Magento 2 was released in 2015 after many delays and with the enthusiasm that it has been received with, it obviously was worth the wait. Several websites have migrated to Magento 2 and several are in the process of migrating.

I am a person who is always interested in upgrading to new technologies. I did switch to Windows Vista, Windows 8, and all such new software releases without a second thought. But, when it came to Magento 2, I was not even quick in switching over.

Why?

Remember when various Windows version came out or when such a huge software upgrades were released? Remember what was common in all of those upgrades?

Bugs! A lot of bugs.

Encountering bugs in a new software is not uncommon. But, when there are bugs in an eCommerce website, it is definitely a huge problem as you may lose many customers because of that. Experimenting with an eCommerce website by upgrading it to a new software full of bugs may prove to be a pitfall for your business.

When people approach me with questions related to migration to Magento 2, I have been really apprehensive about upgrading the core software that powers your business before all the faults are cleared out. But after 2 years of its initial release and 8 versions later, I think it is safe to migrate from magento 1 to magento 2.

Once I realized the time right, I researched about pros and cons that one needs to know about while moving forward with the migration.

The pros of migrating to Magento 2

• More in-built features: As the magento 2 platform itself has a lot of native features integrated within it, it seems to be a full package. With most of the features in-built, there are fewer extensions required.
• Improvised performance: There is no debate about the performance that Magento 2 has to offer. It is way better than the magento 1 platform.
• Fully responsive and touch friendly layout: Magento 2 has a layout that is responsive by default and then, one does not have to spend time trying to modify various screen views.
• Easy to add functionality: Magento 2 has a setup that has easy and simple backend management with a better UX, thereby offering an enhanced functionality to the admins. Also, the user end functionalities have been improvised by adding a superior UX.

These benefits are bound to improve the UI / UX of the webshop, thereby attracting more customers.

Also, with Magento 2.2 expected to be releasing soon, Magento 1 is expected to become obsolete by the end of 2019. So, it is better to make the switch now with a lot of time to spare than doing it in haste when it becomes necessary .

Summing up

Magento 2 had several promising features to offer when it was first released but it was a wise decision to wait for others to try it out and smoothen out all the shortcomings before migrating to Magento 2. But now that all the bugs are gone, the only things that remain are impressive features and they are totally worth the time of migrating from Magento 1 to Magento 2.

Linen is a fabric used for all kinds of purposes, mostly clothing and decoration, that is appreciated for its durability, naturalness and freshness. Linen is manufactured from the fibers of the flax plant which is grown through the whole world – from Canada to Ethiopia. Flax has been cultured since the times of ancient Egypt and ancient Ethiopia, while the latest finds of dyed flax fibers date to 30000 BC.

In Lithuania, a small country in Northern Europe with a very rich history, linen has a special place in the nation's traditions, arts and crafts. Flax has been grown here since the times of the Baltic tribes that were living in the modern country's territory from around 2000 BC. In the Medieval times, when the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was one of the largest countries in Europe, linen was probably the only fabric used for clothing by the peasants and the warriors (except for the armour, of course). Even in the early 20th century, when the availability of other fabrics was much greater, flax and linen had a major part in Lithuania's exports. The significance of linen in Lithuania has diminished ever since, yet there are still some folk artists in the country who weave linen and keep the traditions alive.

The importance of linen to a Lithuanian can be clearly seen in the folk songs – one of the greatest and most significant parts of the Lithuanian heritage. Up to the mid-20th century, people had sung songs on every occasion, including the seeding and cutting of flax and weaving of linen. Linen also appears in other folk songs, such as the ones about war or marriage, and is used as a symbol of prosperity and well-being.

Apart from the folk songs, Lithuanianians even have an annual celebration, commemorating the importance of flax and linen. "Flax is one of the oldest cultures cultured in Lithuania, and it is unjustly forgotten. Even our ancient creatures knew about the miraculous healing qualities of linen." Linen had a very important part in the formation of the Lithuanian attitude of mind. " – says Zenonas Macernis, one of the organizers of the Festival of Flax, celebrated every year in the village of Budraiciai. In this festival, artisans and craftsmen who work with linen come from all parts of Lithuania to share their experience and sell their hand-made clothes, toys, tablecloths, towels and other kinds of items. No traditional festival in Lithuania is celebrated without songs and dances, so a lot of folk ensembles come here as well.

In every part of Lithuania, the traditions of seeding and cutting the linen were different. The greatest similarity of traditions from different regions is that the cutting of flax was usually a work done by women. Unsurprisingly, a lot of songs were sung during the process, and some of these songs even survived until our days. Some of the more interesting traditions come from Zemaitija, the North-Western region of Lithuania. For example, when the cutting of flax was over, the cutters always waited for a rabbit to come out of the field. Sometimes, the more shifty cutters managed to catch the rabbit, then e-learning the family a delicious dinner. There have been a lot of beliefs of how and when to seed the flax to get the best results. For example, in the village of Dadotkai, flax was seeded in the end of May, but only when the junipers are dusty, when the Moon is in its gibbous shape and when the wind blows from the South. Quite a lot of conditions, is not it?

When the flax is prepared to be made into linen, once again it's up to the Lithuanian women to do all the work. From the ancient times, the man of the house had to be able to tend to the horses and other animals and supervise the cultivation of crops, while the woman had to cook, weaving and spinning skills. There was a spinning wheel in every house, and in the evenings the linen was made into clothes, towels and other everyday items. At that time, linen was the most prominent fabric used for clothes by everyone living in the countryside. It was completely natural and made locally – people wore clothes made from linen grown in their own fields.

Nowadays, linen clothes associate with people having holidays in the French Riviera and not with a simple farmer living in the countryside. This transition happened some time in the 20th century, when the supply of other cheaper fabrics increased significantly and the cultivation of flax became much less profitable than before. Fortunately, there are still some people who cultivate flax and produce hand-made linen items, but their number has declined dramatically over the years.

"We are very lucky that the traditions of making completely natural, hand-made linen clothes and other items are still alive. knows his job well and if the traditions are passed from one generation to the other, no mass-produced linen clothes have the same quality, freshness and feeling of naturality as when the items are hand-made. " – says Jurate Stanisauskiene, owner of the only children-oriented Lithuanian linen webshop LinenKids.com.

In general, the traditions of cultivating flax and making linen clothes were close to extinction in Lithuania, but nowdays there are more and more people who remember their heritage and decide to keep the traditions alive. The demand of natural hand-made linen clothes is growing, so fortunately this trade still has a future. Saving this craft is very important to Lithuanian heritage, as together with the linen making itself, it also carries a lot of other traditions, such as songs, dances, festivals and the Lithuanian attitude of mind.

Christmas tree candles are on a comeback course. The classic candles and simple metal candle holders your great-grandsparents used to ador their tree every year slipped off the market about 90 years ago when electric lights swept the country. But if the initial buzz early this holiday season is any indication, the classic Christmas tree candle is on its way back.

Using real candles for holiday decorating has cross-cutting appeal. The Christmas tree candle, lowly and simple as it is, transcends aesthetic, political and historical fault lines.

Geeks and style scouts like Christmas candles and the metal candle holders that go with them for their gadget appeal and because at first glance they feel like something new and different. Homebodies and designers like them from a decorating point of view because they fit in with Victorian, Country, Lodge or any one of several other Christmas design themes. The historically-minded like the idea of ​​reviving this traditional practice and keeping it alive. Families who want to shed some of the glitz and glam of the holidays like them because they're simple, low-tech and beautiful. And environmentally-conscious Christmas connoisseurs are drawn to Christmas tree candles because they're 100% green – even more earth friendly than LED Christmas lights.

Regardless what may be drawing you to the idea of ​​decorating your tree with candle clips and candles this year, if you've decided to do it, buy them early in the season.

Since these products are teetering on the verge of extinction, it comes as no surprise that they're difficult to find locally. You can make the rounds and ask, but they vanished from gift shops and hardware stores decades ago, though you could get lucky. You will not find them at your local mall. Even specialty shops that feature candles, Christmas decorations, wreaths, lights and other holiday items rarely, if ever, stock them.

The best place to buy Christmas tree candle holders , pendulum holders and candles is from a reputable, experienced shop on the internet. Make sure the products you are looking at are imported from Germany. Germans have been making decorations like these for years and their are the best. Why go with a cheaper import when you can get the real thing? You will want to consider what kind of holders you like best. Here are some of the basic choices:

• Clip-On Christmas Tree Candle Holder or Candle Clip This holder has a spring clamp that grips the tree limb and steels the holder. It includes a wax catcher and adjustable base. Clip on holders are usually available in a pine cone or scallop design. You can usually find them in a silver or gold finish.
• Pendulum Christmas Tree Candle Holder with Pine Cone Weight This traditional hanging candle holder was used before the candle clips. It has a stem that loops over the limit and a pine cone counterweight to keep the candle vertical. Pendulum Christmas Tree Candle Holder with Kugel This is a hanging holder with a stem and counterweight shaped as a "Kugel" or ball.
• Pendulum Christmas Tree Candle Holder with Star A hanging candle holder with a stem and dangling counterweight in the shape of a star.
• Christmas Tree Candles These are specialized candles from Germany made to fit candle holders. They are usually available in red and white. Make sure to purchase the correct candles. Do not cut corners or try to substitute another size. The candle must fit firmly and snugly in the base. Birthday and party candles are too small. Dining candles are too long and fat. Votives and religious candles are also too big. If you're sure to buy original German-made Christmas tree candles, you can not go wrong.

Go ahead – channel your great-grandsparents this year, and experience Christmas the way they did. Regardlessless you choose clip-on Christmas candles or one of the pendulum candleholders, your Christmas tree will never look better and you will remember it all year long .. –

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Perfspot is one of the new social networking websites out there. It was launched on March, 2007. Perfspot is a social networking website. Perpspot targets mainly teenagers and young professionals, and was the fastest growing social website in UK in 2007.

The minimum age to join this website is 13. The site is aimed at college students and young professionals. But the profiles of users below 18 years does not appear under general search.

One unique feature of this website is the ability to setup webshop. To setup your web shop you need to have an Paypal account. Perpspot allows users to listen to music and add them to their playlist.

The perfect user generated content on this website makes it a better place to socialize yourself with your friends. Perfspot is your place on internet where you are free to share your photos, listen to music and communicate with your friends.

Development:

Perfspot developed many features from its start. Perpspot provides features that are unique such as "Perfnights" which captures night life around the world.

This website is also expanding internationally by opening multi-national customer support and opening offices in different countries and is the top growing website in the world in terms of number of visitors. According to Alexa and has over 20 million registered users from 190 countries. According Alexa.com, it is ranked 239th place worldwide. Alexa named Perfspot the number 1 "Mover and Shaker" due to its rapid increase in web traffic.

Current usage:

According to Hitwise.com, the members of this website are in the following age groups:

1. 11.78% are under 24.
2. 15.33% are between 24 and 25.
3. 56.38% are between 35 and 44.
4. 8.86% are between 45 and 54.
5. 7.65% are greater than 55.

Based on gender, 53% of users are males and remaining 47% are females. The music section that contains bands from variety of sources. At present this website has about 50 bands and plans to add another 50 bands.

Perpspot does not keep a limit on the amount of pictures and content its user uploads. Using this website, you can market your product or service through advertisements. With more users in the age group below 35 years you can certainly reach your target audience.

Benefits to user:

Perfspot offers benefits as similar to other social networking website. Perpspot allows user to meet friends online and send messages to them. Using Perspot, you can chat with other user through chat rooms. There are different chat rooms available for you to join and begin conversation. There is no limit on how many photos you upload, so you can add as many you wish.

Companies can advertise regarding their product or service on this website. You can target users on specific features such as geographic targeting. Companies have the option to target only a specific region.

Technical explanation:

You need to register at Perfspot to access the website. Registering involves choosing an name, password, college you studied and email address. After the registration completes, you are asked to upload your profile photo (you can skip this step).

In the next step, it displays some groups so that you may join. This step can also be skipped. After the above mentioned steps are complete, you are taken to your profile or home page.

Worldwide usage:

The Perfspot is relatively new social networking website. It is most popular in China, India, Indonesia and Egypt according to Alexa.com. This social networking website boasts of 30 million members and 60 million unique visitors every month. According to Survey by Nielsen / NetRatings, it is the fastest growing social website in UK.

Have you ever tried shopping with a screaming baby, a tantrum-ing toddler or in the rain? Do not have a car? Do not have the energy to try to tackle an overcrowded or understaffed shop? Tired of running to the shops every day for a couple of items or having to schlep bags and bags of groceries in from the car? Online shopping could have the answer to all your worries.

Online shopping involves purchasing products or services over the Internet. Online shopping is done through an online shop, e-shop, e-store, virtual store, webshop, Internet shop or online store. All the products in online stores are described through text, with photos and with multimedia files. Many online stores will provide links for extra information about their products. They often make available, safety procedures, instructions, manufacture specification and demonstrations. Some will provide advice or how-to guides. As you are already on the Internet, you can search for product reviews that other consumers may have posted. Some online stores have place for these reviews on their own sites. Many allow users to rate their products. Advice such as this from other consumers, about a product, would be unavailable in a conventional store.

There are many advantages involved with online shopping, the most obvious of which is convenience. As long as you have a computer, online shopping can be done from home or from work. There is no need to take the time to travel to a conventional store. Also, online shops typically operate 24 hours a day so you do not need to rush to get there during business hours. Particularly if you have a broadband Internet connection, browsing online can be done very quickly – in fact, it can be quicker than browsing up and down the aisles of a physical shop.

With online shopping, there is no need to wait in queues at the check-out once you have your items. You are not required to lift any heavy or awkward-sized and shaped packages. Your shopping is grouped with the click of a button and "deposited" into your shopping trolley by no physical effort on your part.

You will often be given a choice as to how to receive the merchandise you have bought – either it can be delivered to you or you can go to the store to collect it. This flexibility can be very useful depending on how soon you need the item or when you will be home.

Search engines and online price comparison services are useful for finding sellers of a specific product. You can also, very quickly, find good deals on various items. Some items will generally be cheaper if bought over the Internet due to the smaller size of the "brick-and-mortar" store, reduced stocking costs for the seller and significantly lower staffing overhead. On large orders (as determined by the retailer), shipping costs may be washed. There are also many websites that compile information on coupons and discounts.

With the takeover of the market by big retail chain; variety of specialized items continue to diminish; goes with that is also the choices from a consumer perspective. However, Internet shops have taken over this niche as many are operated by small retailers who understand this need. This means you can search on the Internet and it is very likely that someone is selling that specialized item that you have been looking and more importantly without the need to run around the town or ring anyone.

Online shopping is becoming more and more widespread and accepted due to these many conveniences.

First thing which platform should I choose? I think the easiest way to build a webshop is to use a CMS system. Because the CMS systems are very popular and well-tested systems. And these systems are easy to use and easy to customize. I advise you to choose WordPress. Why? I'm a software developer, so I can use any CMS system easily, but my customers can not use most of the CMS systems. My experience is my customers can learn WordPress in a short period and they can use it easily without my help. And you will see at the end of this article WordPress is very user friendly.

Second thing how can you setup a shop? After you install WordPress to your host (I recommend to use Fantastico installation, this is the easiest way) you should install a webshop plugin. But which plugin? I always use "WP e-Commerce". It's free and easy to use. Int he past few month the developers have made big changes int he plugin. I think the plugin now very comfortable and easy to use. So I recommend to install this plugin. After the installation you can upload your products. This plugin will automatically save your products from thefts. The plugin will rename your uploaded products, so nobody will find the products on your host by name. And every customer will get a time limited download link. You can setup the time limit.

You can extend the plugin features with premium plugins like: Amazon S3 plugin, Members only plugin, DropShop etc. So I think this plugin is a good choice and you can use it for free.

Third thing how can you customize your site? WordPress is a very flexible CMS system. You can easily change your theme (the appearance of your website) and install plugins. You can choose from many free themes. And I recommend you to extend your WordPress with a very very useful plugin:

• All In One SEO plugin – setup easily your SEO settings
• All In One Webmaster plugin – setup easily Google analytics or Google webmaster and other statistical softwares
• WP Security Scan – checks your WordPress website / blog for security vulnerabilities and suggests corrective actions
• Secure WordPress – beefs up the security of your WordPress installation by removing error information on login pages, adds index.html to plugin directories, hides the WordPress version and much more.
• Bulettproof Security – protects your website from XSS, RFI, CSRF, Base64, Code Injection and SQL Injection hacking attempts. One-click.htaccess WordPress security protection. Protects wp-config.php, bb-config.php, php.ini, php5.ini, install.php and readme.html with.htaccess security protection. One-click Website Maintenance Mode (HTTP 503). Additional website security checks: DB errors off, file and folder permissions check … System Info: PHP, MySQL, OS, Memory Usage, IP, Max file sizes … Built-in.htaccess file editing, uploading and downloading.
• Exclude pages – This plugin adds a checkbox, "include this page in menus", which is checked by default. If you uncheck it, the page will not appear in any listings of pages (which includes, and is usually limited to, your page navigation menus).

Of course you can install more plugins to make your shop more user-friendly like share buttons or automatic backup plugin. That's all. Your shop is now up and running!

Just one more day left for your “official” work week. How did you do? We thought we’d check in.

What goals did you set for yourself this week? Which ones did you achieve, make progress on, or push to the back of the line?

Are you happy with what you’ve accomplished?

What stood in your way?

I find it crazy how quickly the weeks go, and how often I take the same items from my work calendar and drag them to the next week. I set up all of my tasks as calendar items in my Google calendar, as I accomplish a task, I move it out of the way, but it drives me crazy how many I keep putting off.

But “tasks” aren’t “goals” are they? I could argue, and I often argue with myself, that my tasks accomplish my goals. Do they really? Or do tasks simply bring us closer to accomplishing existing goals; giving us enough satisfaction that we feel like we’re moving forward, without the growth mindset that goal setting brings?

And this is where we get stuck, focusing on the to-do’s and not looking at the over-arching goals that brought us to this point. In fact, if I’m being honest, I’m not sure when I last set a goal for my business, or even for me personally (outside of a New Year’s resolution… ummm yeah, let’s just skip over that!).

So, I guess we’re in the same boat!

Is it time that we made it a goal, to set goals? How can we (you and I) hold ourselves accountable?

Let’s give it a try!

Starting this week, I’m going to accomplish two goals:

1. Personal – I’m going to go for a walk every day. I wear a fitness tracker ( https://webshop.bellabeat.com/ ), so making this measurable will be easy. I want my 7 day average to be over 6,500 steps.
2. I’m going to create a new marketing campaign, not for a client (which is incredibly fun), but for myself. I imagine this will initially take the form of a flow chart, but that’s OK. I’m fine with it being a creative work in progress – I just need to get it started.

Are you up for the challenge? Share your business goals, let’s see if we can encourage each other on!

Not sure if you want to post it here? That’s OK, drop us an email. It doesn’t matter how we start this journey together, we just need to start!