If you’re new to Magento, chances are you’ve run into a few terms that feel like a foreign language. Don’t worry—you’re not alone!
The Magento ecosystem has its fair share of technical jargon, and trying to make sense of it all can be frustrating. That’s why we’ve created this Magento Glossary: a simple, straightforward guide to help you understand the most common Magento terms without needing to “Google” every other word.
Whether you’re a Magento beginner or brushing up your knowledge, this guide has everything you need to make sense of Magento.
Editor’s Note [21st November 2024]: Nine years after this Magento glossary was originally written in 2015, we’ve given it a complete update to reflect the latest developments in the Magento ecosystem. Since this glossary was first written, Magento has gone through significant changes, including changes in ownership—from its origins under Varien, to its time with eBay, and now as part of Adobe. These shifts have brought major updates to the platform, introducing new tools and concepts while retiring older ones. While some original terms remain relevant, there are now many new terms, such as Hyvä Themes, Mage-OS, and Adobe Commerce, reflecting how the platform and community have changed. This update is designed to help both beginners and experienced users navigate the changing Magento ecosystem with ease.
What is Magento, Anyway?
Before we dive into the terms, let’s quickly define Magento itself. Magento is an open-source eCommerce platform designed for creating online stores. Launched in 2007 (originally by Varien) and previously owned by eBay, it became wildly popular because of its flexibility.
Businesses of all sizes use Magento, from small shops to global enterprises, thanks to its scalability and vast customisation options.
Alright, enough introductions—let’s jump into the glossary.
Magento Glossary of Terms
Below, we’ve compiled a comprehensive Magento glossary, including key terms and definitions, broken into categories for easier navigation.
Whether you’re a complete beginner or looking to polish up your knowledge, this Magento ecosystem list has you covered.
Get to grips with our Magento glossary of terms. Source Debby Hudson on Unsplash.
Magento Open Source
This is the free open-source version of Magento. It’s fully customisable, open for developers to tweak, and ideal for businesses that want full control over their store. The catch? You’ll need to handle hosting, security, and updates yourself (or hire someone who knows their way around Magento).
Adobe Commerce Magento (Previously Enterprise Edition)
This is Magento’s premium, paid version. Designed for larger businesses, it comes with additional features like advanced analytics, customer loyalty tools, and 24/7 support. It’s best for companies that need extra muscle and don’t mind the licensing fees in exchange for convenience.
Adobe Commerce (Magento) Cloud
Adobe Commerce Cloud is the hosted, cloud-based version of Magento Commerce. It comes fully integrated with other Adobe tools like Adobe Experience Manager and Adobe Analytics, making it a powerful solution for large businesses looking for a seamless marketing and commerce stack.
Magento 2
This is the updated version of Magento, released in 2015. It introduced major improvements, like faster performance, a more user-friendly admin panel, and better mobile responsiveness. If you’re starting fresh, Magento 2 is the way to go.
Magento Themes (Sometimes Referred to as Templates)
A Magento theme is basically the “outfit” your website wears. It controls the layout, colours, and overall look of your store. Whether you want sleek and minimal or bold and vibrant, you can find a Magento theme that suits your brand. Themes are available for purchase or free download from marketplaces and third-party developers.
Magento Extensions (a.k.a. Plugins, Add-Ons or Modules)
Think of extensions as “apps” for your Magento store. They’re small pieces of software that add extra features—like custom shipping options, advanced SEO tools, or integrations with payment gateways. You can browse and download these from the Magento Marketplace or from independent developers.
Adobe Commerce (Magento) Marketplace
This is the official store for Magento extensions and themes. It’s a bit like an app store, but specifically for Magento users. You’ll find thousands of add-ons here, ranging from free to premium. Always double-check compatibility with your Magento version before installing anything.
Magento Admin Panel
The admin panel is the control centre for your store. It’s where you manage products, orders, customers, settings, and just about everything else. If you’re the person running the show, you’ll be spending a lot of time here.
Magento API (Application Programming Interface)
An API is a tool that allows Magento to “talk” to other software. For example, you might use an API to connect your store to your inventory management system or shipping provider. In short, APIs make integrations possible.
Magento SEO
Magento is known for being SEO-friendly right out of the box. It comes with tools to help you optimise your site for search engines, like customisable URLs, meta descriptions, and sitemaps. That said, you’ll still need to put in the work to make your store rank.
Magento Hosting
Magento is a resource-heavy platform, which means not all hosting providers can handle it. Magento hosting refers to server setups specifically optimised for the platform, ensuring your store runs smoothly and loads quickly. Popular options include dedicated hosting and cloud-based hosting.
Magento Order Management
This system helps merchants manage their inventory, orders, and shipments across multiple sales channels. It’s especially handy for businesses that sell both online and in physical stores, as it keeps everything synced.
Magento Community
This refers to the global network of developers, merchants, and enthusiasts who work with Magento. It’s a great resource if you’re looking for advice, tutorials, or help troubleshooting issues. There are forums, meetups, and even events like Magento Imagine where the community comes together.
Magento PWA Studio
PWA Studio is a set of tools provided by Magento to help developers create Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) for their stores. PWAs combine the best of websites and mobile apps, offering faster load times and a better experience for mobile users.
Magento Payment Gateways
These are integrations that allow your store to process payments from customers. Popular options include PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net. Magento supports a variety of gateways, so you can choose the one that best suits your needs.
Magento Multi-Store
Magento allows you to run multiple stores from a single installation. This is useful if you want to manage different brands, regions, or languages under one system while keeping everything centralised.
Magento Admin Roles
Admin roles are permissions you can assign to different users in your Magento admin panel. For example, you might want your developer to have full access, while your customer service team only has access to orders and customer info.
Magento Security Patches
Magento regularly releases security patches to fix vulnerabilities and keep stores secure. It’s crucial to apply these updates as soon as they’re available to protect your site from hackers.
Magento Order Statuses
Order statuses track the progress of a customer’s order, from “Pending” to “Complete.” You can customise these statuses to better suit your store’s workflow.
Magento Cron Jobs
A cron job is a scheduled task that runs automatically on your server. In Magento, cron jobs are used for things like sending email notifications, updating inventory, or generating reports.
Related Magento Ecosystem Terms You Should Know
Magento isn’t just a platform—it’s part of a much larger ecosystem of tools, communities, and innovations created to extend and improve its functionality.
Over the years, Magento enthusiasts and developers have built related projects, frameworks, and alternatives that work alongside or as extensions of Magento itself.
The Magento ecosystem: where developers gather to build, break, and fix… together. Source Annie Spratt on Unsplash.
Here are some key related terms you should know:
Hyvä
Hyvä (pronounced “hoo-va”) is a modern frontend theme for Magento 2 that’s all about speed and simplicity. It was developed as an alternative to Magento’s default Luma theme, which can be bloated and slow. Hyvä significantly reduces unnecessary JavaScript and CSS, resulting in faster page load times and a better developer experience.
Why it matters: If you want to improve your store’s performance or make frontend development easier, Hyvä is a popular and highly recommended solution in the Magento community.
Mage-OS
Mage-OS is an open-source fork of Magento 2, created by the Magento community as an alternative to Adobe’s version of Magento Open Source. The idea behind Mage-OS is to keep Magento fully open-source, community-driven, and independent of corporate decisions that might limit its accessibility or flexibility.
Why it matters: Mage-OS is gaining traction as a community-first approach to Magento development, with the goal of fostering innovation and ensuring long-term viability for businesses that rely on open-source eCommerce.
PWA (Progressive Web App) for Magento
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are a big deal in eCommerce, and Magento offers tools like PWA Studio to help developers create lightning-fast, mobile-friendly online stores. PWAs deliver an app-like shopping experience directly in the browser, with features like offline browsing and push notifications.
Why it matters: PWAs are the future of mobile commerce, and Magento’s support for PWAs gives merchants the ability to deliver modern, responsive, and engaging storefronts.
Akeneo
Akeneo is a Product Information Management (PIM) system that integrates well with Magento. It helps merchants organise and centralise product data, ensuring consistency across multiple sales channels like Magento stores, marketplaces, and more.
Why it matters: Managing product data can get messy as your store grows, and Akeneo is a popular choice among Magento users who need to streamline their catalog management.
Vue Storefront
Vue Storefront is a frontend framework that can be used with Magento (or other eCommerce platforms) to build a PWA. It’s lightweight, highly customisable, and known for delivering excellent performance and a seamless shopping experience.
Why it matters: If Hyvä isn’t the right fit, Vue Storefront is another strong option for creating a modern front-end for your Magento store.
Magento Association
The Magento Association is a global community of developers, merchants, and agencies dedicated to the growth and sustainability of Magento. They host events, provide resources, and promote collaboration within the ecosystem.
Why it matters: It’s a great resource for anyone working with Magento, whether you’re looking for networking opportunities, educational content, or insights into the platform’s future.
ScandiPWA
ScandiPWA is a Magento-specific PWA solution that works as a ready-to-go storefront for Magento 2. Unlike other PWA frameworks, ScandiPWA is built exclusively for Magento, making it tightly integrated and easy to deploy.
Why it matters: It’s one of the fastest ways to get a PWA up and running on Magento 2, and it’s perfect for merchants who want a more modern storefront without heavy development.
Nginx
Nginx is a web server software that is often used to optimise Magento hosting environments. It’s faster and more efficient than Apache in handling requests and is highly recommended for high-traffic Magento stores.
Why it matters: If you’re running a Magento store, knowing about Nginx (and using it) can lead to better performance and faster page load times.
RabbitMQ
RabbitMQ is a message broker system that Magento Commerce (and some Open Source setups) uses to manage background tasks like sending order confirmations, processing updates, and syncing data.
Why it matters: Understanding RabbitMQ can be important if you’re managing a complex Magento setup and want to ensure smooth communication between different parts of your store.
Why These Related Terms Are Important
Magento doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Its ecosystem is constantly expanding, and tools like Hyvä, Mage-OS, and others make it easier to customise, optimise, and future-proof your store. By exploring these related technologies, you can unlock new possibilities for your eCommerce business and stay ahead of the competition.
Obsolete Magento Terms You Might Still Come Across
Magento has been around since 2007, and like any platform, it’s gone through significant changes. Some features, tools, and services that were once part of Magento’s ecosystem have been retired or replaced over the years.
You might still come across these terms in older articles, forums, or conversations, so here’s a quick guide to what they were and why they’re no longer in use.
Just like VHS tapes, some Magento terms belong in the nostalgia bin—but it’s still fun to remember them! Source Josh Chiodo on Unsplash.
Magento Go
Magento Go was a cloud-based service launched by Magento for small businesses to quickly set up and run their online stores. It was designed as a simplified, hosted solution for merchants who didn’t want to worry about server management or technical details. However, Magento shut down Magento Go in 2015, encouraging users to migrate to Magento Community (now Magento Open Source).
Why it’s obsolete: Magento Go couldn’t keep up with the demand for more customisable and scalable solutions, and its feature set was too limited for most businesses.
Magento Connect
Magento Connect was the original marketplace for Magento extensions and themes. Merchants could browse, purchase, and download add-ons to enhance their stores’ functionality. It had thousands of extensions, but over time, Magento transitioned to a more robust and secure platform called the Magento Marketplace in 2016.
Why it’s obsolete: Magento Connect lacked proper security checks for extensions, and Magento Marketplace offered a better-curated, more reliable alternative.
Magento Mobile
Magento Mobile was a tool introduced to help merchants create mobile apps for their online stores. It allowed users to launch basic apps to improve the shopping experience on smartphones and tablets. However, Magento discontinued this feature in favour of more modern approaches, like Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), which offer a faster and more responsive mobile experience without requiring a dedicated app.
Why it’s obsolete: As technology evolved, PWAs replaced the need for Magento Mobile, offering similar benefits without the hassle of managing a separate app.
This was a subscription-based hosting and website-building solution, very similar to Magento Go but with a slight emphasis on offering “professional-grade” features for small-to-mid-sized businesses. It was short-lived and merged into Magento Go’s ecosystem before both were retired in 2015.
Why it’s obsolete: Magento GoPro faced the same limitations as Magento Go and was eventually phased out for lack of flexibility and scalability.
Magento Enterprise Cloud Edition (ECE)
Before Magento Commerce Cloud became the norm, Magento Enterprise Cloud Edition was an earlier version of Magento’s hosted, cloud-based service. While it offered some benefits for larger businesses, it lacked the polished experience and integrations of its successor, Magento Commerce Cloud.
Why it’s obsolete: Magento rebranded and overhauled its cloud offering to provide better performance, scalability, and ease of use with Magento Commerce Cloud.
Magento MySQL Search
Magento MySQL Search was the default search engine for Magento stores in earlier versions of the platform. While it worked fine for smaller catalogs, it was slow and inaccurate for larger stores. Magento eventually replaced it with Elasticsearch, which offers much faster and more relevant search results.
Why it’s obsolete: Magento MySQL Search wasn’t designed to handle large-scale eCommerce search needs, and Elasticsearch became the industry standard for search functionality.
Magento Payment Bridge
Magento Payment Bridge was an older tool that acted as a secure gateway for processing payments on Magento stores. It was PCI-compliant and allowed businesses to manage transactions securely. However, it became redundant as modern payment gateways (like Stripe and PayPal) evolved and integrated directly with Magento.
Why it’s obsolete: Third-party payment gateways became more advanced and easier to use, eliminating the need for a separate tool like Payment Bridge.
Magento Rewards Points (Legacy System)
Magento’s early versions included a built-in rewards points system for customer loyalty. Merchants could let customers earn points for purchases or other actions, which could then be redeemed for discounts. This system was discontinued in favour of third-party extensions and integrations that offered more robust loyalty program features.
Why it’s obsolete: The legacy rewards points system lacked flexibility, and third-party solutions provided better customization and scalability.
Magento SOAP API (Replaced by REST)
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) was the original API framework used in Magento for integrations with other platforms. Over time, Magento introduced a REST (Representational State Transfer) API, which was faster, more lightweight, and better suited to modern web development.
Why it’s obsolete: SOAP is slower and more cumbersome compared to REST, which has become the preferred method for integrations.
Magento Module Creator
This was an old tool that helped developers quickly generate basic modules for Magento 1. While it was useful at the time, it became obsolete with Magento 2, which introduced a more modern and streamlined approach to module development.
Why it’s obsolete: Magento 2’s architecture and development tools made the Module Creator unnecessary, as the new system is more flexible and developer-friendly.
Why Knowing Obsolete Terms is Useful
Even though these terms are no longer part of Magento’s ecosystem, understanding them can be helpful:
- Historical Context: If you’re reading older documentation or forum posts, you might come across these terms and wonder what they mean.
- Migration Projects: Businesses migrating from Magento 1 to Magento 2 (or to another platform) might still have references to tools like Magento Connect or MySQL Search in their systems.
- Client Discussions: If you’re a developer or consultant working with clients, they may mention outdated tools like Magento Go or Payment Bridge, and it’s good to know what they’re referring to.
As Magento continues to change, new features replace older ones, ensuring the platform stays competitive and meets modern eCommerce needs. If you’re using Magento today, you can be confident that it’s built with the future in mind—but knowing its past can help you make the most of its present.
Let me know if you need additional edits or refinements!
Final Thoughts
Learning Magento takes time, but understanding our Magento glossary of key terms is a great start. As you get more comfortable with the platform, you’ll pick up even more of its quirks and capabilities. If you’re feeling stuck or need extra help, don’t hesitate to reach out to experts, browse forums, or dive into the Magento Community.
Remember, the goal isn’t just to know Magento—it’s to use it effectively to grow your business. Good luck building your store!
Need Help? If you have questions about Magento or want professional assistance with your eCommerce store, get in touch. We’re here to help!
A selection of our older posts, written by various members of the team between 2015 to 2021.
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