Warning: Extension integration in Magento isn’t easy. This applies to any Magento theme you decide to buy. With great power comes great frustration and responsibility. Sooner or later you’ll need to integrate a third-party extension into your custom design. These guides are meant to help you and serve as examples if you decide to go down this path.
Avalanche provides support for theme-related issues but we do not assist with extension integration. Some extensions are easy to install while others will be very difficult. We recommend hiring an experienced Magento developer to help you integrate your extensions. It is possible to do it yourself but it will take much more time than you expected. If you have any issues with a specific extension in Avalanche you should contact the extension developer first. They should be able to assist you far more quickly since they wrote the code.
Q: If the extension works in the default theme why does it not work in Avalanche out of the box?
A: Developers can only test their extension in the default theme. They can’t anticipate differences in highly customized stores or themes such as Avalanche. However, they should at least guide you in the right direction as to which layout and template files you’ll need to change.
Essential Integration Tips
1) If the extension documentation tells you to upload files inside /app/design/frontend/default/default don’t do it. Upload either inside base/default (good) or avalanche/default (better). Avalanche doesn’t look inside default/default since that’s designated for the default Magento theme. This tip alone may cause your extension to magically work without any extra modification.
2) If your extension adds functionality to the product page (specifically around the Add to Cart form) be prepared to edit a layout XML file. The default theme uses the “content” reference for the cart form. Avalanche uses the “right” reference for the cart form since it’s shown in the right column.
3) Read your extension layout XML file. It’s inside a /layout folder. This XML file provides useful hints as to where the extension is injecting itself. If your extension is not appearing look at this file first. Also be mindful of the CSS and JS files it’s adding. If it’s including jQuery comment it out. Avalanche already includes jQuery.
4) If you’re installing more than one extension then test each extension incrementally. Don’t install all of them at once. Some extensions may conflict with each other. Disable extensions by renaming their folder inside /app/code/community or /app/code/local. Or you can disable by editing /app/etc/modules/Your_Extension_File.xml and setting <active> to false.
5) If you’re getting JavaScript errors from an extension and it uses jQuery you most likely need to include the JavaScript after Avalanche calls jQuery. Since Avalanche focuses on front-end speed, JavaScript files are loaded at the bottom. Extensions will try to add JS files like this:
<default> <reference name="head"> <action method="addJs"><script>extension/my_extension.js</script></action> </reference> </default>
To avoid issues and improve performance you should do it like this (use the “foot” reference):
<default> <reference name="foot"> <action method="addJs"><script>extension/my_extension.js</script></action> </reference> </default>
Known Supported Extensions
Here’s a list of extensions that have been successfully integrated into the Avalanche Magento theme:
Aheadworks Advanced Reviews
Aheadworks Blog
Aheadworks Booking and Reservations
Aheadworks Follow Up Email
Aheadworks Mobile
Aheadworks Product Update Notifications
Aheadworks Product Questions
Aheadworks Search Autocomplete & Suggest
Aheadworks Sociable
Aheadworks Ultimate SEO Suite
Aheadworks Z-Blocks (Limited Functionality)
AITOC Delivery Date
Amasty Extended Product Grid
Amasty Improved Layer Navigation
Amasty Custom Stock Status
Amasty Order Status
Amasty Sorting
Brandammo ProNav
Fooman Speedster
GoMage LightCheckout
HTML Minification by Jemoon
Magestore Gift Voucher
Magestore
MageWorx Search AutoComplete
MageWorx SEO Suite Ultimate / Pro
OnePica ImageCDN
OneStepCheckout
PHP4U Blast Lucene Search
Sweet Tooth Rewards
Tinybrick LightSpeed
Tinybrick Speed Booster
Unirgy uDropship
Unirgy uGiftCert
WebShopApps Premium MatrixRate