Display 'template hints' in 'default config'

Problem: Display 'template hints' and 'bloc hints' in 'default config'
Posible solution
If you want this option displayed for 'default config' also, just edit the app\code\core\Mage\Core\etc\system.xml file.
Look for something like this

<template_hints translate="label">
<label<Template Path Hints</label>
<frontend_type>select</frontend_type>
<source_model>adminhtml/system_config_source_yesno</source_model>
<sort_order>20</sort_order>
<show_in_default>0</show_in_default>
<show_in_website>1</show_in_website>
<show_in_store>1</show_in_store>
</template_hints>

replace

<show_in_default>0</show_in_default>

with

<show_in_default>1</show_in_default>

and clear the cache
Do the same for this section

<template_hints_blocks translate="label">
<label>Add Block Names to Hints</label>
<frontend_type>select</frontend_type>
<source_model>adminhtml/system_config_source_yesno</source_model>
<sort_order>21</sort_order>
<show_in_default>0</show_in_default>
<show_in_website>1</show_in_website>
<show_in_store>1</show_in_store>
</template_hints_blocks>

Be careful. When you enable these 2 from 'default config' you will also see template hints and block hints in the admin section.

Avoid empty meta-title for products (for biostall)

Problem: in case the meta-title is not filled in for a product the title should replace it

Possible solution:

Create a new method in the product model (Mage_Catalog_Model_Product) class called getMetaTitle();

function getMetaTitle(){
if (!$this->getData('meta_title')){
$this->setMetaTitle($this->getTitle());
}
return $this->getData('meta_title');
}

A list of all the products in the website (for travelingwilly)

Problem: a list of all the products in the website.

Possible solution:

The easiest (less code) solution is to create a category called 'All' an put all the products in that category(beside the category that they belong to).
The second method implies some code.
Create the Mage_Catalog_Block_Product_All class and put it in a file located here (app/code/code/Mage/Catalog/Block/Product/All.php)

<?php
class Mage_Catalog_Block_Product_All extends Mage_Catalog_Block_Product_List
{
protected function _getProductCollection()
{
if (is_null($this->_productCollection)) {
$collection = Mage::getResourceModel('catalog/product_collection')
->addAttributeToSelect('*')
->addAttributeToFilter('status', 1)
->addAttributeToFilter(array(array('attribute'=>'visibility', 'eq'=>"4")));
$this->_productCollection = $collection;
}
return $this->_productCollection;
}
}
?>

After this create a CMS page. and in it's content put the following

{{block type="catalog/product_all" template="catalog/product/list.phtml"}}

In the "Layout" field (from the 'Custom design' tab) select '2columns-left' (or any other design just don't leave it to 'empty')
Save and that's it.
If the page you just created has the identifier ('all-products') and is enabled you will see a paginated list of all your products here:
http://www.yoursite/all-products (or http://www.yoursite/{YOUR STORE CODE}/all-products if you have store codes in the url)

I know that this is not 100% clean because you need to add some code in the core. This is no problem, you can add this also in the local folder.

EDIT: I forgot to close a curly bracket at the end of the class. Thanks To John (see who John is the comments below) I fixed it.

Display CMS Blocks on product description (for Mattse)

Problem: add static block to product description

possible solution

You can add a new method to the product model.

function getDescription(){
$processor = Mage::getModel('core/email_template_filter');
$html = $processor->filter($this->getData('description'));
return $html;
}

In this way you can use the same {{block}} and {{skin}} sections just like the static blocks and pages and e-mail templates.

how to display number of items in cart and cart total (for elmuchoprez)

Problem: how to display number of items in cart and cart total?
Possible solution

To display items in cart do this:

$this->helper('checkout/cart')->getSummaryCount();

or

Mage::helper('checkout/cart')->getSummaryCount();

And for the total:

Mage::getSingleton('checkout/session')->getQuote()->getSubtotal();

This will display only the total amount for the products.
If you want the grand total (including shipping & handling) do this:

Mage::getSingleton('checkout/session')->getQuote()->getGrandTotal();

Show customer group in order e-mail (for redbeetstudio)

Problem: Show customer group in order e-mail.
http://www.magentocommerce.com/boards/viewthread/71736/

Possible solution
In order for this to work in the e-mail template:

{{var order.getCustomerGroupName()}}

you have to create a method in the Order model (overwrite it or edit the core at your own risk).

function getCustomerGroupName(){
$group = Mage::getModel('customer/customer_group')->load($this->getCustomerGroupId());
if ($group->getId()){
return $group->getName();
}
return '';//or any default value if the customer is not in a group or is a guest
}

how to get customer address (for MagentoPycho)

Problem:how to get customer address from session?

Possible solution
Here is how you retrieve the primary billing address object:

$customerAddressId = Mage::getSingleton('customer/session')->getCustomer()->getDefaultBilling();
if ($customerAddressId){
$address = Mage::getModel('customer/address')->load($customerAddressId);
}

If you want the address in html format do this:

$customerAddressId = Mage::getSingleton('customer/session')->getCustomer()->getDefaultBilling();
if ($customerAddressId){
$address = Mage::getModel('customer/address')->load($customerAddressId);
$htmlAddress = $address->format('html')
}

if you want specific parts of the address just print it out and see how that part is called

$customerAddressId = Mage::getSingleton('customer/session')->getCustomer()->getDefaultBilling();
if ($customerAddressId){
$address = Mage::getModel('customer/address')->load($customerAddressId);
echo "
"; print_r($address->getData());echo "
";
}

for example if you want the street do this:

$street = $address->getData('street');

It works the same for the rest of the of the address attributes (firstname, lastname, phone, ...)

Exporting reviews (for rpeters83)

Problem: how to export reviews from Magento.
Possible solution:


Here is how you can retrieve all the comments.
Create a new php file on the same level as index.php of Magento. let's call it reviews.php
the content of this file should look like this:

<?php 
$mageFilename = 'app/Mage.php';

require_once $mageFilename;

Varien_Profiler::enable();

Mage::setIsDeveloperMode(true);

ini_set('display_errors', 1);

umask(0);
Mage::app('default');
Mage::register('isSecureArea', 1);

header('Content-Type: text/xml; charset=utf-8');
echo "<?xml version =\"1.0\" encoding =\"UTF-8\"?>\n";
echo "<reviews>\n";
$collection = Mage::getModel('review/review')->getCollection();
foreach ($collection as $item){
$review = Mage::getModel('review/review')->load($item->getId());
echo "\t<review>\n";
echo "\t\t<id>".$review->getId()."</id>\n";
echo "\t\t<created_at>".$review->getCreatedAt()."</created_at>\n";
echo "\t\t<status_id>".$review->getStatusId()."</status_id>\n";
echo "\t\t<store_id>".$review->getStoreId()."</store_id>\n";
echo "\t\t<title>".$review->getTitle()."</title>\n";
echo "\t\t<detail>".$review->getDetail()."</detail>\n";
echo "\t\t<nickname>".$review->getNickname()."</nickname>\n";
echo "\t\t<customer_id>".$review->getCustomerId()."</customer_id>\n";
echo "\t\t<product_id>".$review->getEntityPkValue()."</product_id>\n";
echo "\t\t<stores>".implode(",", $review->getStores())."</stores>\n";
echo "\t</review>\n";
}
echo "</reviews>";
?>

Just call the page in your browser (www.yoursite.com/review.php)
This will export all the reviews in xml format. If you want an other format you can manage from this.
The status id is one of these

APPROVED       = 1;
PENDING        = 2;
NOT_APPROVED   = 3;

I hope this helps.

Switching language and currency when having multiple websitecodes (for sonician)

Problem (and maybe better solutions) found here:
http://www.magentocommerce.com/boards/viewthread/71171/

Hi again
There is a way of running a store view directly.
When you call something like this:

Mage::run('website1', 'website');

the default store view from website1 will run.
Let's say in website1 you have a store view called store_view_1. You can run it like this.

Mage::run('store_view_1');

As for the currency, you can set a default currency for each store view.
For example you can have to identical store views (in English), one with default currency 'EUR' and one 'GBP'.
Let's say the first one is called store_view_eur, and the second one store_view_gbp.
You can run them like this.

if (some condition){
Mage::run('store_view_eur');
}
else{
Mage::run('store_view_gbp');
}

As for the IP location, sorry but I don't think I can help you much there.

Websitecode, currency, language (for sonician)

Problem:
get through code the current values for website, currency and language.
Hello,
Website:

//for name
Mage::app()->getWebsite()->getName();
//for code
Mage::app()->getWebsite()->getCode();

Currency:

Mage::app()->getStore()->getCurrentCurrencyCode();

Language:
This is a little tricky. You can get the ISO code for the language, because by standards French for France is different from French for Belgium

Mage::app()->getLocale()->getLocale();//will return something like fr_FR, fr_BE or en_US

if you want to go further and see only the language code it's simple

$isoCode = Mage::app()->getLocale()->getLocale();
$parts = explode("_", $isoCode);
$language = $parts[0];
$country = $parts[1];