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Since the day it was launched, Magento 2 has been the most talked about version of the world’s most popular version of Magento platform. One of the most promising features which make Magento 2 so great is an extraordinary & intuitive UI of the admin panel apart from in-built full page caching and other exciting features. Every Magento 1.x merchant should be aware that upgrading to Magento 2.x is rewarding and makes your online store more secure, fast and trustworthy.Although we agree that the decision to upgrade is not an easy one and requires consultation with experts. We have tried to list down the key differences in the admin panel of both versions of Magento (1&2). We believe this will be of some assistance and will provide enough proof points on why you should upgrade to Magento 2.x.
Key Differences between Magento 1and Magento 2 Admin Panel
| Magento 1.x | Magento 2.x |
| Menu position is horizontal. Sub menu is displayed while hovering on menu item. | Menu position is vertical. Sub menu slides while clicking on the parent item. |
| All the configurations are under System > Configuration. | All the configurations are under Stores > Configuration. |
| No menu section named Marketing. | A new menu item named Marketing has been introduced. It contains the sub sections for Promotions, Communications, SEO & Search and User Content. A new term called Search Synonyms has been introduced in Magento 2.x which is associated with search terms. |
| CMS content section had only Pages, Blocks and Widgets. | The Content section has a new sub section named Design. This Design sub menu section has 3 items. The Configuration section has the configurations for all the installed websites, stores and store views. The Themes section displays all the installed themes and you can view the basic details. Schedule is the same section which you can find under System > Design in Magento 1.x. |
| Braintree Payment method was not present. | In Reports menu section, Sales section contains one extra section named Braintree Settlement. This section contains the reports related to Braintree Payments, as new Braintree has been added as a new payment method. |
System menu changes under both Admin Panels
Admin account can be found under System > My Account.
Admin account can be found in drop down on the top.
| Magento 1.x | Magento 2.x |
| Notifications are under System > Notifications. | Notifications are under System > Other Settings > Notifications. |
| Cache Management and Index Management can be found under System > Cache Management and System > Index Management respectively. | Both Cache Management and Index Management have been moved under System > Tools. |
| Web services are found under System > Web Services. | Web services are found under System > Extensions > Integration. |
| Currency can be found under System > Manage Currency. | Currency section has been moved to Stores > Currency section with rates and symbols. |
| Email Templates can be found under System > Transactional Emails. | Email templates has been moved to Marketing > Communications. |
| No section present named Web Setup Wizard. | System menu section has a new item Web Setup Wizard. This section redirects to setup wizard, which contains Component Manager, System Upgrade and System Configuration. |
| No section present for locked admin users and encryption key. | Two new sections, Locked Users & Manage Encryption Key, have been introduced. |
It’s important to note that this post doesn’t provide an exhaustive list of differences but we have covered almost all the important changes which Magento 2.x has introduced in Magento 2.
Why Magento 2.x Admin Panel is way better than Magento 1.x?
We believe Magento 2 Admin panel is really a notch up than its predecessor due to these reasons-
Much Improved & user friendly UI
- The new admin panel design is a virtue for the non-technical admin users. Previously, only a person with technical knowledge onMagento 1.x could manage the admin panel. But, with the new UI, it is so intuitive that any admin user from non-technical background as well can access and control it very easily.
- Mobile friendly design of the admin panel makes it extremely convenient to be managed from any devices such as iPad, tablet or smart phone. Touch responsive navigation panel provides smooth navigation through any part of the admin panel.
Faster and reliable
- While navigating through the admin panel, you will experience it to be really smooth and fast. This is because jQuery UI, Angular JS and Knockout JS along with bootstrap has replaced the old version of Prototype JS and made it very comfortable visually for the user to manage it.
- The speed of product import is increased by almost 4x times which reduces the product creation time drastically. Now, the merchant doesn’t have to wait for long hours to get the products imported.
Excellent Grid Data Management
- The new data grids have been much more efficient in managing the records and columns.
- Select any of the columns to your grid just by clicking on the checkbox. Previously, a developer’s involvement was essential in this process just to add a single column in it.
- The AJAX filters on the grid are faster compared to the previous one as no page reload is required.
Also, quick access to deselect these multiple filters help to find the records quickly. - Quickly sort all the records using AJAX grid without refreshing the page.
- The time for managing the grid data has been reduced to almost half.
Customized & Personalized Views
- This is the most exciting feature. In this, the admin user can drag and drop the admin grid columns as per ones needs while dealing with the large catalogues.
- The drag and drop feature allows the admin user to create his/her own view and save it dynamically, which gives personalized view of the section for every user.
Product Management
- Now, user can add product videos while creating the product itself. This feature was not present in Magento 1.x versions. Merchant had to purchase an extension to accomplish this, however now he can add the product videos for free!!
- Creating the products has been transformed into step by step process instead of tabs. Admin user can directly add any attribute from the Add Attribute button which saves a lot of time while manually creating products.
- In Magento 1.x, the user had to go through lengthy procedure before creating the product. The user had to select product type, choose attribute set and only after that product details could be added. In Magento 2.x, the user can select the product type from the grid page itself. Also, the Attribute set has been given as an option on edit product page. So, the process and time both are shortened.
Locked User, Manage Encryption Key
- Two new tabs have been added to the System menu. System > Permissions > Locked Users shows the list of the locked One can unlock any of the users through this.
- Under System > Other Settings > Manage Encryption Key, you can auto generate the encryption key or add the new key manually.This will help to save the sensitive user data in a better and secure manner.
Keyword Search
- Search any data in Order or Customer grid using single keyword search field. Previously, the user had to search using different fields provided in the grid. But, now it is much simplified with the usage of single field. This field will search and pull the data from any of the grid columns.
Better Import / Export Options
- The new Import / Export functionality has been improved with some of the enhanced import features like Advanced Pricing, Customers main file and Customers Addresses These allow other users to import specific entities independently.
New Relic Reporting
Now, the merchant can manage the site business and performance metrics by real-time visibility into the business using the New Relic Reporting. Filling up the required information about Relic API and setting up the cron job will allow the merchant to track the site business for real-time data. You can find this section under Stores > Configuration > General > New Relic Reporting. Earlier in Magento 1.x this feature was not present & merchant had to purchase the extension to do this.
Conclusion
As mentioned in the above points, we can clearly recognize that Magento 2 admin panel is more powerful and robust system compared to earlier versions of Magento. With lots of advantages, Magento 2 admin panel is the sure shot winner in this comparison.
