Wondering whether you should upgrade Magento to 2.3.x? If not upgrade - will the store stop working? Will it be working as it always has? If Yes - how to upgrade it to the newest version? Read the post to find out answers to these and many other migration-related questions
In the fast-changing era of web technologies, Magento is evolving as well. Thus, with the release of new versions, the older ones become the end of life. If you’re on version 1.x, which will reach its end-of-life in June 2020, now is a perfect time to upgrade and move to the latest and greatest version 2.3.x of Magento.
It is important to realize that even if your website seems to be working exactly the same way it always has, you should be planning an upgrade to version 2.3.x due to the following reasons:
Considering the features mentioned above, we highly recommend you to upgrade Magento to 2.3.x version. The upgrade to Magento 2.3.x process can be tricky and time-consuming. Although, the benefits of getting to the newer version are completely worth the cost of the upgrade.
Not sure where to start? Keep reading the post and discover 3 possible scenarios to get around the problem.
Once you’ve made the right choice to upgrade to Magento to 2.3.x and benefit from its great features and improvements - there’s one more challenge to step over. Migration across releases (if performed manually) is quite a daunting task that requires a certain level of programming experience. There are undoubtedly lots of highly-experienced developers and experts who will gladly give you a hand, though it can cost you a pretty penny. As an alternative, you can use automated migration services (like Cart2Cart) that have been specifically developed to make the upgrade process across clean and error-free. Notably, an automated migration is much easier than manual, cheaper than hiring a programmer, and less frustrating in general. Interested yet? Scroll down to find a step-by-step instruction.
Before initiating the upgrade to Magento 2.3.x process we urge you to:
Note: Since the differences between the various versions of Magento are so large and substantial, it is rather a migration, not just an upgrade. The store entities will be transferred from one store to another, therefore, the process can be called “Migration Magento to Magento”.
With that being said, now comes the real part of the migration. To initiate the process of upgrade, specify Magento as your Source & Target cart. There is no need to provide both store versions - the Migration Wizard will define them automatically. Once done, insert the stores’ URLs in the appropriate fields and download the Connection Bridge. This file will establish a connection between the two stores.
If you want to see the process of bridge installation in progress, watch our video tutorial:
Now you can proceed with specifying the store entities you wish to upgrade to Magento 2.3.x. The following data can be transferred from 1.x Magento version to the latest 2.3.x one:
Also, you can benefit from additional migration options to broaden the functionality of data import. To be more specific, you can “Create 301 redirects to your Target Store” to make the old links working and to minimize SEO impact after the switch. “Preserve order/customer IDs on Target store” option will allow saving the Source store order/customer IDs on the Target store after migration. With the help of the “Migrate customers’ passwords” options, you’ll make it possible for your customers to log in to your new Magento store using their current store credentials.
Note: With Cart2Cart you pay only for those items you actually move, and the price of the upgrade to Magento 2.3.x update depends only on the number of entities to be imported.
What’s more, during this step of the migration wizard, you can map order statuses and customer groups. Select the necessary descriptions and all the data will be transferred respectively.
Now when you have everything ready for the Magento to Magento migration, you can test the service in action by running Demo migration (it’s totally free). Performing Demo Migration, you’ll get the results within half an hour.
Full Migration usually takes from a couple of hours to be finished (though it depends on the number of entities). After you press the Start Full Migration button, it is safe to close the browser window and come back to managing your business.
Once all your current Magento 1.x store data is successfully transferred to new Magento 2.3.x (you’ll get an email notification), we recommend performing some steps to finalize the upgrade process and make new 2.3.x Magento ready to go.
A Few Final Words
To sum up, upgrade to Magento 2.3.x is not always an easy task, but with the proper planning and right tools, you’ll be able to do it on time, on budget and with satisfied customers. Don't wait any longer, perform Demo migration today and grow your business in the future!
Note if you wish to switch Magento to some other platform, take a look at our post 6 Powerful Magento 1.x Alternatives That Are Worth Checking Out