What awaits us in the new Prestashop version 1.7

As you know, Prestashop is rekindled the launch a completely new version. Today, we will not discuss whether or not to use the new version while using good old version. That depends on the requirements of each store owner. Today we will analyze what awaits us in the new version 1.7. 

Theme changes:

-  The changes to the theme system may be break something that existed in v1.6 : If it is not suitable with new version, it will be removed however Ps also do not want to sacrifice good software design in favor of backward compatibility.

-  Starter Theme: It could be seen as new feature-complete but has no styling and thus nothing to take away. It should be perfect for a designer, turning the starter theme into a real theme will be very easy and faster than before.

-  Using bootstrap or Not: It is depended on your needs, Prestashop released that ecosystem is used to relying on the bootstrap framework for both its themes and module and they do not want to break this expectation with new version PS 1.7. Themes and front office modules from Addon marketplace should work well together out of the box. 

- All Prestashop Theme in v1.6 need to be written with the new v1.7

Module changes:

-  The impact of Symfony for modules contributors: Symfony 2 is chosen is because it is considered as the best method with regard to project popularity and code quality. However, PrestaShop 1.7 will not use 100% Symfony. In reality only a small part of the back office will use Symfony, mainly two parts consisting of Product page and the Modules page. Meanwhile, the rest will be the same.

-  V1.6 module still work with Prestashop 1.7: modules are built in v1.6 will mostly still work with v1.7. Code may rework depend on the module in order to look good. You can think of this side effect in the same way as if we only refactored the Product page to a new design/CSS in a regular major version: the modules’ JavaScript and CSS code would have to be adapted in the same way.

-  Ps 1.7 remove deprecated code, hook_alias and so on. 

-  PrestaShop 1.7 introduces the use of namespaces with its new architecture, and in short, anything that has namespaces cannot be overridden. The legacy architecture can still be overridden, though. But in general, we advise against overriding code. It is better to extend it. Also, overrides are currently forbidden in the Symfony-based pages (namely, the Product page and the Modules page).

In conclusion

With many new features in the new version update, PS17 will bring more experience to the user. But with these older versions to upgrade to the latest version, it will not be easy. Together let us wait for the most stable of the great things in PS1.7.