PrestaShop Beta

PrestaShop 8.0 is released in beta version, allowing us to examine its features. The first thing to notice is the numbering as we move from 1.7.8.X to 8.0. Being a beta version, it is not suitable for production e-commerce, but it introduces many new features including finally support for PHP 8.0 and the update of Symfony to version 4.4. Here for the official announcement.

Remember this is a BETA pre-release, and it is highly likely that serious issues may occur. So do not use it for your online store.

Finally, support for WebP images.

WebP support in PrestaShop 8.0

One of the most appreciated new features for us is that PrestaShop will finally natively support the WebP format, which was released by Google in 2010, that is, 12 years ago. For those of us at Tecnoacquisti.com who focus heavily on performance and compliance with Web Vitals metrics, this was a very important update. Since Safari version 14 finally included support for this image format, there are no more excuses for not using it on our e-commerce sites. In previous versions of PrestaShop, to use this format, it was necessary to use third-party modules that often had issues when used on our Nginx server in reverse proxy. Alternatively, we could use a CDN like bunny.net, which incurs an unjustified cost if we are not interested in the global market towards Canada, the USA, or Asia.

Publish images in more recent formats.

Publish images in more recent formats.

Using the WebP format allows us, especially in mobile contexts, to reduce download sizes and therefore loading times. You will also receive a better score in PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse (find out how to measure your site's performance). Thus, eliminating that warning "Serve images in next-gen formats".

Independence and Open Source Project

PrestaShop 8.0 is the first version independent from the company PrestaShop SA, therefore it does not include commercial products and services. So it no longer includes PrestaShop Addons, which is now an independent module that can be installed if you are interested in having a connection with the Marketplace. The native modules (built-in modules) are now distributed by a dedicated infrastructure and can therefore be installed and updated directly from Module Management.

Correction of 130 bugs and changes in version 8.0.

Version 8.0 fixes more than 130 bugs from previous versions, including:

Other interesting news is the presence of new security settings, which allow us to specify the minimum password requirements for customers and employees, and now for both it is possible to see open sessions and disconnect them remotely if necessary.

Several new modules have also been included, and during the installation phase, it is now possible to decide which plug-ins to install and which not.

Download PrestaShop 8.0 beta

You can download PrestaShop 8.0 from here:

Author: Loris Modena

SENIOR DEVELOPER

Per Ind Loris Modena, owner of Arte e Informatica, started working in the IT sector in 1989 as a system administrator responsible for the maintenance and installation of computer systems. He began programming for the web in 1997, focusing on CGI programming in PERL and later transitioning to programming in PHP and JavaScript. During this time, he became familiar with the Open Source world and the management of Linux servers.

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