PrestaShop 8: All You Need to Know About This Release

Released in 2007, PrestaShop has become one of Europe and Latin America’s most popular ecommerce platforms because of its flexibility and wide range of out-of-the-box features. It’s currently being used by over 265,000 sites worldwide.

2022 became a milestone year in this platform’s history: a major version update, PrestaShop 8, was released. The previous version, PrestaShop 1.7, came up in 2016.

PrestaShop 8.0 has many new features and updates. We have gathered all the crucial information to guide you through its specifics and merged it into this article.

If you’re considering upgrading to the latest version or just curious about what’s new in this PrestaShop release, read on!

Table of Сontents:

A Quick Overview
PrestaShop 8: New Features
Upgrading Your Store to PrestaShop 8
About PrestaShop 8.1
Wrapping Up

A Quick Overview

In December 2021, PrestaShop announced in their official blog that a new version is coming soon. PrestaShop 8 Beta was released in August 2022. And in October 2022, the creators notified that PS 8 is now officially available for download on GitHub.

The PS 8 release provided users with many significant improvements. Among them are the following:

• An updated version of Symfony 4.4
• PrestaShop compatibility with PHP 8.1
• A new password policy and session management features
• WebP support

And more, in addition to over 170 bug fixes.

PS 8 is also PrestaShop’s first company-neutral version, which means it’s free from built-in commercial products and services. Addons Marketplace is no longer a part of the project, but it’s possible to install it independently.

Now, let’s take a closer look into the reasons for upgrading your online store from PrestaShop 1.7 to version 8.0.

You can watch the official PrestaShop 8.0 video below.

PrestaShop 8: New Features

PS 8 brought many bug fixes, a better user experience, and a faster loading speed.

BelVG developers have already had a chance to evaluate all the advantages of the new PrestaShop edition. Below are the main benefits of upgrading to PS 8.

You can see a complete list of implemented features here.

PHP 8.0 and 8.1 Support

PrestaShop 8 requires at least PHP 7.2 and provides compatibility with the latest PHP 8.1 version supported until November 2024. Security and performance improvements come with each PHP version update, so running PrestaShop on the most recent version of PHP is vital.

Below we have listed the PrestaShop 8 compatibility chart with different versions of PHP.

Symfony and Library Updates

Symfony 4.4 usage provides a high security level and improved performance.

The creators of PrestaShop 1.7 started a revolution when they switched to Symfony. It was followed by Symfony versions 2.8 and 3.4, and version 4.4 is now available in PrestaShop 8 and will be supported until November 2023. We can expect refinements to the Symfony framework along with upcoming PrestaShop versions.

Security Features

PS 8 introduces a new password policy management feature.

• Users can now see their password strength when registering
• Administrators can configure the store’s password policy (from simple to complex)
• Store administrators can view users’ sessions history and disable their sessions remotely

These innovations assure store owners and clients that transaction processing is secure and the protection against external intrusion or hackers is high. Simplified checkout reduces the risk of credit card fraud or other malicious activity.

Modern Image Formats Support

The PS 8 version supports the popular WebP image format for products. WebP guarantees better compression at equal image quality compared to JPEGs and PNGs. And smaller file sizes speed up page loading.

These changes are available on the tab Design->Image Settings.

PrestaShop 8 developers have also added popular Svg image format support for the store logo (available on tab Design->Theme Logo).

Product Page Features

The product page has been upgraded compared to version 1.7.8. Besides, the combination management and bulk edition have been noticeably improved.

But the new product page isn’t yet supplied with all the features of the standard product page (in particular, there’s no support for multi-shops), so it’s disabled by default. You can still enable it under Advanced Parameters->Experimental Features, but it’s not recommended if you have a multistore.

The updated product page will become fully functional in the 8.1 release. It’ll be used there by default.

SEO Features

The new edition includes several SEO features that PrestaShop didn’t have before.

• You can now add a block of SEO-optimized text at the bottom of category pages to increase their visibility in SERPs
• Administrators can use 410 Gone status for items discontinued from sale
• You can add the page number along with title meta tags
• Real-time character count is available to maintain the description limit

It’s supposed to help sites to rank higher in SERPs.

DKIM Signatures Support for E-mails

This feature decreases the risk of your store’s e-mails being marked as spam. You can configure it under Advanced Parameters->E-mail.

Media Versioning

Developers can now use multimedia versioning to prevent loading outdated javascript files and stylesheets from the browser cache.

A new parameter has been added to the registerJavascript and registrerStylesheet methods, which allows module developers to add a version parameter. It’s added to the asset’s URL, so browsers will download the new asset instead of loading the old version from the local cache if the version changes.

Typescript Usage

All Symfony-based page scripts are now written in TypeScript. It offers many language features not included in Javascript; the most vital among them is strong typing. Strictly-typed code reduces the percentage of errors that might remain unnoticed and negatively affect site performance.

This change is supposed to improve the code, reduce bugs, and enhance the long-term maintainability of the project.

Upgrading Your Store to PrestaShop 8

PrestaShop claims that transitioning from version 1.7.8 to version 8 will be much easier than from version 1.6 to 1.7. The 1.7 themes are supposed to remain compatible with the latest version, and many modules are expected to continue working as is. However, the module migration success depends on many factors.

Let’s see how our BelVG developers describe the experience of migrating to version 8.

PrestaShop Upgrade & Migration

Enhance your webstore with BelVG PrestaShop Upgrade & Migration

VISIT THE PAGE

The BelVG Team’s Experience: How to Update Your Site to Prestashop 8 Successfully

There’s an auto-upgrade available. However, after trying it on several projects, the BelVG developers realized that manual upgrading is better for highly customized sites.

• First, it’s necessary to upgrade the PrestaShop under PHP 7.4 and then apply PHP 8.1.

• There may be compatibility issues with third-party modules and/or overrides and PrestaShop default classes with PHP 8. We recommend manually checking all modules and overrides before migrating to the newest version to ensure they work correctly in PS 8.

• There are very few changes on the level of the theme, but it’s necessary to check everything once you’ve applied the upgrade on a development copy.

• We recommend contacting your hosting provider first if you’re considering such an update. They can supply you with an environment compatible with PrestaShop 8 (one of the main prerequisites being PHP 8). You can move your site there, apply the upgrade, and then review the impact.

How long will it take to upgrade to version 8? It’s impossible to say for sure because the complexity of the process depends on the store’s specifics. Creating a copy of your site on a new server and checking the update’s impact will take 4-8 hours.

The final cost of migrating to a new PrestaShop version will depend on how customizable your site is, which theme you use, and how expensive your developer’s hour is.

About PrestaShop 8.1

Currently, the latest version of PrestaShop 8 is 8.0.4 (available for download here). It includes bug fixes for previous versions and provides additional stability for the 8.0 branch.

Version 8.1 is now at the pre-release stage (a demo is available here). It fixes over 30 bugs of the previous release and introduces many improvements and features. So there has never been a better time to experience the benefits of the PrestaShop platform!

Remember that the beta version is pre-release software, and you may face certain technical issues when using it. You shouldn’t apply it in your running store.

Keep in mind that it’s not possible to upgrade the PrestaShop store from the beta to the final version using the auto-upgrade module.

What to Expect From PrestaShop 8.1.0

PrestaShop 8.1 offers some significant new features and differences. Let’s check them out.

• New product page. The improved product page in version 8.1 is enabled by default
• Multiple image format generation. With the 8.1 edition, you can create additional images with rare formats, such as WebP and Avif
• Better control over product availability. PS 8.1 offers advanced management of discontinued items. Availability labels management is accessed independently for each combination
• Improved maintenance mode. You can provide staff access to the front office with maintenance mode enabled (no IP addresses required)
• Enhanced developer experience. You can easily perform store profiling from the back office. Also, developers have got more options when configuring Symfony services

PrestaShop Development

Take your online store to the next level with BelVG PrestaShop Development

VISIT THE PAGE

Wrapping Up

If your web store runs on an older version of the PrestaShop platform, it’s time to upgrade to the latest PS 8.0. However, don’t rush too much with the upgrade.

Before making any changes, you should consult with a developer experienced in PrestaShop. That way, you can be sure that you have taken all necessary steps and can resolve any potential problems quickly if they arise.