hi guys and girls, i need to put a form on my site, that allows the end-user to choose options from it and add that configuration to a cart, like a simplified version of the system building form on dell.com. could you please advise the best was to do this? i have little html coding experience, and most of my previous sites where made using frontpage (urg!) dreamweaver, photoshop or some cheap template program i found. any help would be great! and massively help me Thanks in advance -Mitch
This depends on your server's capabilities (language support). Essentially, does it support PHP or ASP?
PS - with little HTML experience (i'm going to assume that you have little or no experience with any developing languages - PHP, ASP, Java, JavaScript?) Making a form like the one on Dell, that will allow users to configure an entire computer can prove to be a little complicated.
the server i will use supports both PHP and ASP. you are correct in assuming i have no experience with other languages, i have seen a similar basic form on "pcspecialist.co.uk", which doesn't look like it was to much trouble to do. it would be great it i could replicate that thanks for your help so far
To do what they have done is fairly basic if you are willing to configure each possible pc yourself. The issue with it that firstly they have multiple acceptable options in the same drop down, eg if you look at usb you can remove the option of having any usb sockets and select a stick instead where as obviously in reality you arent removing the sockets. It may also be able to create illegal combinations of hardware unless they again have been very careful. With no programming experience however it is still going to be tricky for you to create something like it.
w3schools is always a great place to start... first, i'd learn about html forms and when you're comfortable with that, I'd try to move onto php form methods. This can be complicated, but if you grasp concepts well, w3schools teaches very well. Also, it helps a lot to validate your html. This helps teach the semantics of proper html markup. After you get the basic concepts down, you'll be able to expand on it, and learn more advanced form techniques. What you're looking to do can take a lot of work - but if you're willing to take the time to learn it, it can all be worth it. www (dot) w3schools (dot) com/html/html_forms.asp www (dot) w3schools (dot) com/php/php_forms.asp validator.w3 (dot) org/ sorry - I can't use real links yet.
thats fantastic thank you i think getting the coding right for the basic items on the form shouldn't be to much trouble i did have a look on the site you showed me, but for advanced stuff do you have any links/sites that would show me how to add for example money value to each item and provide a total ? you've been a big help already thanks again
I've searched around, but haven't seen anything good. Basically, you're going to need to understand how PHP works with forms first before you're going to be able to do anything. Take the time to go through the w3schools tutorials. You can check out these pages, hopefully something will help: www (dot) plus2net (dot) com/php_tutorial/variables.php www (dot) daniweb (dot) com/forums/thread16765.html www (dot) hotscripts (dot) com/PHP/Tips_and_Tutorials/Form_Processing/index.html I don't have time to go through them all. You may need to learn about variable passing - I'm not sure. Does anyone know if this will be easier with JavaScript? Does the form need to provide security (it's probably easier with JS, but a LOT LOT less secure - anyone cn mess with it if they know what they're doing). Either way, if you're gonna go with using PHP (it's probably the recommended way) start with w3schools.
thank you so much. i have been learning and testing things for the past two days. the complete world of HTML and PHP is becoming more clearer now, just another quickie, how much do you think it would cost to have a web dev. do it? of course i would prefer to do it myself but the sooner the site is up and running the better, as i think in going to be learning for a bit longer and when its up and when iv'e learnt more i can maintain, improve, edit, amend add to it, etc. all by myself thanks again
Do you want the primitive version like the reference site or a more sophisticated one like Dell? Are you wanting set pages set up or a dynamic system allowing you to easily add and remove PCs/ options through a control panel? - combining Dell and control panel is what would add the cost and I suspect may be why the reference site has such a basic system.
that may be a better idea then. But definitely keep learning it (if you're interested) so you can, like you said, maintain and modify it... to an experience PHP'er... it really depends on how complicated the form is going to be... is it going to be just like the Dell thing, where options will change depending on previous options, and price will automatically update? that may be complicated... I'm not sure though - I'm not great with PHP... a simple form is beyond me. I've never done this before, but logically, what I would do is to find some sort of 'freelance' website or a forum that allows freelance job postings (with a PHP section) and post your requirements there. Chances are, people will jump all over it. Someone will be able to bang that out in a day or two, and because of a freelancer's demand for work, you're sure to get people to competitively bid on the project. I don't know if such a "freelance work" search website exists. I have a lot of work to do today, so I can't go off to research this for you. Good luck with it though - and let me know if you need any other advice.