Shopware 6 Release News – February 2021

As announced, we're releasing the Shopware version 6.3.5.0 in February. Whether you’re a shop operator or developer – read all about the new features here:

Outlook: What’s happening in March? We won’t be publishing any release news in March as we’re preparing the final release of the major version Shopware 6.4. However, developers and plugin producers can expect an update about the upcoming 6.4 release candidate here in the blog.

* General updates *

#1 Shopware CMS: Multiple layout assignments now possible

You’ll already know our Shopware Shopping Experiences by now. They constitute Shopware’s CMS (content management system) and enable you to create landing pages, shop pages, and category layouts in no time.

With the 6.3.5.0 update, we’ve added a little something new: you can now assign layouts to several categories quickly and easily. This wasn’t possible before but makes things a lot easier for you now and saves you time.

Read more about how you can assign layouts here in our documentation.

#2 VAT handling for companies

The VAT ID plays an important role for B2B shops. In this context, we have made several improvements, such as:

New feature: Define VAT ID as a required field

When your B2B customers provide their VAT ID, they open up further possibilities (read on to find out more). However, to be able to make use of them, you need to define the VAT ID as a required field first. To do so, go to Shop settings in the administration > Login/Registration and select the new option “Define VAT ID as required field”.

You can also view your customers’ __VAT ID __in the __administration __in __customer details __as well as in the orders.

Tax-free for companies

The new feature allows you to offer the option Tax-free for companies. You can find this option in Settings > Shop > Countries. There you can configure per country whether a company can make tax-free purchases or not. If you activate this option, orders become tax-free after login for B2B customers who have provided a valid VAT ID.

What else is new in connection with the VAT ID?

Under certain circumstances, B2B retailers can make “intra-community deliveries” which are then tax-free. The option __Intra-community deliveries __can now be activated per country and stated on invoices as well.
__Different shipping addresses __are also shown on the invoice.
If you go to __Business settings __and then __administration, __you’ll find a new field for the telephone number.

#3 Define list price per rule

With list prices in Shopware, you can persuade your customers that they’re saving money by e.g. comparing the current retail price with the recommended retail price (RRP).

This is new:

You can define list prices for each rule that’s been activated in connection with a product or your own price definition
Define list prices for specific customer groups, Sales Channels, etc.

List prices are an effective measure to boost your sales. Benefit from the different new applications available to you. You can find out more about list prices in our documentation.

#4 Filter-Settings per Category

Your customers can use filters in your online shop to help them find their desired items quicker. If a filter is selected, the product list changes accordingly.

This is new: When you edit category pages in the CMS, you can now define which filter groups to display when filtering the product list in your online shop and which ones not to display. This way, you prevent customers from seeing filters that make no sense for the respective category, thus increasing usability.

You can make these settings in the CMS (Shopping Experiences) via the Element settings in the new Filter tab. You can find out more about sortings and filters in our documentation.

#5 New possibilities for custom fields

You can already expand Shopware 6 individually and flexibly by creating custom fields in the administration (e.g. for text fields, media files, or check boxes). In this way you can create your own fields, add them to various programme areas, and then use them in the administration.

This convenient feature has now been developed even further. From now on, you can not only select individual values when creating free text fields, but also refer to existing data fields: e.g. products, categories, countries, payment methods, and much more. This gives you many more possibilities to choose from!

Here you can find out everything you need to know about custom fields in Shopware.

* Developer News *

Attention, developers: as usual, you can find all the important developer-relevant information for this release in our upgrade.md or in our technical changelog. We have also summarised the most important parts for you here:

#6 Plugin Configuration

With the 6.3.5.0 release, plugin configurations will also be removed from the database as soon as a plugin has been uninstalled.

The config key for deactivated plugins is now also deleted so that it is no longer visible for themes.

Added new method deletePluginConfiguration in src/Core/System/SystemConfig/SystemConfigService.php to delete the configuration in the database
Added new method filterNotActivatedPlugins in load method of src/Core/System/SystemConfig/SystemConfigService.php to remove the config key of not activated plugins
Added $this->systemConfigService->deletePluginConfiguration($pluginBaseClass); in uninstallPlugin method of src/Core/Framework/Plugin/PluginLifecycleService.php to delete the configuration in the database when the user uninstall plugin

Plugin News

Regardless of the latest release (Shopware 6.3.5.0), we keep you informed about important extension updates here. These plugin will be released soon:

Unified Language Plugin

With the Unified Language Plugin, you no longer have to install a plugin for each language. Instead, you can choose from numerous language packages which you can activate and deactivate separately for the administration as well as the sales channel display.

* More information *

Missed out on any release updates? Find out more about recent releases!
Are you already familiar with the Global Product Update? It’s our monthly video series which gives you insights into our current development process. Check out the explanatory blog or go directly to the video.
No matter which issue you’re dealing with, it’s often worth checking out our documentation first.