Complete M.academy refresh

Hey friend,

It's been a few years since M.academy launched, and I thought it was time that our image got a bit of a refresh. So over the summer, I worked on a few things:

• A refreshed website and updated tagline: Lots of energy, bright colors, and a new focus on "mastering" Magento development rather than simply learning the fundamentals -- since there are already courses for all of those 😉
• An updated look & feel in our course platform, our Campus community, and emails with improved mobile design (with the latter still being wrapped up), as I know many of you read Segment on your phone.
• A makeover for Maggie (more info on that below ↓).

I hope you can take a few minutes and check out the updated look & feel of the site:

Visit site →

I'm now switching gears to developing all new courses & lessons.

The biggest thing that I've heard from almost everyone is that you "just want more!", so that is what I'll be working on for the foreseeable future. Our new mission of helping you not just learn Magento, but master it, definitely helps refine this as my primary focus. So look for a variety of new lessons, courses, and much more on the way.

While I research & write up lesson plans for new courses, I'll also be wrapping up my cert-prep course and exam portal, which is the next big thing coming. I know you'll love it! And it also lays the groundwork for some other cool tools coming later.

Please reply back and let me know what you think of everything!

Keep coding,
-M

​

Mark Shust Teacher / M.academy 6X Adobe Commerce Certified ​Say hi on X or connect on LinkedIn​

​

Our Magento AI tutor got a makeover! Meet Maggie, the AI-Powered Magento Mentor

As part of our streamlined update, Maggie also got a bit of a makeover. Maggie is a big part of M.academy's mission, and it felt only right to extend the look and feel update to her as well, making her a bit more friendly and personable. So many students have been so extremely happy to have her as their Magento tutor, and we hope you also get a chance to experience her first-hand.

Maggie is like having a Magento expert at your fingertips. She breaks down complex topics into easy-to-understand explanations, can write up code examples, and can speak over 70 languages, which means that you can talk with her in your native tongue, and she'll chat back in the same language. Maggie is available on every premium course at M.academy.

Meet Maggie →

New technical blog post

Magento APSB24-40 Security Patch: CSP and Checkout Updates

Let’s talk about something really important that you need to be aware of: the Magento APSB24-40 security patch.

Now, I know what some of you might be thinking. “Another security patch? Don’t we have enough of those already?” And you’re right, as it can feel like we’re constantly chasing our tail at times with these updates. But this one is one of the more critical updates to be aware of.

Released in June 2024, this patch addresses several vulnerabilities in both Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source. But this patch introduces some major changes to how Magento handles Content Security Policy (CSP), and these changes directly impact functionality around the checkout.

I’ve been working with Magento for a while, and I’ve seen first-hand how updates like this can catch people off guard. But whether you’re running a small boutique store or managing a large eCom operation, understanding and implementing this patch is absolutely crucial for keeping your site secure and running smoothly.

Keep reading →

Upsert SQL Snippet

ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE

Ever heard of "ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE"?

It's a MySQL secret sauce clause 🌶️

If you've ever wanted to upsert data... this is how you do it in MySQL.

Say you're inserting data into the core_config_data table. Normally, you'd use a standard INSERT INTO statement.

But what if that data already exists?

That's where ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE comes into play.

When you append this clause to the end of your INSERT statement, MySQL first attempts the insert. If it hits a duplicate key (in this case, the compound index of scope, scope_id, and path), instead of throwing an error, it converts the INSERT into an UPDATE, which updates the data for the related index.

As a Magento developer, you can use the above line to upsert configuration data without worrying about creating duplicate entries. It's a simple one-liner that handles both inserts and updates.

Get more →

Module of the week

Fisheye URL Rewrite Optimizer

Are your Magento 2 URL rewrites out of control?

Is url_rewrite bloated with unnecessary path rewrites?

The Fisheye_UrlRewriteOptimiser module prevents creation of unnecessary URL rewrites for products with category paths when disabled.

Get module →

Course spotlight

Queue things up for efficiency and reliability

Message queues are a relatively unused feature in Magento, but they can be extremely useful when it comes to performance scaling and executing bulk operations.

There are a lot of queue concepts and terminology which can be SO overwhelming to learn, but don't worry; I used my simplification superpower to the max in this course, so you can quickly & easily master this topic.

And did I mention that single course enrollments are back? They are, so you can now enroll in this specific course if you missed your chance before. This course is a bit over 2 hours, so it's right in that sweet spot of enough, but not too much.

Learn more →

Magento meme time

Magento cache debugging

​

So much has changed in this Segment, so I'd love to hear what you think of the new format! Please let me know by either voting below or replying to this email.

​