Written by Paul Campbell.
Published on Friday 24th July 2009 at 1019 BST.
Updated on Tuesday 19th July 2011 at 1421 BST.
Form Validation and Security
Introduction
While being sufficiently functional for what it does, the module we created in Part 2 does present us with some issues to consider when implementing “real world” modules to extend Prestashop. In particular the user input we captured with our form was written directly to the configuration entry without any checking to determine whether it was valid, nor did we take account of the type of data being entered.
In this tutorial we will look at the general issue of form input checking and security, both for Back Office and Front Office forms and user input as well as looking at improving our code both functionally and aesthetically.
Updated for Prestashop version 1.4 onwards.
Continue reading "Writing your own Prestashop Module – Part 4"
Posted on July 24, 2009 | Related Categories: Tutorials | 3 comments
Written by Paul Campbell.
Published on Monday 20th July 2009 at 0143 BST.
Updated on Tuesday 19th July 2011 at 1411 BST.
Storing Module Configuration
Introduction
In the third part of this series we’ll look at how we can store configuration data for our modules in the Prestashop database, and how we can allow users to interact with this data to control the module’s behaviour. We will also briefly touch on how we can generate output from our module to provide visual feedback of the configuration changes.
Updated for Prestashop version 1.4 onwards.
Continue reading "Writing your own Prestashop Module – Part 3"
Posted on July 20, 2009 | Related Categories: Tutorials | 5 comments
Written by Paul Campbell.
Published on Sunday 19th July 2009 at 1601 BST.
Updated on Monday 13th June 2011 at 1156 BST.
While upgrading the site recently I decided to review the translations functionality. It appears that this is being used, so I’ve decided to keep it running for now, although I’ve limited the number of languages supported.
One annoying factor though is the translation of the new code samples on the recently introduced articles. I’ve put some code in place in an attempt to fix this issue, but only time will tell whether it works or not. If not, then I’m afraid that either the original English versions will need to be used.
I’m in the process of re-writing the entire site from the ground up using the excellent CodeIgniter framework, so hopefully once that project is completed these issues will be fixed once and for all.
Posted on July 19, 2009 | Related Categories: Site News | No comment
Written by Paul Campbell.
Published on Sunday 19th July 2009 at 1501 BST.
Updated on Saturday 17th September 2011 at 1046 BST.
Creating a basic module
Introduction
In this second part of the series we will look at creating our first basic Prestashop module that can be controlled from the Back Office.
The Module class
Similar to the ObjectModel base class, all Prestashop modules are extended from a common base class used to define their basic functionality. The “Module” class provides the interface between the administration screens and your module as well as providing internationalisation and “hook” management functionality.
Updated for Prestashop version 1.4 onwards.
Continue reading "Writing your own Prestashop Module – Part 2"
Posted on July 19, 2009 | Related Categories: Tutorials | 15 comments
Written by Paul Campbell.
Published on Friday 17th July 2009 at 1208 BST.
Updated on Tuesday 19th July 2011 at 1522 BST.
So you want to write a module?
Introduction
There has always been a little bit of Voodoo associated Prestashop modules. This has been mainly down to a lack of documentation available, but never fear — this series of tutorials aim to introduce module writing to the PHP programming masses. This series will look at building our very own fully functional module which will provide all the standard functionality that is the basis for many of the most common modules. It will also provide a basic framework that you can use as a template for your own code. Later articles will look at creating Payment Modules and extending the Administration interface, but initially we’ll look at the class of modules which deal mainly with inserting content into your pages, as this best demonstrates the fundamental basic concepts of developing for PrestaShop.
Updated for Prestashop version 1.4 onwards.
Continue reading "Writing your own PrestaShop Module – Part 1"
Posted on July 17, 2009 | Related Categories: Tutorials | 10 comments
Written by Paul Campbell.
Published on Thursday 16th July 2009 at 2134 BST.
Updated on Monday 13th June 2011 at 1159 BST.
Get noticed in Google Product Search
It’s been a busy week here but I’ve still found time for the Google Base module which has jumped another few revisions to 0.6.3.
As usual I strongly recommend you test this before use in a production environment
Changes
Version 0.6.3
- File IO modified again to reduce risk of timeouts
- Added g:weight attribute when weight is non-zero for product
- Added g:product_type attribute based on product categories
- Changed description input to textarea
- Added config entry for output filename on server
- Added advanced settings to allow a feed to be generated for another site
- Added compatibility with 1.2beta (provisional)
- Improved error checking for permissions issues
Why not check it out via our Free Prestashop Modules Page
Posted on July 16, 2009 | Related Categories: Prestashop, Site News | 6 comments
Written by Paul Campbell.
Published on Thursday 16th July 2009 at 1329 BST.
I’ve been rather busy lately on other projects so updates on this site have sadly been few and far between. With the release of PrestaShop 1.2 coming up though there has been some work done, and yet more in progress to update the modules on this site to this new version. The Google Base module has been updated slightly, and there are many more fixes and feature updates to go. If you wish to test the pre-release versions then you can do so by joining in the discussion in the Google Base forum thread on the PrestaShop site.
There will also be an update to the v2 Paypal Module and Addstuff modules in the coming weeks, and this site will be undergoing some maintenance so we can look to add some great new features in the future….
Posted on July 16, 2009 | Related Categories: Site News | No comment
Written by Paul Campbell.
Published on Monday 13th July 2009 at 2155 BST.
Updated on Sunday 2nd August 2009 at 0129 BST.
Google Base Module Update
I’ve just recently updated the original Google Base module (to v0.5) with a few enhancements that should hopefully help those who may have had issues with the previous version.
**Please note that due to changes in PrestShop core classes that this module will not work with the latest 1.2beta3 version** In order for this module to work with the 1.2beta3 version you must use the corresponding beta version which will also be available from the product page Google Base Module.
Posted on July 13, 2009 | Related Categories: Prestashop | No comment
eCartService.net was set up specifically to cater for the needs of small to medium enterprises trading online using the Prestashop eCommerce solution. It was set up in 2008 by Paul Campbell, a veteran in the IT industry who has experience of working in technology planning and implementation in some of the most diverse and technically challenging environments on the planet. 
