Prestashop: Optimise Admin Performance

If the Prestashop back end is sluggish, here's something that can make a lot of difference

Prestashop is great. Prestashop is brilliant. I’d thoroughly recommend anyone contemplating an eCommerce venture to consider basing it on Prestashop.

Having said that, like all software it has bits that could be better: foibles, quirks, call them what you will. A little tweaking here and there can help keep the Prestashop experience in the realms of the stellar and superlative

Two tips follow.

Disable this module: Merchant Expertise

This is a so-called gamification module that is supposed to make your online retailing experience fun. As you pass certain “goals” you are rewarded with promotion to the next level. The module assesses your expertise based on criteria such as how many payment options you offer your customers. The idea is to lead you gradually until you have all the functionality someone has decreed as desirable in today’s online world.

The problem is that it relies on external feeds and seems prone to take ages. Sometimes if things aren’t working well, for ages read minutes, literally. As it’s a part of the Dashboard area, minutes is not acceptable.

I have disabled Merchant Experience on all Prestashop sites for which I am responsible. And I can’t say that anyone has not been glad to see the back of it!

Change the Default Page when Logging in

Might sound a bit esoteric. Simply put:

  • The dashboard module brings a lot of data from the site and various external Prestashop feeds together
  • If an external feed is slow or fails, the dashboard does not cope well
  • The dashboard is heavy on resources and may overload your shared server

If any of the above happens, you may find yourself unable to log in!

Prevention

When you’re logged in, go to Administration / Employees. Click on the employee you want to change. There is a setting: Default Page. Change this to something else. I usually select “Orders”. Click Save and that’s it. Next time you log in, you’ll land on the orders page. Should you wish to see the Dashboard, that’s just one click away.

Cure

Can’t log in to the admin? Taking forever or worse, you’re getting the white screen of death?

Try this: https://www.yourdomain.com/youradmin/index.php**?controller=AdminOrders**

That should get you logged in and into the less demanding orders section of your website, from which you’ll be able to get on with things pending a fix for your woes.

Take Care™