Here are even more links to those that need some direction when programming in Magento.

• This first link teaches one how to access certain parts of the order on the confirmation page. Covers loading an order by id also covers loading the last order created by the system.
• This next link teaches you how to run your custom SQL queries. This is very useful for debugging/testing custom modules.
• This last link is useful for when you're making a custom page in the frontend and you only want logged in users to see it.

Below are some helpful links that either teach you how to code something or plant the seed from which to start.

• This link is a great coding resource to ones wheels turning. The site shows how you can take a multitude of APIs and make something completely new


• W3Schools has got to be one of the best all around resources for developers. Help topics cover anything from ASP, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, and all the way down to HTML. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced web coder there's something here for you.


• This next link covers topics for developers as well as designers. Learn how to do something in Ruby On Rails as well as making a fresh clean looking wallpaper in Photoshop. In short, a little bit of learning for everyone.

I've been developing a Miva Merchant payment module here at Chepri for the past couple of weeks. I could go into and list at least 20 different reasons why one shouldn't use Miva Merchant but I'll save that for another time.

With the release of PR 7 (Wombat) the payment module now needs to send a checkout session to the gateway so the gateway can send it back. If the payment module doesn't include this with the PR 7 release then the user will receive a "Session has timed out" error upon returning to the retail site.

To overcome this the exact line that one has to include is the following: <input type="hidden" name="Checkout_Session_ID" value="{ encodeentities( g.Checkout_Session_ID ) }">

One of my complaints with Miva Merchant is the lack of documentation so therefore I had a difficult time trying to do mundane things like get variables and pass them along to the payment gateway. Below is how I got some of the more important variables.

Cart Total: <MvASSIGN NAME = "l.formatted_total" VALUE = "{ [ g.Module_Library_DB ].Basket_Total( g.Basket:basket_id ) }">

Billing Zip: <MvASSIGN NAME = "l.bill_zip" VALUE = "{ g.Basket:bill_zip }">

Billing Email: <MvASSIGN NAME = "l.bill_email" VALUE = "{ g.Basket:bill_email }">

The only thing that helped me out was searching through the LSK. If you didn't know, the LSK is Miva's answer to proper documentation which of course is a complete joke.

Through the course of a week I tend to gather copious amounts of links. This week I'm going to give out some more Magento links.

- If you ever wanted to include an extension into Magento Connect and want the ability for people to install it via the admin area of their site then read this link.

- If you ever wanted to create your own shipping module this is a good reference.

- If you ever have/had a client ask to save the CVV information from a card so they can process orders off-line then this link should do the trick. **NOTE** This isn't really a good idea especially considering all the recent PCI compliance talk lately.

We've been developing several different Magento-based sites here at Chepri recently. Below are some links that have come in handy when developing custom modules and needing to retrieve aspects relating to attributes/products.

• - Get Products with a specific attribute value
• - Retrieving the country and region(states) collection
• - This is a great little shortcut/extension to use when you first start out creating a custom module.
  
  **NOTE** If the module has custom parts in the admin area you'll have to create an adminhtml.xml file in the etc folder if the module is for 1.4.X and above.
• - How to add color swatches to your product pages/attributes.

The following is a series of links that I have gathered throughout the work day. As a web developer I accumulate links because I find it nearly impossible to remember every little coding aspect especially when I am working with so many different CMS frameworks / languages on a daily basis.

Javascript:

The following link is a good resource for implementing a character count/limit within an HTML textarea form element. It keeps a running total next to the textarea so the user knows how many characters they have left.

http://www.shiningstar.net/articles/articles/javascript/dynamictextareacounter.asp

MISC:

The next link is used for testing ecommerce carts/checkouts. The link simply lists various credit cards and sample numbers that a developer can use to test a shopping cart checkout process.

https://www.paypal.com/en_US/vhelp/paypalmanager_help/credit_card_numbers.htm

PHP:

This next link is for how to properly upload an image using an HTML input form element with the type="file" attribute. The howto works perfectly, however, I ended up using a PHP class instead of this method. Like I said, it works perfectly I just found something that was easier and more efficient to use for my task-at-hand.

http://www.reconn.us/content/view/30/51/



Until Next Time,
David Varney
Interactive Developer
Chepri Interactive

According to an article over at Engadget IE has been losing ground at a steady pace (0.92%/month). The article further explains that Net Applications is estimating that IE use could sink to 50% market share by May 2010. It would be nice if this were the case but it seems very unlikely.

Something this article didn't highlight is the fact that Chrome has overtaken Safari in the browser market share. As someone that uses Chrome as their main browser I was elated that other people are seeing the light. However, Chrome's market share has been close behind Safari for a while now. The fact that Chrome is available for Macs now probably has something to do with them surpassing Safari.

As a web developer I can't wait for the day when Microsoft faces reality and drops IE development all together.

David Varney
Web Developer
Chepri.com

When coding and working on multiple projects at the same time I find it impossible to remember every little code trick escpecially when I use so many different languages on a day-to-day basis. Being so, I tend to collect a lot of links when it comes to everything from how a built-in PHP function works, to if my JavaScript syntax is worded properly for IE.

I've provided links below from my "Resources" favorites folder:

JavaScript

Sliders for user interaction: http://www.noupe.com/javascript/30-javascriptajax-techniques-for-sliders-scrollers-and-scrollbars.html

This is a good place to start if you're in need for a js slider. Provides a good basis on which you can customize to your needs.

PHP/MySQL

Creating Pagination:http://php.about.com/od/phpwithmysql/ss/php_pagination.htm

Creating pagination using PHP and MySQL

CSS

Browser Hacks:http://www.nealgrosskopf.com/tech/thread.php?pid=20

A solid resource for targeting specific browsers. I reference this page at least 2-3 times a month.