Hi there,
I am going to be working on an ecommerce web site, which is already created in Magento.
I know nothing about Magento, but the customer is happy with the dashboard/backend side of things, so I wondered if it’s possible to create the front end of the site in Modx (which I’m much more comfortable with) and pull in products and cart facility from Magento.
Has anyone dome this type of thing before?
Thanks
Andy
I think you’ll find it quite a large task / hassle trying to integrate Magento into MODX properly. If it was easy then I don’t think Commerce would exist for MODX 
That being said if you did want to go down this road you’ll probably want to do it all using a RESTful service from Magento and just pull in what you need with requests and output into chunks.
I did start an integration with OpenCart (very similar to Magento in the back end) last year but the project was abandoned after getting some 80% through it https://github.com/alienbuild/modx-opencart (I think just the payment process is outstanding).
Thanks for coming back to me.
The problem is I know nothing about Magento, but it feels like if the store is already up and running there, then it feels wrong to rebuild it in Commerce - as if we’re reinventing the wheel.
Unless f course there is a good reason to do so - ie, is Modx/Commerce better/more secure/easier to use for the client etc etc?
Magento is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms so I don’t think there would be much argument for reinventing the wheel to be honest. If the store is already there and you’re just doing adjustments to the front end then you’ll be able to figure it out, it’s good to step out of the comfort zone 
Back end might be a little more tricky to get used to though.
Yep agree - I think I just needed to hear it form someone else!! 
Cheers
Andy
There have been attempts in the past, to integrate the two. I think there is a Modx / Magento product lister out there somewhere but I would imagine it’s pretty much outdated by now. What version of Magento is in use? I recently migrated a Magento site to Modx but they weren’t using Magento to actually sell online, merely to list thousands of products. The migration went well. Your best bet would probably be to get the client to look through some Magento themes and choose one to use. You will have a steep learning curve if you’re not used to Magento and you’re trying to redesign the site. I’ve been using Magento since day one but I am definitely not a fan of it, going forward as the business model is likely to change now it’s owned by Adobe. Magneto 1 is effectively being discontinued and migration to Magento 2 is a nightmare. Magento 3 is likely to be subscription based at which point Adobe might be very keen to drop Magento 1 and 2 as quickly as possible.
Thanks for spending the time on this - it’s much appreciated!
Yes hearing that Adobe had bought it sent a shiver down my spine!! lol.
They are on Version 1 so I guess if we were to move it to modx (modMore commerce/simplecart etc) then I guess this is the right time to do it seeing as V1 is being discontinued…
Very true but be careful about what ‘out of the box’ functionality is present in Magento versus what, perhaps isn’t there in Commerce / Simplecart
Yes, but understand what limitations come along with that automatic functionality. Basic functionality is quicker, but there are now barriers
Thanks everyone - so valid points for both sides. I think that I need to understand what features in Magento they are currently using, because it sounds like they aren’t really using anything apart from basic ‘click and sell’ stuff - in which case moving to Commerce/Modx makes more sense to me.
Please do compile a list of what they’re using now (or would like to use) and send that to support@modmore.com before committing yourself to redoing an existing shop. Commerce is very powerful - but Magento is still in a different league on its own.
While I’m obviously more than happy to sell licenses, ecommerce is complicated enough if all the requirements are available out of the box (“click and sell” can be a lot more complex than it would seem to be on the surface ), so it’s in my best interest too to make sure it can do what your client needs.
Thanks Mark - I will do!
It really sounds like they are only using 2% of the Magento functionality - it feels like they are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut! But I will find out in case there’s something they haven’t forgotten to tell me!
Might be a bit off-topic but can you expand? My reason for asking is that I have around 5 Magento (1.9) sites and I really am not sure what to do with them going forwards.
Well, whenever there is a complete solution, there are always compromises. Customization in some directions might be easy, if anticipated by the developer, but other directions might be very difficult.