Carefully planning and executing the migration from Magento 1 to Magento 2 is critical to avoid losing data and to maintain your e-commerce site’s functionality intact. Because Magento 1 and 2 have different database structures, extensions, and design themes, the migration process can become complex. For migration, we have a few steps to take care of. By following these steps, you can ensure the migration process is smooth and bug-free.
Step 1. Basic Preparation:
- Audit Your Current Site
Review your current Magento 1 site, including installed extensions, customizations, and the current theme. Bifurcate what is required and what is not. By doing so, you can avoid adding unnecessary elements to the migration that your store does not need
- Backup Your Data:
There’s always a threat of losing data during migration and upgrades. So, start with backing up your existing data including files, databases, and media to ensure you have a recovery option in case something goes wrong.
- Choose the Right Timing:
Yes, this is the last step but still, you need to plan. You should migrate during a low-traffic period to minimize the impact on your business.
Step 2. Setup Magento 2 Staging/Development Environment:
- Migration On Staging/Development:
When you start migration, it’s wrong to down your site or set it in maintenance mode before finishing migration or completing testing. So when you start migration you need to set up a development site where you will first migrate the site and ensure everything is working fine and all data are there.
- Install Magento 2:
Set up a Magento 2 instance on a development server. Make sure it matches the specifications of your Magento 1 store to avoid any further issues.
- Prepare The Server:
Choose the server environment that meets Magento 2’s requirements regarding PHP version, MySQL, and other server configurations.
Step 3. Data Migration
Use the Magento Data Migration Tool:
Magento provides an official Data Migration Tool that helps in transferring your data (products, categories, orders, customers, etc.) from Magento 1 to Magento 2.
Configure the migration tool by editing the config.xml file to match your database settings.
Run the data migration tool in three stages:
1. Settings
2. Data
3. Delta
The delta phase allows for incremental data migration (new data is added to the Magento 1 store while the migration is in progress).
Step 4. Extension and Custom Code Migration
- Migrate Extensions:
Not all Magento 1 extensions have Magento 2 counterparts. Check if the Magento 2 versions are available and compatible and then proceed.
- Custom Code:
Custom code needs to be rewritten or adapted for Magento 2. Use the Code Migration Toolkit provided by Magento to assist in converting Magento 1 code to Magento 2 or nowadays you can get help from AI.
Step 5. Theme Migration
- Theme Porting:
Magento 1 themes cannot be migrated directly because Magento 2 has a different approach to themes. You will need to either find a similar Magento 2 theme or develop a custom theme.
Step 6. Testing
- Test Extensively:
Before going live, test your Magento 2 site thoroughly in a development environment. Check all functionalities, user interfaces, payment gateways, and third-party integrations.
- Performance Testing:
Make sure that the new site’s performance is optimised and at least comparable to, if not better than, your Magento 1 store.
Step 7. Go Live
- Plan for Downtime:
Even with careful migration, some downtime is inevitable. Announce this downtime in advance to your customers.
- Final Data Migrate:
Why migrate data again while you migrate your store live site will be running and getting orders and customers. So after completing migration on the development environment, you need to get the latest orders, and customers to Magento 2. If new Products are added in then that also needs to migrate.
- Deploy to Production:
Once you complete the testing and are satisfied with the Magento 2 site, you can make the switch.
- Monitor After Go-Live:
After migration, closely monitor the website for any issues and address them promptly.
Step 8. SEO Considerations
URLs:
Update URL redirects, maintain your URL structure as much as possible, and update your Google Analytics and other SEO tools. This is required to maintain the SEO rankings of your store.
9. Post-Migration Support
Train Your Team:
Ensure that you train your team well on the new Magento 2 backend. This is not a big thing but still can’t avoid this step.
Upgrades and Patches:
Magento 2 will likely receive updates and security patches. Keep your site updated to maintain security and efficiency.
Migrating from Magento 1 to Magento 2 is a significant transition that can fundamentally change how your online store operates. It’s advisable to conduct the migration with the help of professionals who have experience with Magento if you are not comfortable handling complex technical processes yourself.
How Code Decorator can help you.
Code Decorators migrates 10+ stores successfully in Magento 2. Code Decorator has a team of Magento-certified developers who have 10+ years of experience in Magento 2. You can easily and effortlessly migrate your store by getting used to the 10-year experienced developers.
You can contact us at ‘[email protected]‘ or you can directly buy our migration service
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