Generative AI in 2026: Trends, Opportunities, and Business Impact

Rupak Nepali
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0
Generative AI in 2026: Trends, Opportunities, and Business Impact

Generative AI is no longer a novelty; it is becoming as essential as cloud computing or the internet itself. In 2026, businesses are not asking “Should we use AI?” But instead, how deeply can we integrate it? From content creation to product design, generative AI is reshaping workflows, decision-making, and customer experiences at scale. 

What Is Generative AI?

Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence capable of generating new content, such as text, images, audio, video, and data, instead of just analyzing or classifying existing information. Generative AI often relies on large language models. These models are trained on massive datasets to understand the underlying structure and patterns of information.

ChatGPT, Claude, Midjourney, DALL-E, and GitHub Copilot are examples of generative AI.

Key Trends Defining Generative AI in 2026

Do you know 71% of companies have already integrated generative AI into at least one of their business functions? Generative AI trends in 2026 will be sharper, more aware of its context, more independent, and more accountable. It is set to reshape how businesses get things done, make decisions, and serve their customers.

Multimodel AI

Imagine you need to run a campaign but do not have the skills to design posts, images, or audio. This is where multimodal AI comes into play. It helps to design all in a single workflow.

Results:

  • The marketing team generates full campaigns in minutes, like videos, visuals, or voiceovers
  • Product teams prototype experiences using AI-generated simulations.

AI Agents 

Imagine you are planning a trip; you need a comprehensive trip chart that includes the budget, accommodations, places to visit, and eateries. As a human, you need to go through analyzing vast datasets. But to eliminate this span of time, you jump to Autonomous AI agents that can plan, execute, and refine tasks with minimal human input.

Examples:

  • AI handling customer support end-to-end 
  • AI is managing supply chain adjustments in real-time.

Hyper-Personalization at Scale

When you visit a website, there’s a pop-up chatbox, just like an assistant, that assists with your queries 24/7/365. It helps with navigation, provides a brief overview of the services they actually provide, and helps solve queries. This is where AI helps in individual personalization.

Application: 

  • Personalized education content
  • Dynamic e-commerce storefronts
  • Tailored healthcare insights

Enterprise Grade AI Adoption 

Enterprise-grade AI adoption is the strategic, secure, and large-scale integration of AI technologies across an organization’s operations, moving beyond isolated pilots to production environments.

Why it matters:

  • Better accuracy 
  • Stronger data security 
  • Competitive differentiation

Regulation and Responsible AI

Governments and organizations are implementing stricter AI governance frameworks.

Focus areas:

  • Transparency
  • Bias reduction 
  • Data privacy 

Opportunities Across Industries 

Generative AI is no longer optional. Instead, it plays a crucial role in industries by helping staff to reduce workloads and providing instant support to users. Here’s a list of industries that have already integrated AI into their systems and workflows.

Healthcare 

AI in healthcare is reshaping workflow operations, enabling doctors to generate diagnostic and treatment plans. It also helps to speed drug discovery through simulation.

Retail & E-Commerce

With an AI function system, users can try clothes virtually, such as with Lenskart, which lets them try lenses before purchasing suitable specs. 

Education

Students or learners can use platforms with AI integration to study complex issues more easily. 

Media & Entertainment 

AI helps with scriptwriting, video production, and AI-powered game design. Interactive storytelling experiences.

How Generative AI Impacts Business

Here’s a list of the impact of generative AI on businesses. 

Productivity Explosion

Teams are achieving 5–10x output with the same resources.

Result: Smaller teams, bigger impact

Redefinition of Rules

Routine tasks are automated, while human roles shift toward:

  • Strategy
  • Creativity
  • Oversight

Faster Innovation of Cycles

Ideas move from concept to execution in days instead of months.

Cost Efficiency Meets Creativity

AI reduces operational costs while unlocking new creative possibilities.

Challenges To Watch

So, what challenges might businesses face when integrating AI systems into their workflows? Let’s grab it!

  • Data security risks
  • Model hallucinations
  • Ethical concerns
  • Skill Gaps in the Workforce 

Businesses that ignore these risks may face reputational and operational setbacks.

How Businesses Can Prepare

Businesses can start by investing in AI literacy, start small and scale fast, build responsible AI frameworks, and integrate, rather than isolate.

Final Thoughts

Generative AI in 2026 is becoming essential for modern businesses. Key generative AI trends 2026 show rapid growth in automation, personalization, and innovation. The future of generative AI in business lies in transforming workflows and decision-making, with strong generative AI use cases in 2026 across industries.

As AI content generation trends 2026 evolve, companies are creating faster, smarter content. Overall, the ways generative AI is changing industries highlight major efficiency gains, new opportunities for startups, and significant benefits for enterprises.

How AI Is Changing Legacy Application Modernization Forever

Rupak Nepali
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How AI Is Changing Legacy Application Modernization Forever

Think of a question that the vast majority of technology vendors will never ask you. Imagine that it was not about your budget, your team, or your desire to change, that your last modernization effort failed, or that you have never attempted to modernize the company at all? What about the fact that the process itself was ultimately flawed, and no money or planning could have helped to correct it by the old rules?

That is not a supposition. The legacy modernization of decades worked on a flawed model that had a structural weakness in the middle of it. It required flawless knowledge of imperfectly understood systems, by their nature. Undocumented code. Forgotten integrations. Rules in business that were only in the minds of the employees who had long since passed. Each project began with an information gap that became more costly to fill the further the teams went.

AI failed to enhance that model. It replaced it. And the business owners and decision-makers’ implications in 2026 are so great that they should be the reason to rethink the scope of what legacy system modernization services may potentially provide.

Compounding Cost of Delay.

The modernization market of the world had reached 29 billion in 2026. Analysts estimate that it will surpass 66 billion by 2031. The figures are indicative of organizations in all fields coming to the same conclusion that the annual cost of supporting legacy systems has forever exceeded the cost of substitution.

The definite pressures are properly documented. Sixty to 80 percent of IT budgets are consumed by maintenance. Eighty-seven percent of organizations have software with exploitable vulnerabilities. An ageing workforce of legacy-skilled developers who are retiring at a rate of 10 percent a year. The regulatory frameworks GDPR, HIPAA, the EU AI Act, and others, which place requirements that aging architectures lack the capacity to handle.

The least written about is the compounding nature of these costs. Each quarter of deferred modernization does not simply add to the total. It compounds it – the more technical debt a company has, the greater its vulnerability to security, and the more costly the remaining talent pool can be.

What AI Replaced – and Why It Matters.

Legacy modernisation refers to the process of upgrading old software to modern performance, security, scalability, and integration requirements. The strategies offered, such as cloud migration, refactoring, rebuilding, and API enablement, are established.

The approach has changed in the methodology of AI. There are three changes that are imminent.

Exposure was all-inclusive and quick. Smart-based tools of analysis can now generate entire inventories of systems, all applications, dependencies, data flows, and uncharted relationships, within weeks. A commercial laundry services company that operates in twelve locations was tested by artificial intelligence discovery and discovered that their route optimization system was taking scheduling information supplied by an abandoned HR platform via an integration that was turned off two years prior. The association was causing imaginary scheduling conflicts that had been attributed to operator error for a year and a half.

Translation was made computerized and testable. Production-scale Generative AI translates legacy code into modern programming languages and has been shown to reduce the timeline by 40 to 50 percent. More to the point, the output can be tested as soon as it is produced, removing the long periods of manual review that traditionally took months before.

Validation became exhaustive. AI testing tools are able to generate thousands of test scenarios automatically – with edge cases that human teams can hardly envision. In testing with AI, a regional credit union found out that their loan processing system had been charging an expired interest rate to loans opened prior to a change in their policies in 2018. This misalignment impacted about 340 accounts and was not detected in three years of manual audits.

A Six-Step Framework of Trustworthy Implementation.

Step 1 — Comprehensive discovery

Identify your entire technology environment with AI analysis tools. Add departmentalized discussions. During the discovery, an independent pharmacy chain realized that its prescription management system was exchanging patient information with an inventory system via a file-transfer operation that a former pharmacy technician had set up five years prior. The relationship breached their data handling procedures. By discovering it prior to migration, they were able to remedy a compliance exposure of which they were unaware.

Step 2 — Quantification of total costs.

Assemble a total financial image that encompasses emergency assistance, expert work, workaround, lost earning prospects, and capacity lapses. This exercise was completed by a family-owned moving and storage company that found that their legacy environment was costing them $9,100 per month to support it – almost the same amount they would have spent on monthly modernization. Their general manager summed up the discovery in a simple statement: “We are spending the same amount of money. One choice would leave things broken. The other choice would fix stuff.

Step 3 — Strategic triage

Classify all applications based on business impact, risk profile, and existing functionality. Contemporaryize what is actively hurting operations. Maintain constant systems. Retire dormant software. A chain of independent bookstores abandoned one of their legacy event management tools and an unused customer loyalty platform, and reclaimed $22,000/year in licensing fees, which were redirected immediately to updating their point-of-sale system.

Step 4 — First execution.

Start with the system that yields the most easily noticeable improvement when fixed. One of the specialty chemical distributors chose their order fulfillment platform – the root of their recurring shipping delays that had already led to official complaints by three of their top ten accounts. Eight-week AI-guided migration provided an automated warehouse allocation cloud-based replacement. The accuracy of shipping increased by 79 percent to 97 percent. Two out of the three complaining accounts had augmented their quarterly order volumes in sixty days.

Step 5 – Parallel operation and validation.

Concurrently run legacy and modernized systems until full AI testing is done to ensure behavioral equivalence in all scenarios. During the process of migrating to a new platform, a medium-sized event management company managed three weeks of parallel registration. More than 1,400 event registrations were made on both systems, with not a single discrepancy of data. The information about the transition was communicated to staff via an internal newsletter -the workflow was not interrupted.

Step 6 — Operational continuity

Implement monitoring, quarter reviews, and documentation maintenance as standard operating procedures. The difference between the organizations that maintain the benefits of modernization over the long-term and those that reestablish the previous legacy conditions over time is not technological. It is disciplinary. Regular practice yields regular results. The second crisis of modernization is caused by neglect.

Tangible Outcomes

Organizations completing AI-powered modernization report recurring system failures eliminated, processing capacity scaled to two to three times previous levels, customer-facing performance improved by 60 to 80 percent, infrastructure costs reduced by 35 to 45 percent, and development timelines compressed from quarterly cycles to weekly releases.

Addressing Practical Concerns

Cost. Phased modernization connects each investment to demonstrated returns. Positive ROI arrives within twelve to eighteen months for most organizations — roughly half the timeline of traditional full-scale rewrites.

Downtime. Parallel operation guarantees continuous business function. No system transition occurs without independent validation. Rollback is available at every stage.

Risk. AI-powered discovery and testing reduce unknowns systematically. In 2026, the measurable risk of modernization is substantially lower than the compounding risk of operating on aging, unpatched, and increasingly unsupportable systems.

How Sparkout Tech Enables This Transformation

Sparkout Tech executes legacy modernization using the framework outlined above — AI-powered discovery, business-driven prioritization, phased parallel execution, and ongoing operational stewardship.

Their legacy application modernization services are designed to deliver verified results on an initial system before any broader commitment. For organizations approaching modernization with justified caution, this model provides a structured, evidence-based entry point that minimizes exposure while maximizing early returns.

Begin With Clarity

Sparkout Tech offers a complimentary system assessment — a professional evaluation of your technology environment, risk profile, and modernization opportunities. No obligations. No lengthy proposals. A clear foundation for informed decision-making.

AI permanently changed what legacy modernization can deliver. The timelines contracted. The costs decreased. The risks became manageable. What did not change is the cost of inaction — and in 2026, that cost is accelerating faster than at any point in the last decade.

Organizations that act now build foundations for the future. Organizations that wait inherit the consequences. The distinction between the two begins with a single decision.

Latest AI Trends Shaping the Future of Business and Technology

Rupak Nepali
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Latest AI Trends Shaping the Future of Business and Technology

Imagine a robot handles all your daily tasks, from automating repetitive tasks to alerting you about any malpractices. Sounds right…!? The good news is that artificial intelligence is here to help you with all your administrative tasks, predictive analytics, content generation and marketing, handling customer service, and more. 

AI trends help reduce operational costs by about 40% and allow businesses to focus more on productive work rather than worrying about repetitive tasks. Are you looking for the current AI trends for 2026, or for AI ideas that rule business and technology? Do not worry, you have landed on the right page. In this article, we have outlined how the latest artificial intelligence trends are shaping the business and technology landscape!

Let’s delve!

Quick note:

  • Among 8/10 companies, at least one has already adopted AI in at least one business function. This shows the growing dominance of AI trends.
  • AI supports business operations in several tasks, like predictive analytics, enhanced customer experience, and process automation.
  • Agentic AI, Multi-Modal AI, AI-native software development, etc., are reshaping the future of businesses.
  • Operational efficiency, data-driven decision-making, and improved supply chain and logistics are among the impacts on businesses.
  • Autonomous AI agents, hyper-personalization, and Explainable AI are the latest AI trends that will rule the business and technology in the coming few years.

Why AI Matters In Modern Businesses

Did you know the global AI market is poised for a significant shift and is projected to reach $2 trillion by the end of 2026? This enables AI in modern businesses, including operational efficiency, enhanced decision-making, cost savings, and improved customer experience. So, AI is not just a tool you ignore; it’s more like a smart assistant that handles everyday tasks at minimal cost. 

AI automation in business streamlines operations by implementing tools like ChatGPT to automate tasks such as customer service, data entry, and lead generation.

Now you must be thinking about how to implement AI in an existing business or a startup. Here we created a step-by-step guide, explore!

  • Identify Problem

Before implementation, understand the business requirements: how AI will support your business, what problems it solves, and how it will enhance business workflows. 

  • Focus on sales first

Start by identifying the clients and target audience, and define the offering before mastering all technical aspects. 

  • Learn key tools

Don’t just rely on AI; learn the tools and techniques for using it in business.

  • Leverage AI Agents

Implement AI tools for specific, high-value tasks, such as voice agents for qualifying incoming phone leads.

  • Build & Iterate
  • Start with simple, high-impact automations that yield immediate ROI.

Top AI Trends Shaping Business & Technology

Let us delve into the AI trends driving the current market.

Agentic AI & Autonomous Systems

Businesses spend a lot of time and money on repetitive tasks and upfront investments, which can also be handled by agentic AI, such as chatbots, that support customer queries instantly and make data-driven decisions in minimal time. This approach will help businesses move with lower spending costs. 

Multimodal AI Integration

Multimodal AI is a type of machine learning that processes. It combines multiple data types, such as text, images, audio, video, and sensory input, to better understand context and achieve higher accuracy than unimodal models. 

Cost-Aware AI Engineering

Cost-aware AI engineering is a discipline that treats financial costs such as token usage, API calls, and GPU hours as a first-class engineering and business metric, alongside performance, latency, and accuracy. 

AI+Edge Computing

AI edge computing processes data locally on devices such as IoT sensors, cameras, or smartphones, rather than in a centralized cloud. Analyzing information near the source enables near-instantaneous decision-making and enhances privacy, making it crucial for autonomous vehicles, robotics, and real-time industrial automation.  

Quantum-Adjacent AI Research

Quantum AI combines quantum computing with artificial intelligence to solve complex problems beyond the reach of classical computers, accelerating AI model training and optimizing vast, complex systems in real-time.

How AI Trends Impact Different Sectors & Industries

As AI evolves, modern businesses and industries are adopting it across their workflows. Let’s explore the most impactful use cases of AI in the world’s prominent sectors. 

AI in Healthcare

AI helps the healthcare sector, and clinics diagnose and treat through image analysis, predict molecular interactions, identify potential drug candidates to support drug development, and enable AI-powered wearables to help doctors monitor patients’ health in real time, etc.

This implementation allows healthcare professionals to work more effectively and treat patients in real time through real-time monitoring. 

AI in Transportation

AI technologies are making transportation more autonomous and safer. It helps vehicles move more intelligently, like alerting you to traffic, notifying you to refuel, and integrating GPS for location detection and more. 

AI in Finance

AI is transforming banking and financial institutions by enhancing decision-making and security. AI in finance securely manages records, uses machine learning algorithms to detect unusual patterns and behaviours in real time, and automates claim processing. 

These AI in finance solutions offer a personalized user experience, alert customers to any malfunctions, help them apply for loans and insurance, and provide instant approval, and more.

AI in Manufacturing

Manufacturing needs smart sensors for smooth workflow operations. Now, modern manufacturing industries are integrating AI into their operations, boosting productivity. Smart sensors help manufacturers predict equipment failures in advance, preventing disruptions and providing real-time insights. 

AI in Retail/eCommerce

AI in the ecommerce and retail industry helps to analyze customer behaviour. With visual search, customers can easily find products by image, and it helps retailers track sales and product demand. These artificial intelligence systems just work like smart, advanced personal assistants who keep track of every step of the operation. 

AI in Gaming

Game lovers often like online games with excellent graphics, as well as real-world experience with voice assistants. Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the gaming industry by enhancing player experiences and crafting more interactive environments. This integration allows users to witness more personalized experiences.

So, AI is now an assistant that will hold your business tasks while you can care-free focus on growing needs and success for the organization.

Future of AI in business

Do you know that Statista shows the AI market is valued at $335 billion to $500 billion in 2026 and will grow to $1.68 trillion by 2031? This data shows that AI will be a game-changer in the coming years, boosting industry revenue. So, AI is something we cannot ignore if we want to stay competitive in the market. 

AI is like our well-wisher or best friend, helping your business stay ahead and work beyond. It cares about your systems and software and ensures your data is kept secure. Overall, AI-powered business solutions automate workflows, enhance decision-making, and improve customer experiences.

Conclusion

The latest AI trends show one clear thing: AI is becoming a natural part of how businesses grow and innovate. With fast-moving AI technology innovations, rising generative AI trends, and evolving machine learning trends in 2026, companies are rethinking how they work.

From AI in digital transformation to its growing impact across industries, the change is everywhere. The key is simple: those who adapt to AI today will lead tomorrow.

OpenCart 4: How to Set a Default Shipping Method (So Customers Don’t Have to Choose)

Rupak Nepali
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OpenCart 4: How to Set a Default Shipping Method (So Customers Don’t Have to Choose)

If your OpenCart store offers only one shipping method, forcing customers to select it manually during checkout creates unnecessary friction. Every extra click increases the chance of cart abandonment. In this guide, you’ll learn how to automatically set the default shipping method in OpenCart 4 so your customers can move through checkout faster and more smoothly.

Default Shipping Opencart 4

Why Set a Default Shipping Method?

When there’s only one shipping option available (for example, Flat Rate or Free Shipping), asking users to choose it is redundant. By setting it as the default, you:

  • Improve checkout speed
  • Reduce user confusion
  • Increase conversion rates
  • Create a cleaner checkout experience

How OpenCart 4 Handles Shipping Selection

By default, OpenCart requires customers to:

  1. Enter a shipping address
  2. Click “Get Quotes”
  3. Select a shipping method

Even if there’s only one option, OpenCart still requires manual selection. To change this behavior, we’ll auto-select the available shipping method using a small code override.

OpenCart 4 shipping method functionality to select the cheapest shipping method automatically and inform users about other available options. Here’s what I implemented:

Changes Made:

1. Updated Shipping Method Selection Logic

Locate file catalog/controller/checkout/shipping_method.php, then find the code below:

lass ShippingMethod extends \Opencart\System\Engine\Controller {
	/**
	 * Index
	 *
	 * @return string
	 */
	public function index(): string {
		$this->load->language('checkout/shipping_method');

Below the line above, paste the code below:

// Auto-set default shipping method if none exists and shipping address is available
if (!isset($this->session->data['shipping_method']) && isset($this->session->data['shipping_address'])) {
	// Validate cart has products and has stock.
	if ($this->cart->hasProducts() && ($this->cart->hasStock() || !$this->config->get('config_stock_checkout')) && $this->cart->hasMinimum()) {
		// Validate if customer data is set
		if (isset($this->session->data['customer'])) {
			// Validate if shipping not required. If not the customer should not have reached this page.
			if (!$this->cart->hasShipping() || isset($this->session->data['shipping_address']['address_id'])) {
				// Get shipping methods
				$this->load->model('checkout/shipping_method');
				$shipping_methods = $this->model_checkout_shipping_method->getMethods($this->session->data['shipping_address']);
				
				if ($shipping_methods) {
					$this->session->data['shipping_methods'] = $shipping_methods;
					
					// Auto-select cheapest available shipping method
					$cheapest_method = null;
					$cheapest_cost = null;
					$total_methods = 0;
					
					foreach ($shipping_methods as $shipping_method) {
						if (isset($shipping_method['quote']) && !empty($shipping_method['quote'])) {
							foreach ($shipping_method['quote'] as $quote) {
								$total_methods++;
								$cost = isset($quote['cost']) ? (float)$quote['cost'] : 0;
								
								if ($cheapest_cost === null || $cost < $cheapest_cost) {
									$cheapest_cost = $cost;
									$cheapest_method = $quote;
								}
							}
						}
					}
					
					if ($cheapest_method) {
						$this->session->data['shipping_method'] = $cheapest_method;
						// Store info about multiple methods for display
						$this->session->data['has_multiple_shipping_methods'] = ($total_methods > 1);
					}
				}
			}
		}
	}
}

In the same file, in the quote method public function quote(): void { find the code below:

if ($shipping_methods) {
				$json['shipping_methods'] = $this->session->data['shipping_methods'] = $shipping_methods;

Just below that line, paste these codes:

// Auto-select cheapest available shipping method if none is set
if (!isset($this->session->data['shipping_method'])) {
	$cheapest_method = null;
	$cheapest_cost = null;
	$total_methods = 0;
	
	foreach ($shipping_methods as $shipping_method) {
		if (isset($shipping_method['quote']) && !empty($shipping_method['quote'])) {
			foreach ($shipping_method['quote'] as $quote) {
				$total_methods++;
				$cost = isset($quote['cost']) ? (float)$quote['cost'] : 0;
				
				if ($cheapest_cost === null || $cost < $cheapest_cost) {
					$cheapest_cost = $cost;
					$cheapest_method = $quote;
				}
			}
		}
	}
	
	if ($cheapest_method) {
		$this->session->data['shipping_method'] = $cheapest_method;
		
		// Store info about multiple methods for display
		$this->session->data['has_multiple_shipping_methods'] = ($total_methods > 1);
	}
}

The code above has the following functionalities:

  • Cheapest Method Selection: Modified both index() and quote() methods to analyze all available shipping methods and select the one with the lowest cost instead of the first one
  • Cost Comparison: The code now compares the cost field of each shipping quote to find the cheapest option
  • Multiple Methods Tracking: Added tracking to count the total available shipping methods

2. Enhanced User Interface

Locate file catalog/view/template/checkout/shipping_method.twig and find the code below:

<legend>{{ heading_title }}</legend>

Just below that line, paste the code below:

{% if has_multiple_shipping_methods %}
  <div class="alert alert-info">
    <i class="fa fa-info-circle"></i> {{ text_cheapest_selected }} <button type="button" id="button-shipping-methods" class="btn btn-sm btn-outline-primary">{{ button_view_options }}</button>
  </div>
  {% endif %}

In the same file, find the following code

<script type="text/javascript"><!--

Paste the code below:

// Auto-load shipping methods on page load if none is selected
$(document).ready(function() {
    if (!$('#input-shipping-code').val()) {
        $('#button-shipping-methods').trigger('click');
    }
});
  • Information Message: Added an informative alert that appears when multiple shipping methods are available
  • Smart Button Display: The “Choose” button is hidden when there are multiple options (replaced with “View Options” in the info message)
  • Clean Layout: The interface now clearly communicates that the cheapest option was selected while providing easy access to alternatives

3. Added Language Support

  • New Text Strings: Added text_cheapest_selected to inform users about automatic selection
  • Button Text: Added button_view_options for the alternative shipping options button
  • User-Friendly Messaging: Clear communication about what was automatically selected and why

Locate file upload/catalog/language/en-gb/checkout/shipping_method.php and at the end of the file add the following code:

$_['text_cheapest_selected'] = 'The cheapest shipping method has been automatically selected. Other shipping options are available.';
$_['button_choose']           = 'Choose';
$_['button_view_options']     = 'View Options';

How It Works:

  1. Automatic Selection: When the checkout page loads, the system now:
    • Retrieves all available shipping methods
    • Compares costs to find the cheapest option
    • Automatically selects the cheapest method
    • Tracks if multiple methods are available
  2. User Communication:
    • If only one shipping method exists, it is auto-selected by default.
    • If multiple methods exist, Shows an info message explaining that the cheapest was selected with the “View Options” button
  3. Flexibility: Users can still change the shipping method by clicking “View Options” to see all available methods

Benefits:

  • Cost Savings: Customers automatically get the cheapest shipping option
  • Transparency: Users are informed about other available options
  • Better UX: Reduces friction while maintaining choice
  • Smart Defaults: Makes intelligent decisions on behalf of the user

The implementation ensures customers get the best value while maintaining full control over their shipping preferences.

Important Notes

  • This approach works best when only one shipping method is active
  • If multiple methods exist, customers may be forced into the wrong choice
  • Always test checkout with different addresses and cart scenarios

Testing Checklist

Before going live:

  • ✅ Add product to cart
  • ✅ Go to checkout
  • ✅ Confirm shipping is auto-selected
  • ✅ Verify order completes without manual selection
  • ✅ Test logged-in and guest checkout

Final Thoughts

Removing unnecessary steps in checkout is one of the simplest ways to improve conversion rates. If your OpenCart store only uses one shipping method, auto-selecting it is a small change with a big impact. By implementing the solution above, you streamline the checkout process and create a better user experience without complex customization. If you want to go further, you can also auto-select payment methods or skip entire checkout steps — turning OpenCart into a near one-click checkout system.

How Agentforce Consulting Services Helps You Maximize ROI?

Rupak Nepali
-
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How Agentforce Consulting Services Helps You Maximize ROI?

The extremely dynamic digital landscape requires organizations to deliver more with less. Now, this might include minimizing operational costs, augmenting efficiency, and delivering better customer engagement. This is where Agentforce consulting services are evolving as a strategic enabler. 

As an AI-powered automation platform, Agentforce allows organizations to deploy self-directed agents that manage redundant, data-powered, and even semi-intricate tasks across various departments. However, to draw the actual value of Agentforce, technology alone isn’t sufficient; it is revealed through expert implementation, consulting, and optimization.

This article discusses how Agentforce consulting services help businesses cut costs, optimize efficiency, and generate greater return on investment (ROI).

What is Agentforce, and why does Agentforce Consulting Matter?

Unlike the common notion, Agentforce isn’t just any other AI-driven tool. Rather, it signifies a shift to agentic AI, where software systems can act independently within enterprise workflows. Agentforce adopts a hybrid and more advanced approach by amalgamating AI agents powered by large language models, process-oriented bots designed for repetitive processes, and human-in-the-loop workflows for governance and accountability.

This unified model enables organizations to automate everything from customer support and lead management to processing invoices and contract analysis. Yet, without a proper strategy, implementing such a system can result in inadequacies, operational risks, and more. This is where Salesforce AI services become essential, as it guides enterprises to deploy Agentforce successfully while maximizing its value. 

Agentforce consulting services bridge the gap between high-tech potential and tangible business outcome by enabling organizations to identify high-impact use cases, create efficient workflows, ensure strong ascendency besides data readiness, and regularly measure and optimize return on investment. 

Why Should Businesses Avail Agentforce Consulting Services?

Cost Reduction: One of the major benefits of Agentforce consulting is cost reduction. By recognizing high-volume processes that are time-consuming, redundant and process-oriented, consultants allow organizations to automate mundane work at scale. Consequently, many businesses report a significant reduction in manual effort, as well as operational costs. Agentforce also supports optimization of labor costs by enabling businesses to allocate employees to value-driven and strategic roles while reducing the need for extra hiring as the business grows.

Faster time-to-value: Working with Agentforce consultants provides significant benefits in terms of low cost of implementation and faster time-to-value due to their ability to accelerate deployment. By leveraging pre-designed frameworks and accelerators, consulting partners reduce development time significantly while reducing costly trial-and-error. Consequently, Agentforce implementations can deliver a significant leap in faster time-to-value and attain lower total cost of ownership as compared to do-it-yourself approaches.

Increased Operational Efficiency: By driving augmented operational efficiency by augmenting end-to-end workflows instead of remote task automation. Through autonomous task execution, AI agents can manage customer queries, process transactions, and initiate workflows across multiple systems. This enables organizations to streamline operations. Unlike human teams, AI agents operate incessantly without shift limitations, downtime, or delays. This ensures instant response capabilities. The outcome is faster throughput times, enhanced service levels, and a major reduction in operational backlogs. 

Augmented Client Experience: It is a significant component that goes beyond just cost savings. Agentforce augments CX by allowing faster resolution through instant replies and smart routing to human agents as and when needed. This reduces average handle time and wait times. AI-powered knowledge bases enable customers with self-service capabilities. This allows them to fix issues while reducing overall ticket volumes. As often highlighted by experts, actual self-service systems can bounce tickets even before they arise. This lowers support costs while augmenting customer satisfaction. 

Conversion Optimization: Besides cost reduction for driving revenue growth, Agentforce Consulting also helps optimize conversions. By enabling sales processes, AI agents can help in lead qualification, list valuable prospects, and generate tailored outreach at scale. Consequently, organizations leveraging Agentforce could often see tangible benefits. This includes a boost in the rate of conversion, greater outreach capacity, and more. By automating redundant tasks, teams can focus on deal closure, which reduces the time required for conversion and contributes to boosted revenue and ROI.

Data-driven decision-making: This type of consulting lays the foundation for the successful implementation of Agentforce. Moreover, consultants play a significant role in ensuring the platform is built on well-governed and clean data. This is critical because Agentforce operates independently, which means the quality of the result depends directly on data quality. Poor data, on the other hand, leads to faulty decisions, while clean data leads to scalable ROI. Experts highlight that factors such as metadata quality, system transparency, and strong frameworks are crucial to attaining enhanced results. Agentforce consultants focus on data cleaning and structuring. This establishes robust governance and enables real-time tracking. This reduces risk and maximizes performance.

Measuring the return on AI investments: This can be challenging, which makes Agentforce consulting services crucial for implementing structured ROI frameworks. Consultants assess value across three important dimensions, i.e., growth, efficiency, and experience. W.r.t efficiency, KPIs such as time efficiency, cost per conversation, and case deflection rates are tracked to evaluate functional enhancements. On the experience front, metrics such as customer satisfaction score and first-contact resolve help measure service quality. From a growth perspective, revenue per customer and conversion rates showcase business impact. With this approach, organizations can easily quantify outcomes.

Risk Reduction: When implementing AI, strong governance is crucial as uninhibited automation can lead to significant functional challenges. By leveraging these consulting services, it is possible to address these risks by introducing human-in-the-loop workflows. This establishes strong compliance frameworks – enabling constant monitoring and intervention mechanisms. This ensures automation remains compliant and safe while delivering predictable and reliable outcomes.

Continuous Optimization: Agentforce is an evolving system that advances over time. Through continuing optimization, consultants assess performance data, modify workflows, and augment agent accuracy to make the most of effectiveness. Once success is attained, organizations can scale this AI platform across the enterprise—thereby increasing ROI across multiple departments.

Final Words:

Agentforce signifies a new ray of light in enterprise automation. However, the thin line that demarcates success from failure lies in how well it is implemented. This is where Salesforce consulting services play a crucial role – offering the expertise, frameworks, and governance required to cut operational costs, optimize efficiency, augment customer experience, while delivering tangible ROI. Organizations that invest in the right strategy can attain faster payback and lower cost of overall ownership, while building a scalable foundation for long-term value.

Language Editor in OpenCart: Simplifying Language Customization

Rupak Nepali
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0
Language Editor in OpenCart: Simplifying Language Customization

The Language Editor in OpenCart 4 is a powerful tool introduced to help store administrators easily customize text strings displayed across the website without directly modifying core language files. This feature is especially useful for tailoring default OpenCart language strings to fit your store’s branding, tone, or regional preferences.

Key Features of the Language Editor

  1. No Code Required: Modify any text on your site without diving into PHP or file editors.
  2. Dynamic Search: Quickly find the text string you want to edit by searching the existing text.
  3. Language-Specific Customization: Make changes for specific languages if your store supports multiple languages.
  4. Safe Updates: Unlike editing core files, changes made via the language editor persist even after updates, ensuring that your modifications are retained.

How to Access the Language Editor

  1. Log in to Your Admin Panel:
    • Navigate to the backend of your OpenCart store.
  2. Go to Design > Language Editor:
    • In the admin menu, find the “Design” section, and then select “Language Editor.”
Language Editor

How to Use the Language Editor

1. Select the Language to Edit

  • Choose the specific language you want to edit (e.g., English, Spanish, etc.).

2. Search for the Text You Want to Change

  • Use the “Search Text” field to find the exact string you want to customize. For example:
    • Searching for “Add to Cart” will locate all instances where this text appears in the current language files.

3. Edit the Text

  • Once the text appears in the search results, you can click on it to edit.
  • Replace the existing text with your desired wording. For example:
    • Change “Add to Cart” to “Buy Now” for a more engaging call to action.

4. Save Your Changes

  • After making the edits, click the “Save” button to apply the changes to your site.

5. Clear the Cache

  • Navigate to Dashboard > Extensions > Modifications and click the “Refresh” button to clear your store’s cache and ensure the changes are visible on the frontend.

Example: Modify the Order Completion Success Message in Opencart

In this Opencart tips, we are showing you how to change the success message shown at order completion from the Opencart language editor. From the success message, let’s remove the “If your purchase has an associated download, you can go to the account downloads page to view them.”

Opencart Order success text
  • Go to admin >> Design >> Language Editor
  • Click the Add button
  • Enter details like below
    Language Editor success
    • Store: Select the store
    • Language: Which language
    • Route: As the success message is at the route checkout/success
    • Key: Find which key holds the text
    • Default: It auto-fills the default values.
    • Value: We remove the download message and add the text in the value field, which will override the text.
  • With this, you can click save.

Now, check the front end

Opencart success message changed

Use Cases for the Language Editor

  1. Brand-Specific Language: Replace generic text like “Checkout” with something unique, such as “Proceed to Payment.”
  2. Regional Customization: Adjust terms to suit your audience’s preferences. For example:
    • Replace “Cart” with “Basket” for stores targeting UK customers.
  3. Error Messages: Customize default error messages to make them friendlier or more informative.
  4. Multilingual Stores: Easily tweak translations for non-default languages without editing language files.

Benefits of the Language Editor

  • Time-Saving: Makes text customization quick and hassle-free.
  • No File Overwrites: Avoids the risk of breaking the site by directly editing core files.
  • Flexibility: Allows you to make real-time text changes as your store evolves.
  • Multilingual Optimization: Streamlines language customization for global audiences.

When to Use the Language Editor

  • Minor Text Changes: Ideal for small tweaks and adjustments.
  • Non-Technical Users: A perfect solution for store owners who are not comfortable with file editing or coding.
  • Consistent Branding: To ensure the tone and language of your site reflect your brand identity.

Best Practices

  1. Backup Before Making Changes: Although the Language Editor is safe, always keep backups of your site in case you need to revert changes.
  2. Be Consistent: Ensure text changes match the tone and style across your site.
  3. Test Changes: After updating text, check both desktop and mobile versions of your site to confirm the changes look and function as intended.

Conclusion

The Language Editor in OpenCart is an essential tool for modern eCommerce stores looking to fine-tune their site’s text without editing code. Whether you’re aiming for a better user experience, more personalized messaging, or just a slight tweak in wording, this feature makes it simple, efficient, and effective. By using the Language Editor, you can maintain a professional and brand-aligned storefront that resonates with your customers.

Code flow, Request & response, and MVCL pattern in OpenCart -Video

Rupak Nepali
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0
Code flow, Request & response, and MVCL pattern in OpenCart -Video

Hi everyone, me Rupak Nepali. In our fifth video, we describe OpenCart objects and a list of methods. Today, in our sixth video we are going to describe OpenCart framework code flow and how requests and responses are handled by OpenCart. Describe how MVCL works in OpenCart which will create a good foundation to start programming in OpenCart.

 “OpenCart theme and Module development” book say “OpenCart is an e-commerce shopping cart application built with its own in-house framework which uses MVCL (Model, view, controller, and language)pattern. Thus, each module in OpenCart also follows the MVCL pattern. The controller creates logic and gathers data from the model and it passes data to display in the view.”

OpenCart is based on this MVCL pattern. Let’s see what is MVCL pattern:

  • The user request to the controller through URL,
  • The controller loads the language and set the variable for any text used in the data.
  • If data is needed from the database controller loads the model, ask for results and model send back results, then controller set results to data.
  • All these data are sent to View which renders and shows the output.
MVCL pattern
From OpenCart.com

In the catalog and admin directories, you can see a tree structure of MVCL so whenever we create modules or pages we follow these directories structure:

  • Controller – The controller loads the language and set the variable for any text used in the data. If data is needed from the database controller loads the model, ask for results and model send back results, then controller set results to data.
  • Model – Database layer – All calls to the database are done. It is to structure DB calls so that all other files have access to the same DB queries.
  • View – Presentation/Template/display layer – This is where the HTML and designing are done in the respective tpl files.
  • Language – Localization/Language – This is layer is to make the translation easy, variables and text are assigned and these folder files are translated to the respective language with the same variables name.

OpenCart handles each request with a simple pattern for every incoming request are interpreted by the routing URL “route=” and passed to controller class matching the URL route part which returns Response objects. The controller is the only file in the MVC-L framework to be accessed by URL in OpenCart. The controller is where all logic goes: it’s where you interpret the request and create a response.

It’s that easy! Yes!

  • Each request executes a front controller file
  • The routing system determines which Controller class index method will be executed based on information from the request and routing URL you’ve passed.
  • Returns the appropriate Response object.

Let’s see some example
http://webocreation.loc/index.php?route=account/login
Here “route=account/login”, it means that the controller to find in Opencart is catalog/controller/account/login.php as there is no third one so by default the method is index().

http://webocreation.loc/index.php?route=account/return/add
Here “route=account/return/add”, it means that the controller to find in Opencart is catalog/controller/account/return.php and method is add().

  • The controller name must be like Controller + directory path+ filename
  • If your file name contains (_) underscore then no need to add in controller name.
  • The controller class must extend the parent class i.e.Controller

Let’s check the code. Let say the user request the same URL http://webocreation.loc/index.php?route=account/login
With route=account/login, the controller to process is ControllerAccountLoginclass and index method.

Request and response flow in Opencart
MVCL Opencart 3 defined

So, by defining MVCL we completed our fifth video, we hope you liked it. As always please don’t forget to post your questions or comments so that I can add extra topics or things that I need to develop which will help to develop the quality of videos series. You can follow at my twitter account rupaknpl and subscribe to our youtube channel opencart tutorials. Similarly, keep on visiting my personal blog https://webocreation.com where you will find lots of free modules.

In the next video, the real fun program begins the “Hello World” Opencart module. So, see you in the next video and happy learning and thanks for watching videos.
See you.

Opencart 4 OCMOD tutorial – develop extension with OCMOD

Rupak Nepali
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1
Opencart 4 OCMOD tutorial – develop extension with OCMOD

In this Opencart tutorial, we are covering OpenCart 4 OCMOD and show how to start coding in OCMOD to change the files and extend the functionalities of Opencart. We hope this helps to learn step-by-step instructions to master OCMOD elevate your e-commerce store to new heights and develop multiple Opencart extensions with OCMOD.

OCMOD is a system that allows store owners to be able to modify their store by uploading a compressed file that contains XML, SQL, and PHP files. OCMOD helps to modify OpenCart stores without changing any of the core files. This means that we did not need to restore or fix Opencart files when we removed modifications.

Here we will show the flows that happened when someone uploads the ***.ocmod.zip file, then create a test.ocmod.xml file to show the module link in the left column and give you details of Ocmod documentation in Opencart 4.

Opencart 3 OCMOD tutorial

Files and folder structure OCMOD extension

All the ocmod xml should be inside the ocmod folder. Here in the example we are creating the webocreation_admin_menu extension folder inside it are the install.json and ocmod folders. In the ocmod folder, we add the XML file, the XML file name should be the same as the code. Here the file name is webocreation_admin_menu.ocmod.xml and in the XML the code is <code>webocreation_admin_menu</code>

OCMOD folder structure Opencart 4

Flow of OCMOD

Upload of extension with OCMOD

As per the core code when you upload the ***.ocmod.zip folder from Extensions >> Installer, the following things will happen:

  1. Check if the user has permission. You will get an error like:
    “Warning: You do not have permission to modify modifications!”
  2. Check if there is an install temporary folder zip already there. If it found the file and the file created time is less than 5 seconds then it tries to unlink or remove the file, if it cannot remove the file then it throws an error saying:
    “Extension installation taking place please wait a few seconds before trying to install!”
  3. It checks whether the filename is between 3 and 128 characters or not. If not it will show an error like this:
    ‘Filename must be between 3 and 128 characters!’;
  4. It checks whether the uploaded zip file ends with .ocmod.zip
  5. It checks if there are any other file uploading errors, UPLOAD_ERR_OK: Value: 0; There is no error, and the file uploaded with success. If there is any error it will show errors like:
    “File could not be uploaded!”
  6. If everything is good then it creates a .tmp file and performs the function move_uploaded_file.
  7. Then it checks if the module file already exists or module code is already in the database or not. If exists throws the following error:
    ‘Extension already installed!’
  8. If all the above are good then it validates if the file can be opened and there is install.json that can be read. If it cannot find the install.json, then it throws the following error:
    ‘Warning: Could not find install.json!’
  9. If there is an issue with unzipping of ocmod.zip file then it throws the following error:
    ‘Zip file could not be opened!’

Database Operation

  1. If everything is fine then it gets all the info from the install.json. It gets the name, description, code, version, author, and link
  2. Then finally it adds the extension details to the database table oc_extension_install. The query ran is below:
    $this->db->query(“INSERT INTO `” . DB_PREFIX . “extension_install` SET `extension_id` = ‘” . (int)$data[‘extension_id’] . “‘, `extension_download_id` = ‘” . (int)$data[‘extension_download_id’] . “‘, `name` = ‘” . $this->db->escape($data[‘name’]) . “‘, `description` = ‘” . $this->db->escape($data[‘description’]) . “‘, `code` = ‘” . $this->db->escape($data[‘code’]) . “‘, `version` = ‘” . $this->db->escape($data[‘version’]) . “‘, `author` = ‘” . $this->db->escape($data[‘author’]) . “‘, `link` = ‘” . $this->db->escape($data[‘link’]) . “‘, `status` = ‘0’, `date_added` = NOW()”);
    As you see the status is still 0. The file upload is complete and extension info is added to the database.
    The upload is complete.

Installation of OCMOD extension

You will see extensions listed at Extensions >> Installer. You will see something like below:

Opencart Installed extension

Now, we are showing the flows that happened when you click the Install button for the Opencart OCMOD Example extension.

  1. Check if the user has permission. You will get an error like:
    “Warning: You do not have permission to modify modifications!”
  2. Then it gets the details of the extension from oc_extension_install database table
  3. It makes sure the file exists in the storage folder >> Marketplace. If the file is not found then it shows an error like this:
    ‘Install file %s could not be found!’;
  4. If there are no errors, then it starts unzipping the ***.ocmod.zip and if it cannot unzip the ocmod.zip file then it shows an error like:
    “Zip file could not be opened!”
  5. After unzipping it checks if any of the files already exist. It only extracts the contents of the upload folder. If there are images, it copies the images, then it stores the path differently for vendor folders.
  6. It checks if the path is not a directory and checks if there is no existing file, then it puts the file and adds the path in the oc_extension_path database table.
  7. It enables the module by updating the status of the module at oc_extension_install database table
  8. It adds the XML code in the oc_modification table
    OCMOD database entries
  9. Finally, it gives the success message.
  10. Go to Extensions and Modifications and Install the extension by clicking the green install button
    OCMOD Modification admin menu
  11. Click the Clear icon and you will see the applied OCMOD 

OCMOD developer tips

  • The extension folder needs ocmod folder
  • File name except ocmod.zip and <code> value should be same.
  • While zipping the folder zip the install.json and ocmod/ folder, not the folder.
  • Testing is hard for OCMOD changes if you have to change in XML, zip, upload from the installer, and clear in modifications. So the tip for developers is they can upload the extension and enable it, then make changes in the extension code from the extension folder and you don’t need to zip and upload again and again, you can just clear the cache in modifications and you can check the changes, and once you are satisfied you can copy and make the extension and upload it.
  • oc_modification, oc_extension_install, and oc_extension_path are the three database tables that are touched after the ocmod extension is uploaded and installed.

Example OCMOD code

In the install.xml it should be something like where the ******* is your custom thing.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<modification>
    <name>*******</name>
    <version>*******</version>
    <author>*******</author>
    <link>*******</link>
    <code>*******</code>
    <description>*******</description>
    <file path="*******">
        <operation>
            <search><![CDATA[ ******* ]]></search>
            <add position="*******"><![CDATA[*******]]></add>
        </operation>
    </file>
</modification>

Don’t forget <code>, although it is not mentioned in the Modification system documentation https://github.com/opencart/opencart/wiki/Modification-System. You can use multiple file operations. There are two operations search and add. With the add operation, you can replace, add before, or add after by adding in the position.

<file path="">
    <operation>
        <search><![CDATA[]]></search>
        <add position=""><![CDATA[]]></add>
    </operation>
</file>

Controller OCMOD code example

<file path="admin/controller/catalog/attribute.php">
        <operation>
            <search>
                <![CDATA[Opencart\Admin\Controller\Catalog;]]>
            </search>
            <add position="replace">
                <![CDATA[Opencart\Admin\Controller\Extension\Ocmod\Catalog;]]>
            </add>
        </operation>
        <operation>
            <search regex="false">
                <![CDATA[$this->load->language('catalog/attribute');]]>
            </search>
            <add position="before">
                <![CDATA[echo 'BEFORE WORKS</br>';]]>
            </add>
        </operation>
        <operation>
            <search regex="false">
                <![CDATA[$this->load->language('catalog/attribute');]]>
            </search>
            <add position="after">
                <![CDATA[echo 'AFTER WORKS</br>';]]>
            </add>
        </operation>
        <operation>
            <search regex="false">
                <![CDATA[controller_catalog_attribute]]>
            </search>
            <add position="replace">
                <![CDATA[controller_extension_ocmod_catalog_attribute]]>
            </add>
        </operation>
        <operation>
            <search regex="false">
                <![CDATA[$this->load->language('catalog/attribute');]]>
            </search>
            <add position="replace">
                <![CDATA[$this->load->language('catalog/attribute');
                echo 'REPLACE WORKS</br>';
                ]]>
            </add>
        </operation>
    </file>

Model OCMOD code example

<file path="admin/model/catalog/attribute.php">
        <operation>
            <search>
                <![CDATA[Opencart\Admin\Model\Catalog;]]>
            </search>
            <add position="replace">
                <![CDATA[Opencart\Admin\Model\Extension\Ocmod\Catalog;]]>
            </add>
        </operation>
        <operation>
            <search regex="false">
                <![CDATA[public function addAttribute(array $data): int {]]>
            </search>
            <add position="before">
                <![CDATA[echo 'MODEL BEFORE WORKS</br>';]]>
            </add>
        </operation>
        <operation>
            <search regex="false">
                <![CDATA[public function addAttribute(array $data): int {]]>
            </search>
            <add position="after">
                <![CDATA[echo 'AFTER WORKS</br>';]]>
            </add>
        </operation>
    </file>

View OCMOD example code

<file path="admin/view/template/catalog/attribute.twig">
        <operation>
            <search regex="false">
                <![CDATA[<div class="float-end">]]>
            </search>
            <add position="before">
                <![CDATA[        // BEFORE WORKS]]>
            </add>
        </operation>
        <operation>
            <search regex="false">
                <![CDATA[<div class="float-end">]]>
            </search>
            <add position="after">
                <![CDATA[        // AFTER WORKS]]>
            </add>
        </operation>
    </file>

Library OCMOD code example

<file path="system/library/template/template.php">
        <operation>
            <search regex="false">
                <![CDATA[include]]>
            </search>
            <add position="after">
                <![CDATA[        // AFTER WORKS]]>
            </add>
        </operation>
    </file>

Admin Extension OCMOD code example

<file path="extension/opencart/admin/controller/report/customer_order.php">
        <operation>
            <search>
                <![CDATA[Opencart\Admin\Controller\Extension\Opencart\Report;]]>
            </search>
            <add position="replace">
                <![CDATA[Opencart\Admin\Controller\Extension\Ocmod\Extension\Opencart\Report;]]>
            </add>
        </operation>
        <operation>
            <search regex="false">
                <![CDATA[$this->load->language('extension/opencart/report/customer_order');]]>
            </search>
            <add position="after">
                <![CDATA[echo 'WORKS!';]]>
            </add>
        </operation>
    </file>

Admin Module menu addition with OCMOD extension

We created a free module with OCMOD to show the Module link in the left menu of the admin section so that we can directly go to the Module section and don’t need to keep on using the Extension filter. Here is the output.

Module link addition OCMOD example

 Folder creation of OCMOD extension

  • Create a folder and name it anything like for example webocreation_admin_menu
  • Inside that folder create install.json file
  • Inside webocreation_admin_menu folder, create ocmod folder
  • Inside the ocmod folder, create an XML file named webocreation_admin_menu.ocmod.xml

Code of install.json file

{
  "name": "Webocreation Admin Menu",
  "version": "1.0",
  "author": "Webocreation",
  "link": "https://www.webocreation.com"
}

Code of webocreation_admin_menu.ocmod.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<modification>
    <name>Webocreation Admin Menu</name>
    <description>Add a Module link in top menu item in the Admin section.</description>
    <code>webocreation_admin_menu</code>
    <version>1.0</version>
    <author>Webocreation</author>
    <link>https://webocreation.com</link>
    <file path="admin/controller/common/column_left.php">
        <operation>
            <search regex="false">
                <![CDATA[if ($marketplace) {]]>
            </search>
            <add position="before">
                <![CDATA[
                if ($marketplace) {
                    $data['menus'][] = [
                        'id'       => 'menu-extension',
                        'icon'     => 'fas fa-puzzle-piece',
                        'name'     => 'Module',
                        'href'     => $this->url->link('marketplace/extension', 'user_token=' . $this->session->data['user_token'].'&type=module'),
                        'children' => []
                    ];
                }
                ]]>
            </add>
        </operation>
    </file>
</modification>

OCMOD error log

You can see the OCMOD error log at the Extensions >> Modifications >> Log tab.

Some of the error codes:

It shows an error like the one below in the Ocmod log when the search code is not found

MOD: 
FILE: admin/controller/common/column_left.php
CODE: if ($this->user('access', 'marketplace/modification')) {
NOT FOUND - OPERATIONS ABORTED!

In this way, you can develop an Opencart 4 extension with OCMOD. We hope this helps to learn step-by-step instructions to master OCMOD and elevate your e-commerce store to new heights. Please let us know if you have any kind of projects, you can email us at webocreation.com@gmail.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel and get more Opencart free extensions and tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

Google Sitemap Opencart 4 Module or extension for free

Rupak Nepali
-
0
Google Sitemap Opencart 4 Module or extension for free

Google Sitemap module used to be by default added on Opencart 3 but in Opencart 4 we need to add it manually and we did not find it in Opencart marketplace so we created the module. Search engine optimization (SEO) plays a pivotal role in driving organic traffic to your online store. One of the essential tools in your SEO arsenal is a well-structured sitemap.

Download Google Sitemap Opencart 4

Click the above button to download the Google Base feed module, the file downloaded is webocreationgooglesitemap.ocmod.zip. Now go to the Opencart admin >> Extensions >> Installer >> Then upload the file webocreationgooglesitemap.ocmod.zip

Opencart extension installation

Once it is uploaded and installed. Go to Extensions >> Extensions and filter out to feed.

Opencart extension google sitemap

Click the install button and then click the edit button.

Google sitemap Opencart 4 for free

Now, select Enabled and click Save.

Now go to the URL below:

http://YOURURL/opencart/index.php?route=extension/webocreationgooglesitemap/feed/google_sitemap

You will see XML like below:

Google Sitemap Opencart 4

The Importance of Sitemaps in SEO

Before we delve into the module, let’s first grasp the fundamental role of sitemaps in SEO:

1. Enhanced Indexing:

Sitemaps provide search engines like Google with a roadmap of your website’s structure. This helps search engine bots crawl and index your web pages more efficiently. As a result, your site’s content is more likely to appear in search engine results pages (SERPs).

2. Faster Discovery of New Content:

When you add new pages or products to your online store, a sitemap can alert search engines to these changes promptly. This ensures that your latest content is included in search results sooner rather than later.

3. Improved SEO Performance:

By facilitating better indexing and ensuring that all your web pages are accessible to search engines, sitemaps contribute to improved SEO performance. This can lead to higher rankings, increased organic traffic, and ultimately, more conversions.

Introducing the Google Sitemap Opencart Module

Now that we understand the significance of sitemaps, let’s explore the Google Sitemap Opencart module and how it can elevate your SEO efforts:

1. Automated Sitemap Generation:

This module automates the process of creating and updating your website’s sitemap. You no longer need to manually generate and submit sitemaps to search engines. It handles everything seamlessly.

2. Dynamic Content Inclusion:

The Google Sitemap Opencart module is designed to include all the essential content on your site, such as product pages, categories, information pages, and even manufacturer listings. This comprehensive coverage ensures that search engines index all your relevant content.

3. Priority and Frequency Settings:

You have the flexibility to set priority and update frequency for different types of content. For instance, you can prioritize product pages over informational pages, indicating to search engines the relative importance of each.

4. Multilingual and Multistore Support:

For OpenCart users with multilingual websites or multiple stores, this module offers seamless support. It generates sitemaps for each language or store, making it incredibly versatile.

5. Efficient XML Sitemap Creation:

The module generates XML sitemaps, which are the preferred format for search engines. These XML sitemaps are well-structured and adhere to industry standards, ensuring compatibility with various search engines.

6. Improved SEO Performance:

By consistently providing search engines with up-to-date and well-organized sitemaps, you’re enhancing your website’s SEO performance. This can lead to higher search engine rankings and increased visibility among your target audience.

Conclusion

The Google Sitemap Opencart module is a valuable addition to your SEO toolkit, streamlining the management of sitemaps and improving your website’s search engine visibility. By automating sitemap generation and ensuring that search engines are well-informed about your site’s content, you’re giving your online store a significant advantage in the competitive world of e-commerce.

Investing in SEO tools like the Google Sitemap Opencart module not only enhances your site’s performance but also positions your business for sustained growth and success in the digital marketplace. So, take the initiative, install the module, and watch your online store climb the ranks in search engine results.

In this way, you can install and set up the Google Sitemap feed module for Opencart 4. Please let us know if you have any kind of projects, you can email us at webocreation.com@gmail.com. Hope you liked this free opencart module, please subscribe to our YouTube Channel and get more Opencart free extensions. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

Opencart API, Opencart 4 and 3 API documentation for developer, postman

Rupak Nepali
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16
Opencart API, Opencart 4 and 3 API documentation for developer, postman

Opencart API documentation for the developer: supports output formats that return a JSON response. Output formats are defined by specifying the output request parameter. With opencart API we can perform CRUD functionalities.

Opencart 4 API documentation

In Opencart 4 there are some changes on the API endpoints, here is the login API endpoint /index.php?route=api/account/login:

Here is the POSTMAN testing:

Opencart POSTMAN API

Here are the API username and API key in the Opencart admin.

Opencart API username key

IP Addresses to allow to access the Opencart API endpoints:

Opencart API IP addresses

If you are not using the master branch and using the Opencart 4.0.1.1 then your endpoints may not work, and looking at the code there is a session of api_id that is checked and that session is not set. So there are some issues, so to make it work, we uncomment the following lines of code at catalog/controller/startup/api.php

<?php
namespace Opencart\Catalog\Controller\Startup;
class Api extends \Opencart\System\Engine\Controller {
	public function index(): object|null {
		if (isset($this->request->get['route'])) {
			$route = (string)$this->request->get['route'];
		} else {
			$route = '';
		}
		// if (substr($route, 0, 4) == 'api/' && $route !== 'api/account/login' && !isset($this->session->data['api_id'])) {
		// 	return new \Opencart\System\Engine\Action('error/permission');
		// }
		return null;
	}
}

Example of Opencart API call

Here is an example of an Opencart API call

<?php
$url = 'https://www.yourdomain.com/index.php?route=api/account/login&language=en-gb&store_id=0';
	 
$request_data = [
	'username' => 'Default',
	'key'      => 'YOURSECRETKEY'
];

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_HEADER, false);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, 0);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT, 30);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 30);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POST, 1);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $request_data);

$response = curl_exec($curl);

$status = curl_getinfo($curl, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);

curl_close($curl);

if ($status == 200) {
	$api_token = json_decode($response, true);

	if (isset($api_token['api_token'])) {

		// You can now store the session cookie as a var in the your current session or some of persistent storage
		$session_id = $api_token['api_token'];
	}
}

$url = 'http://www.yourdomain.com/opencart-master/upload/index.php?route=api/sale/order.load&language=en-gb&store_id=0&order_id=1';

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_HEADER, false);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, 0);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT, 30);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 30);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POST, 1);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $request_data);

// Add the session cookie so we don't have to login again.
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_COOKIE, 'OCSESSID=' . $session_id);

$response = curl_exec($curl);

curl_close($curl);

Opencart 3 API documentation

When we see API at Admin >> System >> Users >> API, then we are interested to explore it. We checked the catalog folder and found the image below:

Opencart API folder structure

All these tests are made in demo.webocreation.com. Checking the code we have to log in first. So we type the following URL but it gives me the following error.

https://demo.webocreation.com/index.php?route=api/login

<b>Notice</b>: Undefined index: key in <b>D:\xampp\htdocs\opencart2302\catalog\controller\api\login.php</b> on line <b>11</b>[]

Again we checked the code and found the following:

// Login with API Key
$api_info = $this->model_account_api->getApiByKey($this->request->post['key']);
if ($api_info) {

Which means we have to log in through the POST request. So we wrote the following curl code to log in through the POST URL.

We write the following code in opencartapi.php and upload it to webocreation.com root server:

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://webocreation.com/index.php?route=api%2Flogin",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => "------WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW\r\nContent-Disposition: form-data; name=\"key\"\r\n\r\nG63RZVjNnkPS3KdI8DZRrDph4LueZCRJcPwTfgnH8KzMFvVrsjp4g73YM1W3RdkTHRHyXK7c6vDVUsadxtx8c8r1uW2NWt0flPFNm5pVCq862jrBbrmztbBlPi4GWf9kQeB3YqT3uyOp7KldgRrvRu3eROSyGZZH2HEJ9sh9zSbXpm0u6wIOOdBoaNARzUOD74fHSn5iAYwCwPHeVkA29p3tkIPr8OFIzA9r3UGOXJ9xhWKojsGuKwnWEyaKuMB0\r\n------WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW--",
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
    "cache-control: no-cache",
    "content-type: multipart/form-data; boundary=----WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW",
    "postman-token: dc6b20c6-b84d-3b12-3b89-e586d0058347"
  ),
));

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

CURLOPT_URL: OpenCart API URL

Below is the part of the code where you add your key that you have to change to yours:

name=\”key\”\r\n\r\nG63RZVjNnkPS3KdI8DZRrDph4LueZCRJcPwTfgnH8KzMFvVrsjp4g73YM1W3RdkTHRHyXK7c6vDVUsadxtx8c8r1uW2NWt0flPFNm5pVCq862jrBbrmztbBlPi4GWf9kQeB3YqT3uyOp7KldgRrvRu3eROSyGZZH2HEJ9sh9zSbXpm0u6wIOOdBoaNARzUOD74fHSn5iAYwCwPHeVkA29p3tkIPr8OFIzA9r3UGOXJ9xhWKojsGuKwnWEyaKuMB0\r\n

Then I run http://telgap.com/opencartapi.php

{"error":{"ip":"Warning: Your IP **.**.**.** is not allowed to access this API!","key":"Warning: Incorrect API Key!"}}

I add my telgap.com IP at Admin >> Users >> API >> edit >> IP Addresses tab:

Whitelist IP in Opencart

After I add my IP and run the URL http://telgap.com/opencartapi.php again I got the successful message:

{"success":"Success: API session successfully started!","token":"kyJoxIKh9wEShzUxvBz2urUZSq"}

Following is the POSTMAN workout to achieve it.

POSTMAN Opencart API

I hope it will help somewhat to dig more about the OpenCart API.

You can check the following Opencart API-related posts:

Please let us know where and how are you using the Opencart API that you have used in eCommerce websites or have any questions or suggestions, please subscribe to our YouTube Channel and read more about Opencart 4 tutorial, opencart 3 tutorials, custom module theme development. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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