7 common Magento problems and Solutions

You are an experienced Magento developer or you are just a newbie to this platform. It can’t be denied that during time exploring Magento, you meet many common issues, which are not a big deal but they can be crucial issues. In this post, we would like to share with you 7 most common Magento Problems plus Solutions to it.

1.     How can I reset Magento Admin Password?

In order to reset your magento administration password directly through the database, you go to cPanel > phpMyAdmin, select your Magento database from the dropdown menu on the left side. After that, click on the SQL tab and paste the following query:

UPDATE admin_user SET password=CONCAT(MD5('NEWPASSWORD'), ':sG') WHERE username='AdminUsername'; 

 Note: You change NEWPASSWORD in the MD5('NEWPASSWORD') with your new password, and change *AdminUsername* to your Magento admin username.

2.     How can I speed up Magento?

Slow performance causes many Magento issues. In order to speed up Magento performance, it is recommended to enable Compilation function. By using this function, the performance can increase from 25% to 50% on page loads.

You can enable Magento Compilation through your Magento admin panel > System > Tools > Compilation.

3.     How can I add a Contact Us form in Magento?

You want to add your company address, contact details and don’t know how to add in Magento? Magento includes contact form functionality but it is not easy to edit. This can be done by creating a CMS page and including the contact form as a static block.

All you need to do is:

-  Create a CMS page (Admin > Manage Pages)

-  Select the page you want to edit or create a new page.

-  Paste the following HTML where you would like the contact form to be positioned in your CMS page:

 <!– CONTACT FORM CODE BEGIN–>{ {block type='core/template' name='contactForm' template='contacts/form.phtml'} }<!– CONTACT FORM CODE END–>

Save changes and contact form will appear on the desired page.

4.     How can I fix the "Access denied" issue

Solution 1: Log out from the Magento admin area and then log in again.

Solution 2: If the above solution does not help, reset the admin privileges. You can do this through the Magento admin area > System > Permissions > Roles > Administrators.

Make sure that Resource Access is set to All.

Click on the “Save Role” button and the permissions will be reset.

5.     How can I create a custom group of customers?

Firstly, you creat a new Customer Group:

You can create new customer groups from admin panel > Customers > Customer Groups. All defined customer groups will appear. You need to:

1. Click on ‘Add New Customer Group’ button => New Customer Group section appears.
2. Enter new customer group name
3. Select the ‘Tax Class’ from Tax Class drop down.
4. Click on ‘Save Customer Group’ button => New Customer Group will appear on the top of the list along with an auto generated ID. 

Then, assign customers to a specific Customer Group

You are able to assign a customer to a particular customer group. The required steps are as follows:

1. Click on ‘Customers->Manage Customers’ => All registered customer details will appear in a tabular format
2. Select the check boxes beside customers, who will be assigned to a particular customer group
3. Click on ‘Actions’ drop down and select the action ‘Assign a customer group’ => Another drop down will appear listing all available customer groups
4. Select the desired customer group then click on ‘Submit’ button
5. All selected customers will be assigned to this new group

 6.     How can I setup a Blog in Magento?

You want to setup a blog in Magento to published posts related to products and improve SEO. It is not hard to set up a blog for Magento store. However, youhave to know that blog functionality is not default in Magento. You need to use additional extension for it. In Magento Connect, there are many free and paid extensions for you to choose from.

One of the best CMS extensions right now is Magento CMS Pro extension from MageWorld. Installing this extension is very easy, just copy and use it. In case, you have installing problems, MageWorld offers free installation and lifetime support.

Discover Magento CMS Pro extension in product page!

7.     How can I clear the cache in Magento?

Any modifications to your Magento store will not appear unless you clear the cache. Magento keeps its cache in /var/cache located inside the Magento installation directory.

Hence, to clear the cache, simply delete everything from the /var/cache directory and then reload your website in your browser.

In case, you want to clear all sessions, you can also delete everything from the /var/session folder within your Magento installation directory.