PLEASE READ VERY CAREFULLY before sending me any messages The first thing to mention is that I have already had one person try this and failed, so I need someone who is very familiar with the osCommerce shopping cart software and possibly Ajax as well. My site is an online store that sells inkjet cartridges for printers and I need a series of dropdown boxes, which enable the user to get to a specified category page with a single page load. I need a group of three drop-downs on the homepage where the user can select 1. Printer Manufacturer 2. Printer Series 3. Printer Model. I also need a group of two drop down boxes to appear on subcategory pages of my choosing, there must be a facility for me to turn on/off the display of the dropdowns on each subcategory. All the info contained in the drop-downs must be dynamically driven i.e. the data must be fetched from my exists SQL database, so if I add a category/printer manufacturer/series/model to my sites catalogue the drop-downs must be automatically updated without me having to update them manually. Part 1 - Drop-downs on the Homepage These will consists of three drop-drown boxes 1. The first will consist of a list of the printer manufacturers, the data for this is in the existing SQL database and is the top tier/level categories in my store catalogue. Select printer manufacturer Brother BT Canon Dell Epson Hewlett Packard Etc… One added complication for this first drop-down box is that not all the top level categories in my catalogue are printer manufacturers, and the ones that aren’t I DO NOT want them to appear in the drop-down box. The screen shot below shows the top level categories of my store and I have put the relevant yes/no next to the categories depending on whether I want them to be listed in the in first drop-down. If necessary, I don’t mind having to edit these manually every time I add a new top level category because this rarely happens and there's not that many of them. 2. The second drop-down will be where the user selects the printer series. The data in this drop-down will depend on what has been selected from the first drop-down above it manufacturer – So if Brother is select from the first drop-down the second will display all the printer series relevant to brother: Select printer Series Brother MFC Series Brother Fax Series Brother DCP Series Brother MC Series Etc… The printer series is not a standard part of osCommerce it is a mod that enable me to assign categories a “series†and then categories can be grouped together by their series.(its basically a manufacturer for categories – like the products have). 3. The third drop-down box will be where the user selects their printer model. The data listed in this drop down will be dependent on what the user has selected in the previous two dropdown. If they selected Brother from the first, and Brother MC Series from the second drop-drop-down this final drop-down will display all the subcategories in the catalogue that are assigned in the Brother MC Series group/manufacturer. Select printer Series Brother HC-2500M Brother MC-21CF Brother MC-3000 Etc… When the user has selected their printer model, they then have to click Find cartridges button and this will take them to the relevant page on the site where their cartridges are. For example if the selected Brother HC-2500M from the last drop-down and click find cartridge they will directed to the Subcategory page on my site - Brother HC-2500M. The drop-downs must load their information without having to reload the whole page. This is why I mentioned Ajax, however it doesn’t have to be coded with Ajax, if you know of a better way/method, great. The previous person to try and code this had a problem and was unable to get the Ajax to “enter the loop†(whatever that means?) when is came to coding the find cartridges button. Part 2 – Drop-downs on subcategory pages These will be similar to the ones on the homepage but NOT THE SAME. They will have to be a separate piece of code/module because they perform slightly differently to the ones on the homepage. They will consist of two drop-downs 1. Select your printer series 2. Select your printer model. The first drop-down will be filled with the relevant printer series for the subcategory that is currently being viewed. For example - if the brother ink cartridges subcategory page is being viewed by the user the first drop-down will be filled will all the brother ink cartridges series’. Once the user selects the series of their printer, the printer models will be loaded into the second drop-down just like the homepage dropdowns and then they can click find cartridges button and are directed to the relevant page, just like the function of the find cartridges button on the homepage. These drop-downs should ONLY appear at the top of the subcategory pages of my choosing. How to achieve this, I'm not sure, but I was thinking maybe have an option in admin to assign each category in the catalogue a display/don’t display option. And then code into the index.php file if show drop-down= true display drop-down box. So there would be green/red light next to each category in admin the default would be set to red/off and then I could turn on which ones I need to display the dropdowns. See screenshot below: That’s about it really, the dropdowns must be coded be you and then implemented n the site and made to look professional. If you have any other questions please ask – I can send you a link via PM to a example of a very similar drop-down system working on someone else’s site. I don’t won’t to post it here because it one of my competitors and don’t won’t to give them a link. Again, please make sure you have read all the information above before sending me a message. PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING WITH YOUR MESSAGE: - Details of previous work you have done on osCommerce sites. - Your contact details email, telephone number, website and where in the world you are located. - A rough estimate of the time it’ll take you to complete this job. - Price. PLEASE NOTE: I'm NOT WILLING TO PAY UPFRONT for this job, due to the fact that the previous person promised me that they could do it and let me down. I am willing to make a small, good faith payment upfront of $20 maximum. If you check my iTrader, I have been on the site for a number of years and i'm not going anywhere. p.s. Sorry about the massive post, just trying to give as much info as possible.
I don't think you need to be sorry for the long post at all. Its refreshing to finally meet someone who knows what he wants. I have been burnt too many times by clients who have no clue as to what they really need. I have sent you a PM with my bid for this task. I can complete this task in not more than 4 days. Please have a look at my PM and let me know. Thanks, Amit