Suz wrote:
> I would appreciate your input on best ways to approach some modifications
> to a large existing web site. I suspect that a database approach would be
> best, but since I know nothing about databases, I need your help with some
> very basic info.
Sheesh, I'm up late, so excuse any gibberish forthcoming. Barking will be
kept to a minimum ;)
hMM, NOW WHERE'S THAT CAPSlock key....
um, ...
> What we'd like to do is:
>
> 1) ease the process of adding new titles to the catalog
> 2) add a sophisticated shopping system complete with realtime credit card
> processing, email order confirmation, etc.
I think you left out #3...do all this for $5 and a Santa Claus PEZ
dispenser.
> Our client's record catalog has 125+ titles, divided among four record
> labels. Currently, each is represented by a conventional static HTML page.
> Each of the 125+ catalog pages has standard background and logo unique to
> the label under which the album is published, plus: a JPEG of the album
> cover, album name, artist's name, a paragraph of descriptive copy, whether
> available in tape, CD or both, item number, and two links to RealAudio
> files.
OK. This is all stuff that can be kept in a database. For the jpegs you can
just save the filenames in the database. Same thing with the RealAudio
links.
> The existing version of the web site has only a standard HTML based ssl
> order form. The user has to fill out all titles, credit card info, etc.
> manually.
That sounds like a pain, and probably leads to enough lost sales to justify
the expense of doing things a different way. Take a look at your logs for
people leaving the site from that page and not completing the sale.
> Orders are posted to a secure web page, then a company employee
> has to print out all the orders, confirm CC's by telephone,
> manually create
> a database, etc. It works great and they get a lot of orders, but
> we'd like
> to streamline the process so there's less work on both the seller's and
> buyer's end of the order process.
I'll assume that the SSL server is at a hosting service, right?
Validating the credit cards online is not all that tricky to setup. As a
first step toward a better solution you could automate the CC part of the
process. It would not _require_ any database work on your end (though some
db work for tracking parts of the purchase that the cc-verify company
doesn't track would probably be the first db stuff you would want to add).
There is a lot of backend automation that can be done...maybe you ask some
more specific things below, let's see...
> Now, please understand that I've never done anything more complicated with
> a database than a mailmerge or using Quicken. Currently I don't even own
> any database software. I'm wondering if I could use Filemaker on my Mac to
> catalog all the copy and file names for the various page elements, then
> have Filemaker build catalog pages on the fly? (The site is also hosted on
> a Mac.)
>From what I've heard about Filemaker, yes, you can do that. Their lit says
so, too. You will want to carefully look at what kind of control over the
output you have. It may be dumpy. Plus, by doing it that way, converting all
the db to static pages, you suddenly create a large maintenance issue. It's
much, much, much better, IMO, to create templates that are filled on the fly
when a certain item is requested. If you do it that way you need this:
1. a template or script that grabs records from your database and lays them
out in html
2. your records in the database, setup using unique indexes
3. a user who clicks a link that has a record ID in it, such as:
../records.html?ID=320
When the user clicks, the template/script will just go to the database, get
all the bits and pieces of record 320 and spit forth a lovely page full of
intriguing data.
The static page method means creating some sort of link catalog that will
lead people to all those zillions of never-ending pages. Headache.
> Then, from those pages, I'd like the user to be able to add an item to a
> shopping cart, submit an order and have the order processed automatically
> online.
If they're going to add the items to a shopping cart, the items will need ID
numbers. If the numbers are always drawn from the db on the fly you will
have less worries as you administrate the site. Image this:
1. you create a zillion pages that have the ID numbers in them.
2. you change the database by doing random deletes and other changes
3. you have to sync-up the already existing static pages and the database
4. you go get a krumpet and start working
5. you get lunch, still trying to sync things
6. you get dinner
7. you eat a midnight snack
8. you watch the sun come up
9. you start hallucinating heavily and decide to see how far you can go with
this fun new sleep deprivation thing
10. you're so tired that you fall asleep on your keyboard, causing your Mac
to quack incessantly
11. your neighbors stroll past your window, knowing damn well that you
should have used a database and a single template
12. they snicker and tell their friends
13. word gets out that you are asleep on your keyboard again
14. you dream about marsupials
15. a local band comes by and writes a song about you
16. you get your 15 minutes of fame
17. when you wake up you're still not done
uh, of course you could just generate all the pages anew and delete all the
old ones, then do a big old file copy, but it's still a pain...and could
interfere with people using the site.
> Since most of the commercial ecommerce sites don't allow for
> customization of catalog pages, and because we need to keep the links to
> RealAudio on the catalog pages, it seems that we need to keep all
> functions
> on the current servers.
Most of the commercial ecommerce sites don't do what people need. They're
the FP of the ecommerce world. Some are nice solutions to certain problems,
but, well, there's another <rant> coming that is not formed yet</rant>...You
can only go so far until you need a custom solution. And, being a snazzy
designer, your eye will prolly be led away from those pre-fab solutions even
sooner.
> I was thinking of possibly using CardServices
> International's ecommerce software on the Mac server to do the CC
> processing.
I've heard good things about them. There are a few things you need to know
before using any of the cc-verify systems.
1) you need a merchant account with a bank that uses a system compatible
with the one the cc-verifier uses. Most cc-v's will point you to banks, if
the need arises. The more reputable cc-v's work with a larger variety of
auth systems, so they are compatible with more banks. If you already have a
merchant account, some cc-v's will call your bank for you and, if they are
not compatible, try to solicit them. Figure in the cost of having your
merchant account, and maybe the cost of starting a new one if the one you
have won't work with the cc-v system you want to use. Note: from my last
look, it seems that all cc-v systems are growing their list of banks and
compatible gateways, and banks are becoming more savvy, too.
2) you need to consider carefully the different pricing plans and
implementation options for the different competing cc-v services. They vary
wildly, in usage fees, startup costs, ease of installation, meshing with
your db, etc. I don't know of any comarison studies on the net, but if
anyone else does, please pass on a link or 2.
> Does this approach sound practical and possible to you guys?
You need to decide what defines practical. Possible?...I haven't used
CardSservices, but chances are that they will just give you some perl
scripts to integrate their system, unless you just calculate order totals on
your end and send them all the data wrapped in a form, wenceforth their
server takes over for the CC transaction (an easy, but not always smooth,
way of taking care of biz). You will need to integrate the catalog/shopping
cart with the cc-v, unless you buy into an integrated solution.
pert dern tired now, did last sentence make sense?
Jack
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