UPDATE 8/12/22
The store is up and running with nice looking emails bearing the logo and QR code. Invoices and Receipts also bear these. I am very happy to get this completed. Now I will be touching base with suppliers and updating products. I have a good system in place but the weak part is product entry. It is labor intensive in that I have to upload and crop images (3 per item). My intent is to add a multiple file upload / crop utility to product insert pages and thereby automate the entire process. I already have the product insertion pages to allow as many products at one time as requested. This should be fun. Until then I will be looking through the items I have, verifying they are still priced well, and in some cases re-organizing them into the database so finding them is easy.
UPDATE 7/22/22
Almost done! I have coded the entire process up to receiving payment. What I have left:
OLD POST…
I will make it possible in days to come to shop on this web site. I am presently working on a product descriptions page with a word processor style field that you can type in and request a quote. Once it is complete and looking nice, I will be able to have a very simple way of selling single items. After this I will connect with a supplier and update the product database to include all of their products, large and small. This will all be given to you at a reasonable price you probably can not find elsewhere.
Once I am certain that is working the way it aught to, I will then complete your “my account” area where you will be able to view all of your previous purchase history. My previous applications did not meet my present security requirements so this goal is down the road a bit. The real issue I have is the secure storage of your password, email, address, and phone number. I need to implement encryption within my database for your PII data. Until that time I will not be allowing the general public to create accounts or log in unless it is a special circumstance.
I have studied the world of the internet and how people get attacked. I have determined I want to sell you things online. But I do not really want to accept payments online. You may mail payments in or hand them to me in person.
What else can you do Mr. Barnes?
That’s top secret but let me tell you what my DAD told me. He looked at me one day and said, “You can fix anything”. What do I say? I am just a man. A GOD in heaven fearing man. I am not perfect. But I sure do try to help others and a lot of times I spend about 15 minutes before I do praying about it. So I give the glory of my successes to YAWE in Heaven. I take responsibility for my failures and seek to correct the ones that can be corrected.
Update: 5/29/22
I have made some progress. I think I may have a decent tie into the database and I have prepared a navigation system that easily lets you get around the products.
The categories I use are hard coded into the database. Each of the 3 levels can have individual categories activated or de-activated. It makes things more complex for an administrator. So I may write the application differently then it is now by having the page do an inventory on just the items I wish to sell and then having it determine only the needed navigation through the categories. This will eliminate the complexity of maintaining the menu system by activating specific product categories on three separate tables.
Here is a preview: https://www.midnighttech.com/superselection