Technical guides
Twenty-one procedures written to be followed, not merely read. Each starts from a definite task — back up before working, enable debug mode, read an error log, prepare a major upgrade — and gives the steps in order, with what to check at each one.
Who these guides are for
This section is not for someone still hunting the cause of a failure: the problems section starts from the symptom for that. Here you already know what you want to do. Create a child theme before touching the design, enable debug mode to see the message the site is hiding, prepare a migration without losing rankings, or simply clear the right cache.
The typical reader is a technical merchant, an e-commerce manager, or a developer meeting a platform they don't use every day. The guides assume access to the shop admin, and some assume file access over SFTP or access to the hosting panel. Where that is the case, it is stated at the top, before you have lost ten minutes.
How the section is organised
The twenty-one guides read in groups. Before working: back up the shop, enable debug mode on PrestaShop, enable it on WordPress, set file permissions on the server. Observe: read PrestaShop error logs, read WooCommerce ones, diagnose a slow shop. Routine upkeep: clear the PrestaShop cache, clear the WordPress cache.
Customise without breaking: create a WordPress child theme, understand PrestaShop hooks, choose between an override and a module. Performance and search: optimise product images, migrate without losing rankings, move the site to HTTPS. Infrastructure and updates: prepare a major update, choose e-commerce hosting, secure a shop after a hack. Connect: configure a PrestaShop carrier, configure a payment webhook, connect a product feed.
The order to take them in
Almost every intervention follows the same order, and keeping to it avoids most accidents. Back up first: files and database together, because restoring one without the other yields an inconsistent shop. Make the error visible next, by turning on development mode — on PrestaShop, the _PS_MODE_DEV_ constant in config/defines.inc.php; on WordPress, WP_DEBUG and WP_DEBUG_LOG in wp-config.php, which writes to wp-content/debug.log.
Then read what the site actually says, before forming any hypothesis. Then fix, one thing at a time: two simultaneous changes make it impossible to know which one worked. Then close up — turn debug mode off in production, because it prints file paths and query fragments that have no business being shown to a visitor.
The guides assume that discipline rather than repeating it on every page. If you read only one before working, read the one on backups.
The four most used guides
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Back up your shop before working on it
Exactly what to back up, where to put it, and how to check the backup can actually be restored.
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Enable PrestaShop debug mode
Surface the PHP error hiding behind a blank page or a 500, then close it back down properly.
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Clear the PrestaShop cache
The different cache layers, which one matches your symptom, and the case of changes that never show up.
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Diagnose a slow shop
Measure before optimising: separate server time from render time, and find what actually costs.
Online shops and artificial intelligence
In this section
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Enabling debug mode on PrestaShop
Debug mode replaces PrestaShop's blank page or generic message with the exact technical detail of the error: file, line, class at…
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Enabling debug mode on WordPress
WP_DEBUG reveals the exact file, line and message behind a "critical error on this website" or a blank screen. Set up correctly…
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Reading error logs on PrestaShop
PrestaShop records its errors in three different places depending on their nature: its own logs table, a folder of files, and the…
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Reading error logs on WordPress and WooCommerce
A WooCommerce store writes its errors to several separate logs depending on where they originate: WordPress core, the WooCommerce…
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Clearing the PrestaShop cache
PrestaShop keeps a pre-compiled version of its pages in memory so it doesn't recalculate everything on every visit. A change that…
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Clearing the WordPress and WooCommerce cache
On WordPress, a change that doesn't show up usually passes through up to four different cache layers before reaching the visitor…
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Backing up your store before an intervention
A backup that only contains the database, or that has never been restore-tested, isn't really a backup. Before any update or code…
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Migrating a store without losing your SEO
Even a technically successful migration can still tank your traffic if URLs change without a redirect, or if Google takes time to…
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Diagnosing a slow e-commerce store
Switching hosting at random rarely fixes a slow store, because slowness almost always has a precise, locatable cause. Measuring…
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Configuring a carrier in PrestaShop
A carrier misconfigured in PrestaShop results either in wrong shipping costs, or no delivery option at all at checkout. Getting…
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Connecting a product feed (Google Shopping, marketplace)
A poorly structured product feed rarely produces an error you can see straight away: products simply get rejected or silently…
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Override or module: which to choose on PrestaShop
PrestaShop offers two ways to change its behaviour without touching the software's core: the override, which extends an existing…
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Understanding PrestaShop hooks
Hooks are the core mechanism that lets a module add behaviour to PrestaShop without touching the core code. Understanding how…
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Switching an e-commerce site to HTTPS
Switching to HTTPS isn't just about installing a certificate: the store also has to stop calling any resource over HTTP, and its…
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Setting file permissions on an e-commerce server
Permissions that are too restrictive break a store's normal operation; permissions that are too permissive open an exploitable…
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Preparing a major update for your store
A major update often changes more than just the version number: database structure, module compatibility, the behaviour of…
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Choosing hosting for an online store
The price of a hosting plan says little about its real ability to run an online store under load. What actually matters lies…
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Configuring and debugging a payment webhook
A payment can succeed on the bank's side without the order being validated on the store's side, if the webhook responsible for…
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Creating and using a WordPress child theme
Editing a WordPress theme's files directly works, until the theme's next update: every customisation then disappears without…
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Optimising product images for performance
On a product page or category page, images generally make up most of the page's total weight. It's also the simplest performance…
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Agentic commerce: what a French online shop can do
Agentic commerce means purchases prepared or completed by an AI assistant on a customer’s behalf: it searches, compares, fills…
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Making your shop visible in AI search engines
Since 22 July 2026, Google’s AI Mode and AI Overviews have been live in France, and ChatGPT and Perplexity already answer…