Let’s build a Magento 2 store from scratch (Series 1)

Magento 2 Video Tutorials Let's Build
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In this series named “Let’s build a Magento 2 store”, I’m going to be creating an eCommerce Store using Magento 2 from scratch. And I’m going to tailor the store to selling cases for eyeglasses. This gives me a great set of options for creating variable and personalised products.

The project will consist of a few key stages. Firstly, I need to plan what products and variations I plan to sell on the website and how I want to categorise and market them. Because this is a fictional store, I’ll have to create a completely fictional database of information for the eyeglass cases that I wish to sell – And that will probably be something I do off-camera, but I will share what I have put together.

The next stage will include installing and configuring Magento 2 for my fictional business requirements. And the third key stage will involve setting up the store to provide my fictional customers with the best possible shopping experience.

A quick heads-up: It’s unlikely that I will put as much post-production into these videos (compared to my tutorials) just to cut down on the time it takes to get these videos up. Also, I’ll be trying to keep the videos in the series under the 20-minute mark (but we’ll see how that goes).

Let’s build a Magento 2 store: reference materials

Episode 1: The Plan!

So, I’m going to start off this first episode by telling you a little bit about my fictional business. I probably haven’t accounted for all of the questions that I’ll need to answer along the way, but I’ll give it a good go.

Knowing these details before even starting to build an online store is absolutely critical, as it lays a plan for the journey you need to take and helps you make decisions more effectively. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve spent a few days working on something only to change my mind and do something else because it didn’t quite fit in the bigger picture.

Episode 2: Setting up a web server

In this episode, I’ll be showing you how to set up a Magento 2 web server using a web host company called Nexcess. You can find a link to their services in the video description.

Checklist

  • Check Front/Backend of Magento 2 loads correctly
  • Whitelist IP to enable SSH/SFTP login
  • Update passwords
  • Forward domain nameservers
  • Replace default Magento 2 admin account

Episode 3: Configuration (Part 1)

In this episode, I’ll be going over some of the Store Configuration options to help initially setup our online store. Part 2 will be available next week.

Episode 4: Configuration (Part 2)

In this episode, I’ll be continuing with the initial Magento 2 Configuration of the online store and touch on the Terms and Conditions feature. Also, at the end of the video I’ll be going over the details for a giveaway. I’ve also added an additional link for the Business Logo downloads above.

Rules for the giveaway

  • Sign up to Digital Startup Newsletter to enter
  • Existing subscribers are automatically entered
  • Competition ends 4th May 2018
  • If prize not claimed within 3 weeks, the winner will be re-rolled
  • Your personal details will not be shared with anyone else and only used for the purpose of the Newsletter
  • YouTube Community Guidelines
  • Rules subject to change (in case I missed something at time of production)

Episode 5: Customers, TAX and Sitemap

And in this episode, I’ll be revisiting Customer Configuration, XML Sitemap – As well as Tax Rules and Rates.

Episode 6: Backing Up and Upgrading to 2.2.3

And in todays episode, I’ll be backing up and upgrading to the latest version of Magento due to a recent release that came out a couple of weeks ago

Episode 7: Shipping and Table Rates

In todays episode, I’ll be checking through the Shipping Configurations and setting up the Magento Table Rates Shipping Method so that I can use variable delivery charges for my customers based on the value of their order and where they are having it delivered. Useful links from this episode include:

Episode 8: Attributes and Attribute Set

In todays episode, I’ll be setting up the Attributes and Attribute Set within Magento. This information mostly comes from the preparation that I did for episode 1.

Please, bare in mind that some things you see in this episode (e.g. CSV) have been changed in the next episode. So be sure to watch that too.

Having looked back at this video, I just wanted to make a quick comment on Swatches. Setting “ Use Product Image for Swatch if Possible = YES ” in the “Color” attribute will override the swatches (that took ages creating) with the product image of the item. However, it’s still useful to create swatches incase you do list an item without an available image to represent the “color”.

Episode 9: Importing Products and Images

In todays episode, I took the CSV and Images from the preparation I did for episode 1 and imported it into Magento. Along the way, I realised I’d made some mistakes from a previous episode and highlighted what I did wrong and how I fixed them.

Episode 10: Timeout! More about Importing, CSVs and Attributes

In todays episode, I spend a bit more time revisiting the ideas and concepts behind Importing with a CSV Spreadsheet and Attributes within Magento.

Episode 11: Payment Gateways

In todays episode, I’ll be looking at how to integrate Paypal and Stripe into Magento 2. A big thanks for Magenest for providing me with a copy of their Stripe Payment and Subscription extension! You can find a growing collection of other Magento 2 Extension reviews here. Useful links from this episode include:

Episode 12: Categories

In today’s episode, I setup new categories within Magento 2 and show you how to create and include a Static Block.

Episode 13: Information Pages

In today’s episode, I talk about the importance with some of the pages you need to include on your Magento 2 store and how to add a new page.

Episode 14: Installing the Ultimo Theme for Magento 2

In today’s episode, I look at installing the Ultimo Theme for Magento 2 and troubleshoot some self-inflicted issues.

Episode 15: Configuring the Ultimo Theme for Magento 2

In today’s episode, I’ll start going through the available settings in the backend of Magento to fine tune the look and feel of the website.

Here is the snippet of code you can use to automatically display the current year (as mentioned in the video). Although, you can’t paste it in the Magento settings at the moment due to a HTML Tag limitation. Maybe that will change one day:

	
Copyright © <script type="text/javascript">document.write(new Date().getFullYear());</script> Eyeglass Cases Online. All rights reserved.

Episode 16: Homepage and Slider changes for the Ultimo Theme for Magento 2

In today’s episode, I’ll start changing the appearance of the homepage, including the slider at the top of the page. This is whilst using the Magento 2 Ultimo Theme.

Episode 17: Static Blocks and Widgets for the Ultimo Theme for Magento 2

Today, we are concluding the final episode of this Let’s Build a Magento 2 Store Series. I’ll be covering changes to the frontend of the store by using Static Blocks and Widgets. Thank you very much for sticking with me during this series.

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