Shopping Cart and Order Forms

[Dark Dragon]

I am planning to start an online business but as far as scripting for such things goes.....I am a "Green Neck.

I can manage a site with HTML and a bit of CSS but I do not know what scripting language is needed to make order forms, shopping carts and so on.

Is this ASP, SQL or something else?:confused:

Are there any basic scripts for this????

P.S Please do not get technical as I am trying to learn this on my own.

Thanks in advance

[Conor]

you can do this in many languages.PHP is one of the easiest to learn. You can use it along with a Mysql database. They are both free and open source. Check out php.net for more info.

[The Cheat]

^^^and mysql.com for mysql.

Also if you develop it yourself you are probably going to want to test your php scripts locally which means you will probably want apache (apache.org) webserver and php installed on it as a module. (I just got technical.. sorry) A good pre-compiled "ready to go out of the box" distribution of apache+php+mysql is xampp (http://www.apachefriends.org/index-en.html)

I'd recomend learning the basics of php. And work your way up slowly to the level of where you want to be. Remember not to put more in your mouth than you can chew ;)

There are lots of online tutorials and books out there to learn php.

i hope this helps. :)

[PeOfEo]

ASP ASP.NET PHP JSP CFML CGI are scripting options. MySQL MSSQL oracle access xml fox pro are some data base options. I suggest IIS as the server because IIS will run it all.

[Sam]

Originally posted by Dark Dragon
I am planning to start an online business but as far as scripting for such things goes.....I am a "Green Neck.

You really shouldn't attempt a shopping cart as your first server side script, its quite difficult
Originally posted by Dark Dragon

Is this ASP, SQL or something else?:confused:

SQL isn't a language, its a database
Originally posted by Dark Dragon
[B]
Are there any basic scripts for this????

No, this is pretty complicated stuff, especially the SSL for accepting credit cards and such. If you really wanna attempt this, you're best bet is to only accept paypal at first, as it's much easier to deal with.

[The Cheat]

SQL isn't a language, its a database
SQL = Structured Query Language

[Sam]

My mistake

[PeOfEo]

Originally posted by The Cheat
SQL = Structured Query Language but its rudimentary, its not a full scale language. I mean its basically
select this from this where this = this... well sql statements like that are its most common use atleast.

[Dark Dragon]

Wow...thanks for the info.

Y'know..the reason I ask is because I am having a hard time finding work so i figured an online business might be the proverbial ticket.

So I guess I will go to the W3Schools site and check out what they have.

Anyways, thanks for the info, it is appreciated.

[buntine]

Y'know..the reason I ask is because I am having a hard time finding work so i figured an online business might be the proverbial ticket.


Be careful here, its not the easy ride which people think it is. It takes alot of money and effort to get an online store started. There is so much more to it than just having an online store.

Regards,
Andrew Buntine.

[PeOfEo]

Originally posted by buntine
Be careful here, its not the easy ride which people think it is. It takes alot of money and effort to get an online store started. There is so much more to it than just having an online store.

Regards,
Andrew Buntine. Plus, you need to know what you are doing security wise. You need to be worth your salt in salt, md5, ssl, and run a pretty tight ship security wise all over your server if you really want your cart to really be secure. HTTPS is a must. Nothing like an angry cusumer comeing down on you threatening law suits because you left your door wide open for hackers and their credit card got stolen.

[Dark Dragon]

Yeah..I know. I have been doing some research on that. I am not planning on anything huge but I gotta do something..I am just not sure what.

I just want something small and manageable....but it is all still on paper so to speak.

[PeOfEo]

if you are handleing any credit cards it needs to be air tight, or as close to it as possible. You might consider using paypal or something if you need this cart and do not think you can get it secure enough.

[Dark Dragon]

Yeah. it does get complicated doesn't it?

Though I heard rumors that PayPal has been having its own problems....but I sometimes wonder if it is worth it. Not only would my customers be at risk but I would too.

The Government is not really supportive of those of us who dare to try and make money without being "owned" by someone else.

I figure checks and Money Orders are would be easier...that's where the book keeping software comes into play.

*sighs* Why does it all have to be so difficult?

I just wanna make a few bucks..is that too much to ask? :D

Oh..and another thing...at least with Money Orders..you HAVE to have the funds available. Naturally checks can still bounce but at least you can diminish your chances of theft..maybe.

[PeOfEo]

but if paypal gets hacked, its their problem, not yours. Because they put their number into paypal, not your site. Belive me if you can track the hacker the feds will be all over it. Problem is the people doing the ddos, brute forceing, nukeing, credit card theft, keylogging, all that good stuff, are hard to track. I mean you can't see their ip. They go through proxys (I managed to use one to get around network security at my school so i could check my darned email... i am so 1337 :( ). DDOS essentially is exploiting computers you do not own yourself and useing them to nuke ( ping with large data ) servers and bring them down, so when they find the source of the attack, they still cant pin it on anyone. Hacking is a federal offense on all servers on us soil, its in the patriot act, computer crimes are cyber terrorism.

http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/PatriotAct.htm <-- irony, part of the americans with disabilities act mandates that websites be made accessable... this government site has no doc type.

[Dark Dragon]

Yeah..I guess so.

Anyways, I really appreciate the help...I have much to mull over.