What’s New in PrestaShop 1.6.1: Speed, Usability, and Architecture Improvements

The developers of the PrestaShop e-commerce platform have released the latest and significantly improved version of their online store creation platform. Let’s discuss the key benefits and new features of this version.

Optimized Performance

The new version is significantly faster compared to the previous PrestaShop 1.6. x versions. According to PrestaShop developers, the system has been optimized so that certain functionalities are up to 10 times faster than before.

• Developers have optimized most database calls and queries, which were particularly slow with large product quantities. There should be no more slowdown issues when using large shopping carts or categories with many products.
• Improved MySQL caching utilization
• Optimized and improved data imports into the system
• Rebuilt and enhanced search indexing, now faster and more efficient with extensive product inventories
• Optimized back-office interface and management
• Faster invoicing

New Admin Interface Design and Preston

PrestaShop developers introduced a new mascot, Preston, and redesigned the admin interface with new colors and improved usability.

Architecture Improvements

PrestaShop was initially built with a straightforward and inefficient architecture. The 1.5 and 1.6 updates aimed to gradually fix this by moving toward modern PHP technologies and correcting major architectural flaws. This makes the system more scalable and robust for the future. The new version starts shifting toward a new architecture, so users of older versions like 1.4 or 1.5 are strongly encouraged to update as soon as possible.

Future versions will also stop supporting older PHP versions (5.2, 5.3), so those running outdated systems must update their server software accordingly.

Structured Updates and Versioning

From now on, store admins and developers will know what to expect from updates. PrestaShop updates are structured and versioned clearly, making it easier for developers to understand whether an update is a significant architecture change or just bug fixes.