When customizing your Magento store, one of the first things everyone wants to do is to turn off some of the
default functionality and modules. Out of the tarball, Magento has most of its functionality turned on so that it's
available, but some will not be applicable to your store. This article summarizes how to turn off some of default modules and blocks of content, like the callout banners in the right and left columns, or the poll, or newsletter signup.
The general process we recommend when starting to customize your Magento store is to start simple and move up to more complex solutions only if you need to. To ensure the best upgrade path and most stable behavior,
follow this approach when customizing:
1. Can you disable or customize the feature/module using the Admin Panel?
2. Can you disable or customize the feature/module using the layout (xml) files & CSS?
3. Can you disable or customize the feature/module using the template (phtml) files & CSS?
4. Do you have to write a custom module or local extension?
This article covers how to turn off some of the most commonly modified blocks and modules on your Magento website using the Admin Panel and your custom theme’s xml files (steps 1 & 2 above). It doesn’t provide every bit of code but should point you in the right direction for some of the most common elements. Guidance here will vary based on what version of Magento and what theme is being used, so we’ve tried to explain the general approach then you can adapt the specific admin fields or code snippets depending on your theme and version of Magento.
