I have been learning Magento for the past few months, for a client’s website that I have been working on. Its a pretty robust Open Source Ecommerce plaform that is built on the Zend PHP Framework. At first, it was rather daunting trying to find my way around the software - its pretty robust and the documentation for creating a theme feels rather incomplete. It’s nothing like WordPress which I would take in a heartbeat, if they had a solid enough Ecommerce plugin, I have been spoiled by the WordPress Theme engine for quite some time now.

To make my way around Magento, I have been finding bits and pieces of information scattered across many websites. To make it easier for others, Im going to try to assemble the basics here for you.

The hardest piece for me to grasp has been the folder structure, you have to bounce between two places to build a theme, here is a rundown.

http://www.magentocommerce.com/wiki/Magento-folder-structure/

• /skin// / - is where design package css and images are
• /app/design is location of design packages (layouts, templates, translations)
• /app/design// - theme customizations
• /app/design// /layout - .xml files that define block structure for different cases in website flow
• /app/design// /template - .phtml (html with php tags) templates
• /app/design// /translate - Zend_Db compatible translation files

Common Template Path Hints

<?=$this->getSkinUrl('css/styles.css')?>
<?=$this->getJsUrl()?>

Online Resources

• Magento Message Boards
• Magento Wiki
• Book: Guide to Programming Magento

Recommended Reading for Entrepreneurs/Startup Junkies

I love reading books and there are so many great books out there for us to learn from. Books are a great way to unwind from the day and learn about the world. When I was younger, I loved to read Travel Books. It started with A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson. From there, I read every book by Bill Bryson, then on to other similar travel books - I learned so much about other cultures.

Recently, I have taken the same path with Startup/Entrepreneurial Books. I also read books about code, but if I read those in bed, I tend to fall asleep rather quickly. So I have been sticking to business related books. I get so excited when I order a new one in Amazon, I cant wait to read it. Over the past few months, I have read 4 great books - but my list is growing. Below is a list of the books I have read and what I wish to read next.

Recently Read

• The Art of Start by Guy Kawasaki
• WikiNomics
• Getting Real by 37signals

Currently Reading

• Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston
• Crossing the Chasm

Wishlist

• Getting Things Done by David Allen
• Web Analytics: An Hour a Day by Avinash Kaushik
• Word of Mouth Marketing by Andy Sernovitz

If you are a web designer, front end developer and/or an open source web developer looking for a job or freelance work, there are many websites online with job postings targeted to just what you do. Here is the top 10 in no particular order that I have found, used and highly recommend.

1.
Fresh Web Jobs targets web designers and developers that are looking for freelance and/or fulltime opportunities.

2.
From the creators of Basecamp and Backpack, the 37 signals job board is a great place for web designers and open source developers to find jobs.

3.
Creative Hotlist is a great resource for finding creative jobs, they also offer a place for you to host your online portfolio.

4.
Authentic Jobs was created by Cameron Moll, a revolutionary in the CSS/Web Development space. His site is a great place to search/find web design and development positions across the USA.

5.
Think Vitamin is an online publication/resource for web designers, they also have a jobs section for css/web designers looking for work.

6.
Freelance Switch is the ultimate resource for freelancers. They have an extensive freelance job board where you can apply to jobs for $7/month, but its free to post jobs.

7.
Slashdot is a more general web developer/programmer job board, their tagline is “Jobs for Nerds”.

8.
Krop is a site dedicated to listing creative and tech jobs, they have a history of listings for many notable fortune 500 companies such as Facebook, New York Times and Apple to name a few.

9.
Coroflot is similar to Creative Hotlist in that they offer job listings and portfolios, its like a community for creatives.

10.
Xemion is a web designer and developer community that also has job listings.

This list is comprised of the most popular open source web designer and developer job boards, if you see a site that fits into this post and you believe should be added, please let me know.

JobPile aggregates all of the above job sites into one site, allowing you to search all of them in one place. Its a great site!

I just wanted to write about some great open source eCommerce software that I have seen on the ‘net. I will be continuing to update this list as I find more.

• OpenCart is a very nice php open-source eCommerce platform. Check out there site for an online demo. It has many features that a lot of the bigger expensive software platforms have without a price tag.
• FatFree Cart is a nice barebones shopping cart, if you dont care as much about all the bells and whistles, but would like to get the job done.
• Magneto is my favorite of these carts, the look and feel is awesome, its a scalable solution, it has great integration with 3rd party apps, and a great community for support

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