Frequently asked questions

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• What is a web developer?
• A person that creates, customizes, improves, migrates and/or maintains the website.

• What is a web designer?
• A person that creates the graphic structure, like the layout and the design of the website. Makes a blueprint where it lets the developer know what types of fonts, colors, spacings, sections, structures need to be built for the website.

• What is a web design?
• It is the design of the website that can be viewed by the user. It is the visual aspect, and it is usually based on a web graphic design or/and user interface design made by a web designer and implemented by a web developer.

• What is a responsive web design?
• A website or web page that will look good on all devices, like phone | tablet | desktop | tv. It allows the content to be flexible and comprehensive on different screen sizes. Some online businesses choose to build their mobile design separately from the desktop one, in order to have better speed and performance.

• What is an extension?
• A small software module/program, that is built for specific platforms using programming languages. For e.g. when you are on your browser, like Chrome and need a screenshot of your page, you can go to your Chrome Web Store and check for an extension that will provide that service.

• What is a theme?
• A preset package that contains graphical appearance (fonts, colors, backgrounds, structure layout changes) and functionality details (e.g. adding extra buttons on a section like Edit/Remove Item).

• What is API?
• Application Programming Interface. A type of software that helps connect platforms securely through the internet in order to exchange data.

• What is HTML?
• HyperText Markup Language. It allows the developer to create the structure for your content. Think of it as writing an essay, where you need to have a headline, a main body with different sections, and a closing section. HTML contains different markup tags to define these elements and many more, and make them readable both for the computer and for the user.

• What is CSS?
• Cascading Style Sheets. It allows the developer to further improve the look of the web page, as the HTML offers limited options for that. You can 'beautify' the content with colors, backgrounds, images, different styles for text, etc. It gives the visual appeal and uniqueness that you need to promote your brand.

• What is JS?
• JavaScript. This helps make your content interactive for your users, but also adds functionality to your pages. It makes the pages dynamic.

• What is PHP?
• Hypertext Preprocessor. A very popular programming language, open-source and easy to use. It is a programming language used on popular platforms like Facebook, Wikipedia, Tumblr, Slack, etc.

• What is ERP software?
• A software type, short for Enterprise resource planning. It is used in organizations on a daily basis, for services like: project management, supply chain operations, accounting, etc.

• What is ERP integration?
• It is used to connect and synchronize ERP software with other applications and data sources.

• What is SEO?
• Search Engine Optimization. It is the process through which you can improve the performance | quality | quantity of your website and your traffic (visiting users) from search engines.

• What is B2B/BTB?
• Business-to-business. It is when one business makes a commercial transaction with another. You will usually find the term Partners used for retailers, wholesalers, etc. An example in Magento can be trading the products to another company from a different region, in order to sell to customers and to further make the brand visible.

• What is B2C/BTC?
• Business-to-consumer. It is a business model for selling products directly to customers. E.g. any shopping website where you can buy your products directly.

• What is Site Speed?
• The load time of your website or web page. The faster it loads, the better: between 2 and 3 seconds; otherwise, on slow loading, users tend to leave the page, especially if they are new ones.

• What is a web hosting service?
• An online service where you can keep your platform and make it visible online - on the World Wide Web. Depending on the hosting, they usually provide administration and security for your site.

• What do you mean by platform?
• A collection of technologies, open-source, free to use, that help you build the website, like: Laravel, Adobe Commerce, Shopware, etc.

• What is a domain name?
• A string that helps identify your brand across the internet.
  For e.g. https://your_brand_name.domain.extension: https://newbie.ro
  In this case, your domain name is: your_brand_name -> newbie.

• What is a domain extension?
• The extension helps the user understand the type of business you have and the language or country that is providing the service.
  Some of the most common extensions are:
  .com (most popular),
  .net (for network and technology),
  .org (for non-governmental organizations, nonprofits and online communities),
  .us (for the United States),
  .edu (for educational institutions),
  .gov (for governmental institutions), etc.

• What is the difference between HTTP and HTTPS?
• Both are Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The difference is that HTTPS is HTTP with encryption and verification, resulting in a more secure environment.

• What do you mean by "localhost"?
• Developers will first work on their local computer (install the project, add the content, develop the pages, etc.).

• What do you mean by "dev" or "development website"?
• Developers will add their changes to a secured online website, that is restricted to outside viewers. Here, the owner of the website can check and approve the work done on the environment and establish the next steps.

• What do you mean by "live"?
• The site is visible to anyone with access to the internet and have the means to reach out OR have a web link to your website.

• What do you mean by "launch live"?
• When the owner approves all the changes made on dev to finally become visible to the users of the World Wide Web.

• What do you mean by "migration"?
• It refers to the websites' data migration either from one platform to another (e.g. Wordpress to Magento), or from the same platform to an updated version (Magento 1 to Magento 2). The process can be viewed as a "data transfer" of: database (customers, prices, content information), themes, extensions, etc.

$general

• Who is Mage Check?
• We are a small business, founded in 2017, from Romania. We develop and design for different platforms based on the PHP language, like Laravel, but mostly we focus on the e-commerce ones - in Magento/Adobe Commerce.

• What platforms do you work with?
• Magento/Adobe Commerce 1 & 2, Laravel, Shopware.
  Magento 1: Working with Magento 1 for the past 7 years has been one of the best development experiences we managed to gain. It takes you through a complex platform using plenty of frameworks you need to adjust to, but modularity makes it easy.
  Magento 2: The level of complexity has been increased by a lot, but at the same time, this platform comes with a lot of benefits due to the increasing number of people willing to choose this instead of any alternative. It is worth mentioning theme Hyvä as well. They have built the best alternative to PWA we've seen.
  Laravel: has been the best choice for us when it comes to Presentation Websites and Scalable Applications. The code is very light and flexible. We have managed to build internal apps for factories and simple presentation websites for smaller businesses.
  Shopware: A softer alternative to Magento 2, this e-commerce has an easy-to-use platform and documentation. The advantages are that an experienced programmer can get the certification in only 1 day. This gains reputation both for the clients interested in this platform and for Shopware itself.

• What programming languages do you use?
• PHP, API, HTML, CSS, JS.

• Have you created custom themes?
• Yes. In Laravel an example is Mage Check itself. In Magento 1 & 2 we had to build different themes based on the seasons and promotions, e.g: Christmas | Easter | Spring Sales, Black Friday, etc.

• Have you created a design?
• Yes, we have designs made by our collaborating web designers and also one made by us/developers (Mage Check website).

• Have you created custom extensions?
• Yes, several and for different platforms, based on client requests and needs. E.g. on Magento: custom banners, tier prices calculation, index optimization, migration through API, etc.

• Have you installed bought themes?
• Yes. In Magento, we have installed themes like Ultimo, Hyvä.

• Have you installed bought extensions?
• Yes. In Magento, we have installed different extensions from Amasty, Magento Marketplace, Mageplaza, Aheadworks, Mirasvit and many others.

• Have you customized themes?
• Yes, as per clients' requests.

• Have you customized extensions?
• Yes, as per clients' requests.

• Can we have an e-commerce platform in Laravel?
• Yes, but we recommend Magento for this, as it already has everything built-in and only needs your data (content, design, etc.). In Laravel we need to develop the functionality to integrate some features like: products, cart, checkout that Magento already has. You need to take into account costs, size of the project (e.g. small selling business with 2-3 items to offer; OR big platform with over 50 products), type of business (present your new brand OR sell), how many customizations and features you want, etc. For more information, please contact us.

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• Are you hiring?
• At the moment, no.