Welcome to the April summary! As we turn the page on our holiday break, it’s clear that the pause has not only recharged our batteries but also infused the Sylius community with fresh energy and more innovative ideas. As usual, we’ll dive into the exciting developments and updates that have taken place in the world of Sylius, including the 1.13 and 1.12.15 release, highlight new Sylius eCommerce projects, go through amazing April events such as Sylius Days and MeetCommerce, and talk about the quickly approaching Sylius Technical Fundamentals and Community Meetups in Poland and France.
Following the tradition, there is also a list of many exciting publications and posts regarding the Sylius solution and its modules, the SyliusDays event, and much more!
Without further due, Let’s dive into April’s summary.
As mentioned in today’s introduction, Sylius has experienced many changes in the last month, ranging from new releases to system updates, including, e.g., the integration of new payment resources, unified label colors, or updating dependencies. Let’s look at the details below:
It’s our long-awaited release, which will be a big step forward in the development of Sylius.
The 1.13 release consists of nearly 500 closed pull requests and over 3,300 file changes, improving user experience. Considering that Sylius 1.x.x has been around since 2017, this is quite a significant improvement. We continuously focus on ensuring smooth upgrade paths, which results in Sylius instances lasting much longer than average.
What does the 1.13 release bring to the table?
Big kudos to all the contributors and their valuable feedback that helped us make Sylius better each day!
The full changelog can be found here – github.com/Sylius/Sylius/releases/tag/v1.13.0
The Sylius v1.12.15 release includes several bug fixes and documentation updates, such as wrapping long text in admin and shop interfaces, updating state machine and release date documentation, and handling conflicts with Twig 3.9.0. This update also welcomes a new contributor, binhuq, and makes minor adjustments to repository presentation elements like the README and driver links.
The Sylius platform has recently rolled out an extensive array of updates and enhancements across its ecosystem, demonstrating a strong commitment to improving both functionality and user experience. Key highlights include the integration of new payment resources in the API, which expands the platform’s capabilities in handling diverse transactional needs. The administration interface has also received significant attention; updates such as unified label colors and a refreshed footer design enhance the visual coherence and usability of the backend.
In response to evolving technology standards, Sylius has been proactive in updating dependencies, notably upgrading libraries like symfony/deprecation-contracts to version 3.5 and phpunit/phpunit to version 10.5. These updates not only secure the platform against vulnerabilities but also ensure compatibility with the latest technologies.
Several bug fixes were also implemented to enhance stability and performance. Fixes in product review validations and zone page updates ensure that the platform remains robust and error-free. On the documentation front, improvements were made to reflect the platform’s capabilities and guide users effectively and accurately.
Additionally, Sylius has focused on refining its administrative functionalities, with several pull requests approved for managing catalog promotions and order processing more efficiently. The merging of various API resources has streamlined operations, paving the way for a smoother, more efficient backend experience.
Overall, these updates underscore Sylius’s dedication to maintaining a cutting-edge, secure, and user-friendly e-commerce platform. Each change, from minor tweaks in the admin panel to major dependency upgrades, is aimed at providing a seamless and efficient experience for both developers and end-users.
April was a really productive time that brought many improvements, including the 1.13 version. Now, we can put a stronger emphasis on the upcoming Sylius 2.0 and focus on the final touches for this release. As we wrap up this segment on the latest changes and improvements in Sylius, we’d like to thank our contributors and devoted community for their support. You rock! 🎸
Let’s begin with exciting new projects completed in the last weeks and published among web.
BitBag, our Leading Solution Partner, developed a new store for J-LIST/JBOX, an online store that has specialized in distributing Japanese anime, manga, snacks, and related products since 1996. The store’s continuous growth has created the need for effective multi-channel sales management on the international market and optimized internal processes.
Taking this into consideration, BitBag migrated the previous platform to Sylius and utilized its dedicated features for global expansion and various customization options. This led to enhanced efficiency in operations and sales, along with improved customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Full case study available here 👉 bitbag.io/case-studies/j-list
Our Leading Solution Partner, Synolia, worked with MotoByCat, which offers the transport of motorcycles in France and Belgium, for both commercial and individual customers. Over time, the previous platform became insufficient to meet the needs of the current market, and the website structure lacked modernity.
As it was a non-standard eCommerce project (no baskets, product catalogs, etc.), Synolia chose Sylius as a perfect solution for this task due to its flexible architecture and customization options, which can provide a great customer experience and a website tailored to business needs. By doing so, the new website provides simplicity, speed, and all essential features of the offered service.
Full Synolia’s case study is available here 👉 synolia.com/references/motobycat-sylius
Although we previously described Homemaison’s project, it’s certainly worth reminding about again, as Homemaison’s store was ranked second in Capital Magazine’s household linen category! 🥈
Dedi Agency, our Professional Solution Partner, has redesigned Homemaison’s website, a one-stop destination for home and family comfort. The main goal of this project was to create an intuitive interface that provides a great customer journey. Thanks to Dedi Agency’s expertise and experience with Sylius capabilities, the new website now offers a tailor-made configurator and a flawless interface, and the online store and its sales channels are optimized for search engine optimization (SEO).
Read full case study on the partner website at 👉 dedi-agency.com/realisations/homemaison
The digital agency Shots cooperated with Bullfrog brand to create a modern and customized online store for their products. As the brand specializes in selling fragrances and many other stylish products related to male grooming, it was important to strengthen brand identity and unify the B2C and B2B orders in one platform. In this project, Sylius allowed Shots developers to create a tailor-made and optimized website that perfectly corresponds to the brand image and offers all required integrations, such as SAP and VueStorefront.
Read the whole case study here 👉 shots.it/works/bullfrog
The Sylius ecosystem keeps blooming with new contributors and partners like flowers outside the window. Let’s see what has changed in the last month.
The Professional Solution Partner TheCodingMachine just upgraded to Premium Solution Partner status. TCM specializes in the custom development of web and mobile applications, serving a diverse range of clients, from startups to large enterprises. Their services encompass the development of business applications, platforms, and extranets, in addition to consulting and technical audits to enhance application effectiveness.
The work of The Coding Machine, as a major contributor to the open-source community with 11,000 stars and over 200 million downloads on GitHub, impacts the PHP ecosystem and frameworks like Symfony and Laravel, as well as hybrid development environments using React Native or Flutter.
Find more about TCM on the partner website!
🤝 sylius.com/partner/the-coding-machine
Please welcome Gally to our partnership network! Gally, with 2 million downloads on GitHub and employed by more than 5,000 stores, is a fully open-source search engine with revolutionary features like multilingual support, advanced filtering capabilities, semantic searches using Vector Search, and LLM integration. It provides a customizable eCommerce search engine that can be tailored to meet specific and complex search requirements, built on the adaptable and simplifying framework of Elasticsearch.
The engine supports various eCommerce platforms, further facilitated by connectors for popular solutions such as Sylius, enhancing the ease of integration and customization of customer experiences. The Sylius connector, developed by partner bitExpert, is available in their store. Gally boasts over 2 million downloads on GitHub and is employed by more than 5,000 stores, demonstrating its reliability and success.
Thank you for your trust – an incredible adventure of innovations awaits us! 🤝
Moving on, our team is working on another comparison that aims to shed more light on Sylius’ capabilities. The goal of this ebook is to showcase Sylius’s strengths as well as its downsides and present in what cases Sylius shines. As the previous ebook compares Sylius and Magento, this one will take a closer look at Sylius and Shopware – eCommerce solutions based on the PHP Symfony framework.
We hope this ebook will provide valuable information for those who have not decided on Sylius yet and explain clearly some technical aspects of eCommerce platforms that are important but may seem a little fuzzy to people outside of the developer’s world. Stay tuned! 👀
Now, let’s go through the events that happened in April, as well as the ones that are quickly approaching in May and June 🚀.
The longly awaited second edition of SyliusDays took place last month! This event was certainly one of a kind, and we are extremely happy and grateful for how it went by. But what exactly happened during these two days?
The first day was devoted to the intensive workshop conducted by Stéphan Decock, who shared their knowledge and experience with over 50 participants. The second day, in turn, was full of inspiring presentations, fruitful discussions, and exchanging personal experiences with Sylius, which allowed attendees to delve into the latest trends and solutions in the industry.
Big kudos to bitExpert AG, for making the SyliusDays possible and hosting the event in Mannheim, Germany – excellent work! 👏
We would also like to thank our outstanding trainer – Stéphan Decock, and the amazing speakers – Stephan Hochdörfer, Oliver Kossin, David Roth, Philipp Schuler, Stefan Koopmanschap, Charles Duvigneau, Łukasz Chruściel, Max Pesch, and Alan Mellor.
At the same time, we should not forget about the sponsors of this remarkable event – bitExpert AG, PHPUGMRN, GermanTechJobs.de, BitBag, and Platform.sh!
Wrapping up, it was a time full of knowledge, inspiration, and meeting like-minded people. We sincerely thank all the participants for creating this unique event. See you at SyliusCon! 👋👀
On April 15th, we represented Sylius at the first edition of Meet Commerce Poland in Warsaw, organized by Kuba Zwolinski. This was a great occasion to talk to people from the eCommerce world and listen to interesting discussions. Moreover, we met our partners from Adyen, Ergonode PIM, and Centuria S.A., and had a great talk about the Sylius ecosystem and plans for the future.
It was amazing to meet with like-minded people and get inspiration for further work!
It was amazing to meet with like-minded people and get inspiration for further work!
The Sylius Technical Fundamentals is just around the corner! On May 16th, the SYZYGY will host the Sylius Technical Fundamentals workshops in Warsaw, Poland. This will be the perfect opportunity to begin your journey with Sylius as well as to sharpen your current skills, systemize knowledge, and speak with experts.
This event will be divided into three sections that cover the essential aspects of Sylius:
Sylius Fundamentals – covering the architecture and key concepts, learning how to use Sylius Resource and Grid Bundle, an introduction to ResourceController, the concept of a State Machine, and Sylius Fixture Bundle component usage.
Products – examining the structure and configuration of the Sylius product catalog and how to extend it with new information.
Orders – explaining how to handle the shopping cart, processing and placing orders, along with customizing the order processing flow.
The workshop is dedicated to the Polish-speaking community. The workshops will be led by Sylius trainers, Core Team members, and co-founders of Commerce Weavers, Łukasz Chruściel and Mateusz Zalewski. 🚀
Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity and book your ticket here 👉 sylius.com/sylius-workshop
What’s more, another event from the Sylius Polish Community Meetup series is approaching! This time, we will meet on May 16th in Warsaw, taking place in the office of SYZYGY Warsaw, just after the Sylius Technical Fundamentals. The event is organized in cooperation with Commerce Weavers and Dobry Craft, and the topics of the event are PHP language and related Sylius and Symfony achievements, as well as good programming practices that are close to all of us. The speakers at the event are Karol Wojdyła, Jakub Tobiasz, and Tomasz Kowalczyk. 👏
You can sign up here 👉 meetup.com/pl-PL/sylius-user-group-polska/events/300345958
In addition to all the above, the Sylius Meetup will also take place in Toulouse, France, on June 6th. This event will be fully devoted to Sylius and its ecosystem. It is part of eCommerce Party 2024, which starts at 9 a.m. and will cover various topics related to online retail and host many passionate speakers.
Learn more about the event here 👉 ecommerceparty.emagma.fr/#inscription
Once every quarter, we organize a strategic workshop for Sylius team members to summarize the last three months and go through our future plans. It’s always great to see each other in person and discuss ideas and feedback directly. These sessions not only help in aligning our goals and strategies but also strengthen our team spirit as we collaborate and innovate together. 🤝
Moving from the topic of the events, many insightful articles came out in April that highlighted many aspects of Sylius and delved into its capabilities and architecture. Let’s take a look:
The digital sphere in April was full of vital discussions, while the interest in the SyliusDays event exceeded our expectations:
April really gave us and the Sylius community a lot of energy to push forward with passion and excitement. Now, it’s time to focus our efforts on the Sylius 2.0 release and put the finishing touches on Sylius events, which are always perfect occasions to meet you all in person! Till the next one ✌️
