PHP 5 e-commerce development : create a flexible framework in PHP for a powerful e-commerce solutuion / Michael Peacock.

Includes index.

The popularity of online shopping has increased dramatically over the past few years. There are plenty of options available if you not are planning to build your own e-commerce solution but sometimes it's better to use your own solutions. It may be easy to find an e-commerce system but when it comes to extending it or using it you might come across a lot of difficulties. This book will show you how to create your own PHP framework that can be extended and used with ease, particularly for e-commerce sites. Using this framework you will be able to display and manage products, customize products, create wish-lists, make recommendations to customers based on previous purchases, send email notifications when certain products are in stock, rate the products online, and much more. This book helps you build a Model-View-Controller style framework, which is then used to put together an e-commerce application. The framework contains template management, database management, and user authentication management. With core functionality in place, e-commerce-focused features are gradually added to the framework including products, categories, customizable products with different variations and customer input, wish-lists, recommendations, the shopping basket, and a complete order process. At the end of the book, you will have an e-commerce architecture that will take you from viewing or searching for products, and adding them to your basket, through the checkout process and making payment for your order, to your order being dispatched. Focus is placed on flexibility, so that the framework can be extended as the needs of a particular store change, as illustrated by one of the appendices, which goes through the process of modifying the store to sell downloadable products, as well as physical ones. Supplementary information, such as how to market and promote an online store, as well as take regular backups and perform maintenance is also covered, ensuring you have every chance of success with you own e-commerce framework backed store.

Cover; Copyright; Credits; About the Author; About the Reviewers; Table of Contents; Preface; Chapter 1: PHP e-commerce; e-commerce: who, what, where, why?; An overview of e-commerce; eBay; Amazon; Brick 'N Mortar stores; Service-based companies; Why use e-commerce?; Rolling out your own framework; Why PHP?; Why a framework?; When to use an existing package?; Existing products; A look at e-commerce sites; iStockphoto; WooThemes; eBay; Amazon; Play.com; e-commerce: what does it need to do/have?; Products; Checkout process; General; Our framework: what is it going to do?

Our framework: why is it going to do it?Juniper Theatricals; Summary; Chapter 2: Planning our Framework; Designing a killer framework; Patterns; Model-View-Controller (MVC); Registry; Singleton; Structure; Building a killer framework; Pattern implementation; MVC; Registry; Singleton; Registry objects; Routing requests; An alternative: with a router; Processing the incoming URL within our registry object; index.php; .htaccess file; Configuration file; What about e-commerce?; An e-commerce registry?; Summary; Chapter 3: Products and Categories; What we need; Product information

Category informationStructuring content within our framework; Pages; Content; Versioning; Building products, categories, and content functionality into our framework; Database; Content; Content types; Content versions; Products; Categories; Pages within our framework; Model; View; Controller; Products; Model; View; Controller; Categories; Model; View; Controller; Some thoughts; Product and category images; Routing products and categories; Featured products; Embedding products; Summary; Chapter 4: Product Variations and User Uploads; Giving users choice; Simple variants; How could this work?

Combinations of variantsHow will this work?; High-level overview; Database structure; Template switching; Templates; A look back at simple variants; Giving users control; How to customize a product?; Uploads; Custom text; Maintaining uploads; Security considerations; Database changes; Extending our products table; Template switching; Shopping basket preparation; Stock control; Product variations; Product customizations; Basket templates; Product subtotals; Summary; Chapter 5: Enhancing the User Experience; Juniper Theatricals; The importance of user experience; Search; Finding products

Search boxControlling searches with the products controller; Search results; Improving searches; Filtering products; Product attributes; Filter options; Processing filter requests; Displaying filtered products; Improving product filtering; Providing wish lists; Creating the structure; Saving wishes; Wish-list controller; Add to wish list; Viewing a wish list; Controller changes; Wish-list view; Purchases; Gift purchases; Self purchases; Improving the wish list; Recommendations; Related products; Controlling the related products; Viewing the related products; E-mail recommendations

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