Here is how to do it:

<!-- this is inside of .phtml files -->
<img src="<?php echo $this->getSkinUrl('images/coolimage.png'); ?>" alt="arrow"/>
 
<!-- use this is in cms block -->
<img src="{{skin url='images/coolerimage.png'}}" alt="" />

In short the steps needed are

1. Create the attributes that will be configurable by the user – for our example they will be Size and Color
2. Create the attribute set that will be assigned to the variant products – for our example, we’ll call it “T-shirt”
3. Create the individual variant products
4. Create the configurable product, and add the “T-shirt” attribute set
5. Add the individual variants to this configurable product

Create the attributes that will be configurable by the user – for our example they will be Size and Color
In the adminpanel this is under Catalog->Attributes->Manage Attributes
Scope needs to be set to Global and Input type to drop down. Once this is done then Use To Create Configurable Product is shown and this should be set to yes. Setting required to yes is a good idea as well.

Under label / options create a label (for instance size) and give the different options it can take.

Repeat for all attributes you want to create (for instance size and color)

Create the attribute set that will be assigned to the variant products – for our example, we’ll call it “T-shirt”
Now we’re ready to create an attribute set called “T-shirt” to start using for this product. Go to “Catalog -> Attributes -> Manage Attribute Sets” and press “Add New Set”.
Give the new set a name and then drag and drop the attributes to the group where you want them to be when creating a product.

Create the individual variant products
Create a product and make sure that you use the attribute set you have created. Add the attributes where you placed them.


Repeat for all the products you have

Create the configurable product, and add the “T-shirt” attribute set

Add the individual variants to this configurable product
This can be done when the configurable product is created or later on using edit product.

And then it should look something like this in the shop

When you create a product in the admin panel there is a label Custom Options.




Use “Add new option” to make the option (color, size or whatnot)
Then for each of the options use add new row to add the deferent values that the option can have.
The column labeled price is for adding a extra cost for a option (if for instance the red shirt should be more expensive).

Then this will look something like this in the store

Then only down sides I have seen with this is that I have to add the options one time for each of the products (but that is also nice since not all products have the same values) and that Magento will treat this as one single product so I can’t let Magento manage the stock for this/these products.

This is a way to do a redirect where a javascript redirect is used if headers have been sent (and thus it is no longer possible to use a header redirect)

if (!headers_sent()) {
 
	Mage::app()->getResponse()->setRedirect(Mage::getBaseUrl() . 'portal/');
 
}
 
else {
 
	$baseUrl = Mage::getBaseUrl() . 'portal/';
 
	print '<script type="text/javascript">';
 
	print "window.location.href = '{$baseUrl}';";
 
	print '</script>';
 
}

And the function headers_sent() is a php function so that can of course be used outside of Magento in any php scrip where a header location is nice but not always possible.

The way I solved this issue was by setting the timezone on the computer that I was uploading from to the same timezone as the settings in Magento.

Other suggestions to try out if that don’t work:

• If you are using certificate: Verify that it is valid, you have correct domains etc
• Set use secure url in admin to false

Mage::app()->getFrontController()->getResponse()->setRedirect(Mage::getUrl('portal'));

This will redirect to the page called portal.

However if you try to do this from a view then you will get an error message about headers already having been sent.
If you need to do a redirect form inside a view then using javascript is one way to do this:

echo 'Due to SOMEREASON you are being redirected <a herf="' . Mage::getUrl('portal') . '">Please click here if nothing happens</a>';
		echo '<script type="text/javascript">
		<!--
		window.location = "' . Mage::getUrl('portal') . '"
		//-->
		</script>';

However a tip is to reconsider if you really need to do the redirect from the view, doing it from the controller is a lot easier and quicker.

Mage::getModel('core/store')->load($storeId); //a store object

A store object might look like this. Each of the data has a get and a set fucntion (so getIsActive() returns if the store is active or not)

 
 
Mage_Core_Model_Store Object
(
    [_cacheTag:protected] => 1
    [_eventPrefix:protected] => store
    [_eventObject:protected] => store
    [_priceFilter:protected] => 
    [_website:protected] => 
    [_group:protected] => 
    [_configCache:protected] => 
    [_configCacheBaseNodes:protected] => Array
        (
            [0] => catalog/price/scope
            [1] => web/secure/base_url
            [2] => web/secure/use_in_adminhtml
            [3] => web/secure/use_in_frontend
            [4] => web/url/use_store
            [5] => web/unsecure/base_url
            [6] => web/seo/use_rewrites
            [7] => web/unsecure/base_link_url
            [8] => web/secure/base_link_url
            [9] => general/locale/code
        )
 
    [_dirCache:protected] => Array()
 
    [_urlCache:protected] => Array()
 
    [_baseUrlCache:protected] => Array()
 
    [_session:protected] => 
    [_isAdminSecure:protected] => 
    [_isFrontSecure:protected] => 
    [_isReadOnly:private] => 
    [_resourceName:protected] => core/store
    [_resource:protected] => 
    [_resourceCollectionName:protected] => core/store_collection
    [_dataSaveAllowed:protected] => 1
    [_data:protected] => Array
        (
            [store_id] => 64
            [code] => mystore
            [website_id] => 1
            [group_id] => 25
            [name] => mystore
            [sort_order] => 0
            [is_active] => 1
        )
 
    [_origData:protected] => Array
        (
            [store_id] => 64
            [code] => mystore
            [website_id] => 1
            [group_id] => 25
            [name] => mystore
            [sort_order] => 0
            [is_active] => 1
        )
 
    [_idFieldName:protected] => 
    [_isDeleted:protected] => 
)

An an example code to find if the store with id 5 is active or not

if (Mage::getModel('core/store')->load($storeId)->getIsActive())
    //do something if we are active
else
    //do something else if the store is not active

Create a folder for the site map and make it writable

First figure out where to place the sitemap(s) and make that location writable by the webserver.
In a Linux environment this is done from the console this is done like:

mkdir sitemap
sudo chown admin:www-data sitemap
sudo chmod 775 sitemap
touch sitemap/index.php

The touch index.php will create a empty index file (that keeps the folder from being listed.

Define a sitemap

In the admin panel go to “Catalog->Goolge Sitemap->Add sitemap”

Fill out this form with values that makes sense to you.
Note: If you have sveral stores one website, then all product that are visible on that website is added to the sitemap.

Make the site map update automatically

In the admin pangel go to “System->Configuration->Google sitemap”

As always, change to values that makes sense to you

Another (older) way of doing this is described by the guys at inchoo

Make the var folder writable to the web server and clear out the var/session and var/cache folders.