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Fundamentals

Concepts

You should be familiar with PHP and Object-Oriented Programming before attempting to write your own module.

PrestaShop was conceived so that third-party modules could easily upon its foundations, making it an extremely customizable e-commerce software.

A module is an addition to PrestaShop that enables any developer to add the following:

  • Provide additional functionality to PrestaShop.
  • View additional items on the site (product selection, etc..).
  • Communicate with other e-commerce players (buying guides, payment platforms, logistics...)
  • etc...

The company behind PrestaShop provides more than 100 modules for free with the tool itself, enabling you to launch your business quickly and for free.

More than 750 add-ons are also available at the official add-ons site.
These additional modules were build ??by the company PrestaShop or members of the PrestaShop community, and are sold at affordable prices.
As a developer, you can also share your modules on this site, and receive 70% of the amounts associated with the sale of your creations. Sign up now!

PrestaShop's technical architecture

PrestaShop is based on a 3-tier architecture:

  • Object/data. Database access is controlled through files in the "classes" folder.
  • Data control. User-provided content is controlled by files in the root folder.
  • Design. All of the theme's files are in the "themes" folder.

This is the same principle as the Model–view–controller (MVC) architecture, only in a simpler and more accessible way.

Our developer team chose not to use a PHP framework, such as Zend Framework, Symfony or CakePHP, so as to allow for better readability, and thus faster editing.

This also makes for higher performances, since the software is only made of the lines of code it requires, and does not contain a bunch of supplemental generic libraries.

A 3-tier architecture has many advantages:

  • It's easier to read the software's code.
  • Developers can add and edit code faster.
  • Graphic designer and HTML integrators can work with the confines of the /themes folder without having to understand or even read a single line of PHP code.
  • Developers can work on additional data and modules that the HTML integrators can make use of.

What is a PrestaShop module

PrestaShop's extensibility revolves around modules, which are small programs that make use of PrestaShop's functionality and changes them or add to them in order to make PrestaShop easier to use or more customized.

A module is therefore an extension to PrestaShop that enables the following:

  • Add a missing functionality.
  • Display more data on the site (product selection, etc.).
  • Communicate with more e-commerce players (buying guides, payment platforms, carriers...
  • ...and so much more!

More than 100 modules are available in the PrestaShop default install, enabling shop owners to quickly get started.

More than 750 others are available (for free or for sale) on PrestaShop Addons. They were either created by the PrestaShop team, of by members of the PrestaShop community. As a developer, you too can sell your modules on PrestaShop Addons, and earn 70% of your sales.

Technical principles behind a module

A PrestaShop module consists of:

  • A root folder, named after the module, which will hold all of the modules files, and will reside in PrestaShop's /modules folder.
  • A main PHP file, named after the module, located in that root folder. This PHP file should have the same name as its root folder.
  • An icon file, named logo.gif, representing this module.
  • Optional: some .tpl files, containing the module's theme.
  • Optional: language files, if the module of its theme have text to display (and therefore, that should be translatable).
  • Optional: in a /themes/modules, a folder with the same name as the module, containing .tpl and language files if necessary. This last folder is essential during modifications of existing module, so that you can adapt it without having to touch its original files. Notably, it enables you to handle the module's display in various ways, according to the current theme.

Let's see an example with PrestaShop's blockuserinfo module:

Any PrestaShop module, once installed on an online shop, can interact with one or more "hooks". Hooks enable you to "hook" your code to the current View at the time of the code parsing (i.e., when displaying the cart or the product sheet, when displaying the current stock...). Specifically, a hook is a shortcut to the various methods available from the Module object, as assigned to that hook.

A list of PrestaShop hooks

Here is a list of 53 hooks, available in PrestaShop.

When one of the site's page is loaded, the PrestaShop engine check which are the modules to call for each of the hooks that make up the page.

Front-office

Homepage and general website items

Hook name

File location

Visible

Description

header

header.php

No

Called between the HEAD tags. Ideal location for adding JavaScript and CSS files.

top

header.php

Yes

Called in the page's header.

leftColumn

header.php

Yes

Called when loading the left column.

rightColumn

footer.php

Yes

Called when loading the right column.

footer

footer.php

Yes

Called in the page's footer.

home

index.php

Yes

Called at the center of the homepage.

Product sheet

Hook name

File location

Visible

Description

extraLeft

product.php

Yes

Called right before the "Print" link, under the picture.

extraRight

product.php

Yes

Called right after the block for the "Add to Cart" button.

productActions

product.php

Yes

Called inside the block for the "Add to Cart" button, right after that button.

productOutOfStock

product.php

Yes

Called inside the block for the "Add to Cart" button, right after the "Availability" information.

productfooter

product.php

Yes

Called right before the tabs.

productTab

product.php

Yes

Called in tabs list, such as "More info", "Data sheet", "Accessories"... Ideal location for one more tab, the content of which is handled by the productTabContent hook.

productTabContent

product.php

Yes

Called when a tab is clicked. Ideal location for the content of a tab that has been defined using the productTab hook.

Cart

Hook name

File location

Visible

Description

cart

Class: Cart.php

No

Called right after a cart creation or update.

shoppingCart

order.php

Yes

Called right below the cart items table.

shoppingCartExtra

order.php

Yes

Called after the cart's table of items, right above the navigation buttons.

createAccountTop

authentication.php

Yes

Called within the client account creation form, right above the the "Your personal information" block.

createAccountForm

authentication.php

Yes

Called within the client account creation form, right before the "Register" button.

createAccount

authentication.php

No

Called right after the client account creation.

customerAccount

my-account.php

Yes

Called on the client account homepage, after the list of available links. Ideal location to add a link to this list.

myAccountBlock

Module: blockmyaccount.php

Yes

Called within the "My account" block, in the left column, below the list of available links. Ideal location to add a link to this list.

authentication

authentication.php

No

Called right after the client identification, only if the authentication is valid (e-mail address and password are both OK).

Hook name

File location

Visible

Description

search

Class: Search.php

No

Called after a search is performed. Ideal location to parse and/or handle the search query and results.

Carrier choice

Hook name

File location

Visible

Description

extraCarrier

order.php

Yes

Called after the list of available carriers, during the order process. Ideal location to add a carrier, as added by a module.

Payment

Hook name

File location

Visible

Description

payment

order.php

Yes

Called when needing to build a list of the available payment solutions, during the order process. Ideal location to enable the choice of a payment module that you have developed.

paymentReturn

order-confirmation.php

Yes

Called when the user is sent back to the store after having paid on the 3rd-party website. Ideal location to display a confirmation message or to give some details on the payment.

orderConfirmation

order-confirmation.php

Yes

A duplicate of paymentReturn.

backBeforePayment

order.php

No

Called when displaying the list of available payment solutions. Ideal location to redirect the user instead of displaying said list (i.e., 1-click PayPal checkout)..

Merchandise Returns

Hook name

File location

Visible

Description

orderReturn

order-follow.php

No

Called when the customer request to send his merchandise back to the store, and if now error occurs.

PDFInvoice

Class: PDF.php

Yes

Called when displaying the invoice in PDF format. Ideal location to display dynamic or static content within the invoice.

Back-office

General

Hook name

File location

Visible

Description

backOfficeTop

header.inc.php

Yes

Called within the header, above the tabs.

backOfficeHeader

header.inc.php

No

Called between the HEAD tags. Ideal location for adding JavaScript and CSS files.

backOfficeFooter

footer.inc.php

Yes

Called within the page footer, above the "Power By PrestaShop" line.

backOfficeHome

index.php

Yes

Called at the center of the homepage.

Orders and order details

Hook name

File location

Visible

Description

newOrder

Class: PaymentModule.php

No

Called during the new order creation process, right after it has been created.

paymentConfirm

Class: Hook.php

No

Called when an order's status becomes "Payment accepted".

updateOrderStatus

Class: OrderHistory.php

No

Called when an order's status is changed, right before it is actually changed.

postUpdateOrderStatus

Class: OrderHistory.php

No

Called when an order's status is changed, right after it is actually changed.

cancelProduct

AdminOrders.php

No

Called when an item is deleted from an order, right after the deletion.

invoice

AdminOrders.php

Yes

Called when the order's details are displayed, above the Client Information block.

adminOrder

AdminOrders.php

Yes

Called when the order's details are displayed, below the Client Information block.

orderSlip

AdminOrders.php

No

Called during the creation of a credit note, right after it has been created.

Products

Hook name

File location

Visible

Description

addproduct

AdminProducts.php

No

Called when a product is created or duplicated, right after said creation/duplication.

updateproduct

AdminProducts.php

No

Called when a product is update with a new picture, right after said update.

deleteproduct

Class: Product.php

No

Called when a product is deleted, right before said deletion..

updateQuantity

Class: PaymentModule.php

No

Called during an the validation of an order, the status of which being something other than "canceled" or "Payment error", for each of the order's items.

updateProductAttribute

Class: Product.php

No

Called when a product declination is updated, right after said update.

watermark

AdminProducts.php

No

Called when an image is added to an product, right after said addition.

Statistics

Hook name

File location

Visible

Description

GraphEngine

Class: ModuleGraph.php

Yes

Called when a stats graph is displayed.

GridEngine

Module: GridEngine.php

Yes

Called when the grid of stats is displayed.

AdminStatsModules

AdminStatsTab.php

Yes

Called when the list of stats modules is displayed.

Clients

Hook name

File location

Visible

Description

adminCustomers

AdminCustomers.php

Yes

Called when a client's details are displayed, right after the list of the clients groups the current client belongs to.

Carriers

Hook name

File location

Visible

Description

updateCarrier

AdminCarriers.php

No

Called during a carrier's update, right after said update.

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