the official support for Magento 1 has already been withdrawn, the e-stores that are built on the same can be vulnerable to many threats. This also means that you won’t get any official solutions for any security-related issue if you are running your store on the first version.

Mobile-friendliness:

Nowadays, a staggering number of people around the world are using smartphones or smart devices mostly to buy things online. Online shopping has become a trend and is consistently growing with an increasing number of online shoppers across the globe. Online eCommerce shops that are mobile optimised are found to have much better sales growth and higher conversion rates. The new version of Magento enables businesses to stay a step ahead of their competitors with extraordinary features to ensure the stores are mobile-friendly. These webshops offer a superior customer experience than the stores built with the first version of it.

Improved UI and UX:

Magento 2 offers a better UI and UX as compared to the previous version. It is more responsive, more mobile-friendly, and also renders a more seamless experience to the users. For instance, this new version provides almost 65 per cent faster add-to-cart response as compared to version 1.

Now, let’s come to how you can migrate your store to this version 2.

For this, you need to consider a few things first.

Manage the data:

There’s no point of migrating all the irrelevant data to your Magento 2 store. Filter the data and remove the outdated information using any of the data management tools available.

Review the website before migration:

Rigorously review the website before getting started with the migration process. This will help you to identify if there are any bugs in the site and will help you to remove them to ensure a drastic improvement in the site’s efficiency.

Replication of the existing site:

It is safe to create the existing site’s and database’s replica before completely revamping the old site. This prevents the loss of data.

Freeze the admin activities:

Continuing admin activities while you are migrating can change the database during the migration process. Hence, it is always best to temporarily stop the admin activities. Or else, the site may end up with a few or more patchy data migration.

Finalise the migration blueprint:

You must plan the migration process meticulously. Implementing the plan efficiently can ensure the desired results. Until and unless there is any critical issue, do not drift away from the actual plan.

Migrating your store from version 1 to 2 needs:

Theme migration, which means you can either stay with the previous theme or simply get one from the in-built themes of version 2. You can also customise a theme if you want to match your business needs accurately.

Extension migration. Check whether or not the Magento 1 extensions that you have been using are compatible with version 2 or not. The plugins that are used in version 1

Website customisation using code migration:

Many code customisation tools are available for customising the online stores built on Magento 2. Using these tools can reduce the code migration you would otherwise have to do.

Data migration:

As already discussed above, data migration is one of the most essential things to consider while moving to Magento 2. You need to be very careful while downloading the platform, using the data migration tools, feeding the authorisation keys, configuring the data migration tool, putting a pause to the admin activities, and while migrating the features like the shopping cart, shipping methods, payment processing features, etc.

Rob Stephen is a highly skilled Magento developer in Sydney and is associated with a leading eCommerce development company in Australia, GetAProgrammer. The author has written this article to help out the eCommerce business merchants and developers in easy migration of online stores to Magento version 2.