On the 28th July 2020 Adobe released Magento v2.4.0 for both Magento 2 Open Source and Magento 2 Commerce versions. They also released a security upgrade for the previous release v2.3.5. This security upgrade is Magento v2.3.5-p2. In order to stay PCI compliant, Magento 2 merchants must upgrade their stores to at least Magento v2.3.5-p2.
So what’s in the new release? In this article we dive in and check out some of the new features.
What’s new in Magento v2.4.0?
Magento Open Source v2.4.0 comes with a host of new features and updates. We’ve highlighted some of these below:
Two factor authentication
Now comes out of the box for all admin user accounts. You can select from a list of service providers. Here at Foundation Commerce we are advising all of our clients to use the Google Authenticator service.
PHP v7.4 Support
PHP v7.4 is now supported with the v2.4 release and PHP v7.1 and v7.2 have now been deprecated. This means that you may need to upgrade the version of PHP on your web server before deploying this upgrade.
Elasticsearch Now Required
Probably one of the more controversial updates in v2.4.0 is that Elasticsearch is now compulsory for all instances of Magento 2 with the previous native MySQL engine now deprecated and removed. This will cause headaches for merchants running Magento 2 on shared hosting plans as this may force you to move as ES is not available. In our opinion this change proves even more that Adobe are starting to aim the Magento 2 platform at bigger merchants and aren’t interested in the SMB market. We’ll be writing an article soon on Elasticsearch, what it is and why you need it, so stay tuned.
Braintree Extension Removed From The Core
The Braintree payment method integration has now been removed from the core. If you are currently using this integration then you would need to install the official Magento 2 Braintree extension in order to continue using this service.
Login As A Customer
Adobe have now included the MageFan login as customer extension in the core platform. This enables a Magento admin to login as a customer without having to access their account password. When logged in as a customer, a Magento admin can browse the frontend of the website and place orders on behalf of the customer.
Adobe Stock Integration v2
The second release of the Adobe stock integration is now available. v1 was included in a previous version and this release improves the functionality of this extension allowing merchants to easily find stock images to include in their site content so long as they are subscribed to the paid service.
New Admin Media Gallery
This release includes major improvements to the media gallery in the Magento admin area. Any extensions that have customised this feature will more than likely need to be redeveloped to work with the latest version of this module.
Click & Collect Shipping Methods
An in store pick up shipping method has now been included as part of the core inventory management extension. This will allow merchants to offer click and collect through their Magento 2 websites.
Removal Of The Setup Wizard
The Magento 2 setup wizard has now been removed from the admin area. This means that extensions can no longer be installed or updated from inside the admin area. At Foundation Commerce we have never used this feature. However, we have come across merchants who have relied on this in the past. It’s another indicator that Magento 2 is no longer being aimed at the SMB market by Adobe.
Are you ready to upgrade?
With new Magento 2 releases coming thick and fast every quarter it’s super important that if you’re a Magento 2 merchant you have some kind of upgrade strategy in place. Magento 2 upgrades should not be painful, so long as the platform has been developed in the right way and your extensions are kept up to date.
Here at Foundation Commerce out team of certified Magento 2 developers have reliable and successful upgrade plans in place with all of our clients. Please reach out today if you’d like to discuss how our team can work with you to put a Magento 2 upgrade strategy in place. You can get in touch by using the form in the footer of this page. Our team has a vast amount of experience upgrading Magento 2 platforms and we can help you should you need us.