PS PrestaShop PrestaShop Intermediate

DataFirefly PWA — Complete Guide

Install, configure and run the PWA: installable store, rich and scheduled push campaigns, product alerts, customer preferences and offline mode for PrestaShop 8 and 9.

Updated Module version 1.3.1

Overview

The DataFirefly PWA module (dfpwa) turns your PrestaShop store into a Progressive Web App: customers install it on their home screen, receive web push notifications and keep browsing offline. The module is fully self-contained: notification encryption runs in native PHP, with no Composer, no third-party service and no subscription.

Four pillars: an installable store, a professional push engine (rich, scheduled, segmented campaigns), automations (orders, carts, stock, prices) and an offline mode.

Compatibility and requirements

  • PrestaShop 8.0 to 9.x, single-store and multistore
  • Module translated into 7 languages: FR, EN, ES, DE, IT, NL, PL
  • No dependency: no Composer, no framework, no external service
  • HTTPS required: PWAs and web push do not exist over HTTP
  • PHP openssl extension with the prime256v1 curve, for VAPID encryption
  • Cron task for scheduled campaigns, product alerts and cart recovery

If openssl or prime256v1 is unavailable, installation is blocked with an explicit message. Ask your host to enable the extension.

Installation

  1. Back office: Modules > Module Manager.
  2. Upload a module, then select dfpwa.zip.
  3. Click Configure.
  4. Copy the cron URL shown on the dashboard and add it to your scheduler, every 5 to 15 minutes.

On installation the module generates your VAPID keys and a cron token, creates its tables, installs the campaign page and adds the “Notification preferences” link to the customer account. Valid PWA icons are bundled, so the store is installable immediately, before you upload your own.

Configuration

Application and installation

  • Name and short name: shown under the icon once installed.
  • Theme colour and background colour: system bar and splash screen.
  • Display mode: standalone recommended. The browser mode prevents installation entirely.
  • Start URL: page opened when the app launches.
  • 192 and 512 px icons: square PNG or WebP. An icon that is too small or not square is rejected and the bundled default is kept, so installability is never broken.
  • Install banner, display delay and iOS hint.

Installability diagnostics

The dashboard checks, point by point, what Chrome requires before offering installation: HTTPS, a compatible display mode, valid 192 and 512 px icons, an available offline fallback, and the module being enabled. A link opens the generated manifest.

On iPhone and iPad there is no automatic prompt: Safari requires the manual “Add to Home Screen” step. That is expected, and the module explains it to the visitor. The diagnostics therefore concern Android and desktop browsers. On the storefront, running dfpwaDiagnose() in the browser console reports exactly what is blocking.

Web push

  • VAPID subject: contact address sent to push services, either mailto: or https://.
  • Ask visitors automatically and consent message: a soft prompt shown before the browser’s native dialog, GDPR-compliant.
  • Subscribe bell: six positions, can be hidden on cart and checkout. Once the visitor is subscribed, the bell becomes a shortcut to their preferences.
  • Message lifetime: how long a push service keeps an undelivered notification.
  • Max notifications per device per day: 0 disables the cap. Transactional messages never consume it.
  • Quiet hours: campaigns queued during this window are delivered afterwards by the cron. Two identical values disable the feature.
  • Messages per cron run: lower this if your host enforces a short PHP timeout.

Offline mode

  • Cache strategy: stale-while-revalidate (recommended), network-first or cache-first.
  • Title and message of the fallback page, plus a list of pre-cached URLs.

Cart, checkout and customer account are always excluded from the cache. Turning offline mode off does not make the store non-installable: the fallback page is still served, because a browser only installs an app able to answer while offline.

Sending a campaign

  1. Open PWA Push in the admin menu.
  2. Enter a title (around 50 characters) and a message (around 120 characters).
  3. Add a banner image by uploading it (JPG, PNG or WebP, 2 MB max, ideal ratio 2:1) or by entering a URL. An uploaded file takes precedence.
  4. Add up to two action buttons, each with its own label and URL.
  5. Target by language, customer group, device (iOS, Android, desktop) and audience (everyone, registered customers, guests).
  6. Leave Schedule for empty to send now, or enter a date as YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM.
  7. Use test mode to send the notification to yourself before a mass send.

Test mode targets only devices linked to a customer account using your employee email address. If no account matches, the send is refused rather than delivered to the whole segment.

Delivery queue

Every send is queued and processed in batches. Part goes out immediately, the rest is delivered by the cron. A base of tens of thousands of subscribers therefore causes no timeout and no truncated statistics. The dashboard shows how many notifications are waiting and lets you force a run.

History and statistics

The history lists the last thirty campaigns with their status, recipients, deliveries, failures, clicks and click-through rate. A click is attributed to the campaign that produced the notification, and the counter can never exceed the number of messages actually delivered. Subscribers export to CSV.

Automations

Order updates

Tick the statuses that trigger a notification. Defaults: payment accepted, shipped, delivered. Leaving every box unticked notifies on every status change.

Abandoned cart recovery

The cron spots carts containing items, attached to a subscribed customer and with no order, within the configured window (1 to 168 hours).

Back-in-stock and price-drop alerts

A button appears on the product page. The back-in-stock button only shows when the product is unavailable; the price-drop one is always offered. The visitor needs no account: the alert is tied to their device subscription. The price at the time of the request is stored, and you set the minimum drop percentage that triggers the alert.

Welcome notification

Sent once, when a device first subscribes. It confirms the opt-in and is never blocked by customer preferences.

Customer preferences

From their account, the customer opens Notification preferences and switches four categories on or off:

  • Order updates: shipping and status changes
  • Product alerts: back in stock and price drops
  • Cart reminders: abandoned cart recovery
  • Offers and news: marketing campaigns

Everything is on by default, including for existing subscribers after an update. The choice applies to all the customer’s devices, and a new device inherits their preferences. A category switched off is never sent, even for transactional messages that ignore the daily cap and quiet hours.

GDPR

  • Consent requested through an explicit message before any subscription
  • The customer manages their categories from their account and can switch everything off
  • Deleting a customer account erases subscriptions, product alerts and queued messages, through PrestaShop’s GDPR hook
  • No data is sent to any third-party service: encryption happens on your server

Theme customisation

  • data-dfpwa-bell on any element turns it into a subscribe button and replaces the floating bell.
  • data-dfpwa-share on any element turns it into a native share button.
  • The dfpwa-prefs-form class is deliberately left unstyled for your own CSS.

FAQ and troubleshooting

The install banner does not appear on Android

Chrome shows nothing until the store meets its criteria. Check the dashboard diagnostics, then run dfpwaDiagnose() in the browser console on the storefront: the verdict names what is missing. If you already installed the PWA on the device, uninstall it and clear the site data before testing again. A dismissal remembered by the visitor expires after 30 days, or immediately with dfpwaResetPrompts().

Nothing installs on iPhone

That is Safari’s normal behaviour: it has no automatic prompt. The module’s “Add to Home Screen” guide explains the steps. Web push there works only from iOS 16.4, and only once the store is installed.

Notifications are not going out

Check that push is enabled, that the VAPID keys are present and that customers have subscribed. Test mode validates the whole chain. If messages stay queued, make sure the cron is actually called.

A campaign stays pending

It is either scheduled for a future date, queued during quiet hours, or being delivered in batches. The dashboard lets you force a run.

A customer says they receive nothing

Check their notification preferences: they may have switched a category off. Also check the daily per-device cap and quiet hours.

Product alerts do not fire

They depend on the cron. Check that it runs, that the alert type is enabled, and for price drops that the discount reaches the configured minimum percentage.

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