Although February is the shortest month of the year, it was filled with countless contributions, events, and other activities in our community. From unique events to challenging project victories to meetings with partners, it was indeed a special time.
Each day of the month was well-spent, and we are excited to see what the rest of the year holds for us. But before we let our thoughts drift toward the future, let’s summarize these fantastic 29 days of work and dedication.
The recent wave of updates to our product has brought about a slew of enhancements that touch nearly every corner of the system, with a notable emphasis on API improvements, signaling a significant leap forward in how developers interact with and build upon our platform. These updates refine existing functionalities and introduce new features that streamline processes and enhance usability, benefiting administrators and end-users alike.
On the API front, we’ve made substantial strides. From reorganizing Administrator and Customer endpoints for improved clarity and accessibility to automating the cancellation of pending payment requests when a payment method is changed, these enhancements are set to simplify and accelerate development workflows. The API has also seen the removal of non-essential fields from the Order Resource serialization, streamlining data exchange, and reducing payload sizes for better performance. Moreover, the introduction of missing contract tests and adjustments in the responses of adjustment endpoints showcases our commitment to reliability and the smooth integration of services.
Administrative functionalities haven’t been left behind. New commands have been introduced (`sylius:admin-user:list` and `sylius:admin-user:delete`), empowering system administrators with tools for more efficient user management. The administrative interface has been fine-tuned with reorganized form fields on the Admin User create/update pages and improved spacing between UI elements, reflecting our attention to detail and dedication to providing a polished user experience.
Maintenance and backend improvements also feature prominently in this update cycle. Enhancements and reorganizations of upgrade files ensure that transitions between versions are as smooth as possible, emphasizing stability and backward compatibility. Moreover, the strategic splitting of workflows to optimize continuous integration processes highlights our focus on development efficiency and system reliability.
Among the series of bug fixes and user experience tweaks, specific adjustments, like the introduction of spacing between the ‘choose file’ button and uploaded images, might seem minor but collectively contribute to a more intuitive and aesthetically pleasing administrative interface.
This comprehensive package of updates underlines our holistic approach to product development. By addressing both major enhancements and minor refinements, we are not only advancing the technical capabilities of our platform but also ensuring that every interaction with our system is smoother, more intuitive, and ultimately more satisfying for all users. Through these efforts, we reaffirm our commitment to continuous improvement and innovation, striving to exceed the expectations of our community and pave the way for future advancements.
At this point, it’s worth giving some people a special appreciation to those who made everything mentioned above happen. Here is the list of those who impacted our product most in February!
– Rafikooo: Played a role in API enhancements, bug fixes, and maintenance work. Contributions included reorganizing administrator and customer endpoints, improving upgrade files, and adding missing contract tests for a more stable and efficient API.
– TheMilek: Focused on enriching the API and admin functionalities by introducing new paths for tax categories, tax rates, shipping methods, and more. Their work has enhanced the system’s configurability and administrative ease.
– crydotsnake: Contributed significantly to the administrative interface by introducing new CLI commands for admin user management, improving spacing in UI elements, and addressing usability issues, thereby enhancing the overall user experience.
– Wojdylak: His contribution spanned across improving product options and review constraints in the API, adding enhancements to the shop, and addressing various aspects of product management, showcasing a commitment to improving the platform’s flexibility and user engagement.
– Prometee: Played a role in API development, focusing on payment requests and contract tests for the Admin Orders API, which helped streamline payment processes and ensure API reliability. As a Core Team member, Francis also made a significant contribution to redefining the way we handle payments with Sylius. Although that is still WIP, this one will be a significant update for the upcoming 2.0 version.
– GSadee: Contributed to API and shop improvements, minor bug fixes, and enhancements related to customer account verification, contact requests, and cleaning up address contract tests, thereby improving customer interaction and data handling.
– NoResponseMate: Focused on maintenance and enhancing serialization in API, addressing issues related to address serialization and shipment list display in the admin area, contributing to data integrity and UI improvements.
– jakubtobiasz: Involved in maintenance, Docker, and admin area enhancements, including transforming product create/update forms into live components and splitting CI workflows for better efficiency, showcasing a focus on developer experience and system usability.
– mmenozzi: Contributed to maintenance work, specifically around dispatching events when a user is created or updated through OAuth, enhancing system security and user management.
– Jibbarth: Made a specific contribution to product attributes, focusing on the “Apply to all” functionality for product attribute options, improving the efficiency of product management tasks.
Three other influential community members are worth mentioning here for their rich effort to support people in our #support Slack channel. Dmitri Perunov, Victor Vasiloi, and Francis Hilaire – you are the best. You make many people’s lives much easier!
All the contributors mentioned have collectively advanced the system’s capabilities through diverse enhancements and fixes, ensuring a more robust, user/developer-friendly, and pleasant-to-work-with platform. We are fortunate to have you all in our community!
We are looking forward to the second edition of SyliusDays will take place on 18-19th of April in Mannheim, Germany. Hosted by our partner, bitExpert AG, and our friend Stephan Hochdörfer, this event is promised to be a remarkable occasion for our community, inviting both new and existing members from all over Europe.
The first day of the event will provide visitors with interactive workshops to learn more about the technology around Sylius, followed by a second day devoted to well-prepared presentations and networking, closed by the afterparty 🎉
In the next few days, we will announce the detailed topics of presentations, as well as a trainer who will conduct the workshop.
You can collect your ticket here! 🎟️
Apart from SyliusDays 2024, feel invited to join us on March 21st in Warsaw, where we will organize Sylius Meetup for the Polish community with the help of our long-standing partner – BitBag.
On the 3rd edition of that event, the COO of Sylius, Damian Murawski, will share some insights about our latest Sylius achievements as well as talk about the future plans of the company in his presentation “Behind the Scenes at Sylius: The Road to 1.13 / 2.0 Releases”. After that, our team members will deliver two more presentations that will be announced in the upcoming days.
This time will be an excellent opportunity to learn more about the platform and the people behind it, ask questions about the Sylius in person, and spend some quality time networking with pizza and beer! 🍕
You can sign up for the event here!
In February, developers didn’t lose New Year’s momentum and completed a lot of exciting projects. Let’s take a look:
From August 2000, Lian Chinaherb specializes in offering a range of Asian herbs and medicine formulas to supply customers with high-quality products used for various health conditions and wellness purposes.
To modernize the website, the robust functionalities of Kirby CMS and Sylius were combined to create a new version of the Lian Chinaherb store. Now, the online store offers the newest functionalities and fresh designs that correspond both with the image of the Lian Chinaherb and traditional Chinese medicine.
wetalkwithyou AG made every effort to deliver a shopping experience that is not only user-friendly but also reflects the variety and quality of Lian Chinaherb products.
EMAGMA, our Premium Solution Partner, takes up the task of developing a website for Altered. Altered is a trading card game created by the Equinox team, including over 30 enthusiasts based in Paris, and led by the visionary Régis Bonnessée, an industry veteran with over 15 years of experience in board game publishing. The game is a kickstarter project that has been supported by around 15,000 people around the world.
EMAGMA leveraged the Sylius platform to create a unique website that perfectly corresponds to the adventurous and magical style of the game.
Next, our Professional Solution Partner, Weeby, worked on a new eCommerce website for a French fuel company. Gruchy Adrien has been present on the market since 1971, selling various types of fuels, including, for example, wood, pellets, and motor fuel.
WEEBY created a new Sylius-based website that provides a great user experience for customers, as well as flexibility and scalability for the company.
For our Leading Solution Partner, BitBag, this project was one of the largest and most demanding. The developers put their work and heart into it for several months to create the best version of the website possible.
Mytheresa is one of the leading fashion eCommerce platforms on the market, offering over 200 luxury brands such as Bottega Veneta, Dolce&Gabbana, Gucci, Loro Piana, Moncler, Prada, Saint Laurent, Valentino and many others.
The project’s main goal was to migrate the MyTheresa website from a “legacy” solution based on Magento Enterprise, as it became outdated over time, which caused limitations in the development and maintenance. After thoughtful consideration, Mytheresa chose Sylius as the backend part of the new website.
The first reason for that was the code quality in Sylius, along with good programming standards. These two aspects reduce the chance of errors and allow for easier maintenance, thus limiting technical debt to a minimum. Secondly, Sylius is designed with flexibility and scalability in mind, allowing it to easily adapt the website to changing market demands and business needs. Moreover, Sylius supports multiple languages and currencies, which are crucial parts of operating an international store.
Apart from that, Sylius provided advanced product and catalog management aimed to easily add, modify, and organize products, as well as a rich ecosystem of plugins and integrations that allow developers to integrate new functionalities according to the current needs.
For BitBag, it was a challenging yet exciting project that allowed them to test their capability to meet advanced eCommerce needs that required working with both internal and external team members in a multicultural environment.
You can read the entire case study here!
Bockflip is a French furniture store that focuses on selling high-quality, stylish, and functional furniture pieces like sofas, armchairs, and tables. The store allows customers to personalize each piece of furniture they choose while following the EFC etiquette. 🌳
By redesigning the website, Agence Web Lemon Interactive created a Sylius-based online store that provides a great user experience and highlights the value of each product. Taking into consideration online visibility, a new website was created with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind.
Our Professional Solution Partner, Wemea, supported Sodise in its digital transformation. As a wholesaler and manufacturer that offers thousands of industrial and professional products, Sodise needed a website that is easy to navigate and provides customers with all the necessary functionalities to buy products comfortably.
To fulfill that need, Wemea leveraged Sylius’ flexibility and versatility to develop a website that is simple, integrated with PIM and ERP systems for efficient data management and enhances customer experience with features like custom pricing and multi-basket.
What’s more, at the beginning of the month, we released the 1.13 alpha version of Sylius. This release is the result of the work of many devoted developers on improving the functionality and user experience of Sylius, with a focus on reinforcing the platform’s foundations.
What’s changed?
With over 360 Pull Requests contributing to its development, the alpha release represents the effort and passion of Sylius Community and our team. ❤️
New Marketplace Suite module
Apart from the new version of Sylius CE, our team was busy developing a new module for Sylius Plus. Now, The Marketplace Suite module allows businesses to transform the Sylius platform into a Multi-vendor Marketplace that leverages the strengths of the Sylius framework. By utilizing it, developers can create exceptional online experiences while simplifying the process of offering digital solutions to merchants who see the marketplace as a vital element of their strategy.
Marketplace Suite features include:
… and more.
Sounds interesting? Get more information by contacting us!
Moving on to online publications, the Sylius platform was the topic of discussion in many insightful articles and blogs:
The social media sphere did not slow down either, and many people mentioned Sylius in their posts:
February was also the month of many exciting events in the eCommerce and web development world where our team members and friends participated:
On February 21-23, the longly awaited ConFoo 2024 took place. Our core team member, Łukasz Chruściel, flew all the way to Montreal, Canada, to give two speeches at this event about API & performance and the upcoming features of Sylius 2.0. This was a very productive and exciting time spent with web developers from all around the globe!
Additionally, Symfony Community Night took place in Cologne, Germany on February 22nd. Organized by QOSSMIC and moderated by Oliver Kossin, this event was full of insightful presentations and discussions where our core team member, Mateusz Zalewski represented Sylius and talked about the future of eCommerce and PHP programming.
As Mateusz stated, it was a great time spent among the Symfony community and team members of Shopware (Soner Sayakci), Spryker (Denis Turkov), and Magento (Andreas von Studnitz)!
Another event that took place in Germany was E-Commerce Berlin 2024. One of the most popular eCommerce trade fairs took place on February 21st in Berlin, Germany, gathering around 10, 000 enthusiasts. For that event, Locastic submitted a presentation about the Tommy project, one of the biggest online grocery stores in Croatia that experienced spectacular transformation after the start of cooperation with Locastic during the pandemic. Eventually, the project placed third in the Best Sales and Growth Solution category from over a hundred projects! 👏
After the public voting, with over 22,000 votes cast, Locastic advanced to the final event, which will take place on December 21st in Berlin.
Since the start of the year, we’ve noticed a significant growth in the number of Sylius installations, sparked by the release of Sylius 1.13 alpha. As described above, this version is a big step forward to the upcoming Sylius 2.0, reflecting our hard work and dedication to the Sylius platform.
We want to thank all our community members, including developers, software agencies, designers, and everyone who contributed to that small success. Thanks to your feedback, the Sylius platform has a chance to improve each day. Your passion fuels our commitment and gives us the energy to push forward and impact the future of eCommerce! 💙
In February, we decided to organize the first roundtable session for our partners. This special meeting was a chance to share our ideas and thoughts about Sylius and our cooperation, as well as talk about the release of Sylius 2.0, upcoming events, and strategies for the year 2024.
If you haven’t decided yet about becoming a certified Sylius partner, you can apply here!
As EMAGMA is our trusted partner, we decided to spread the word and help them look for a new Senior Developer. We may introduce the hottest Sylius jobs section in the future! 🤔
If you have 5+ years of experience as a senior PHP/Symfony and want to share your experience as part of a collaborative team, this is the opportunity for you!
Together with the team of nine technicians, you will participate in developing Sylius and Symfony projects and improving the existing ones. You will also be in contact with our customers and support the leading team in technical management.
The work is fully remote, with the opportunity to work twice weekly at the office in Foix (FR) and Auterive (FR).
Apart from many benefits, EMAGMA offers regular Sylius online courses that will help you begin the work with Sylius. The next one will take place on March 20-22, 2024.
👉 More information about their offer
That was quite a month! We are excited to see how many people participate in the development of Sylius and hope we will not slow down in the upcoming months. Once again, thank you for your contribution, and see you next month! 🤚
