Need help with booking system script/database.

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Need help with booking system script/database.

(Was: Need help!)

Geoffrey james

4:20 am on Oct 27, 2006 (gmt 0)

Hi all,

Done minimal web design, but need help with a feature a friend has asked me to put on her website.

She is selling consultations for people who want to learn how to buy-and let property.

On her site she wants 'available dates' which people can select and book, this I have no problem with, BUT I need a something to then create a change for that date booked to reed 'fully booked'

ie:

25th Jan 2007 'available'

after checkbox next to date is clicked and payment taken...

25th Jan 2007 'fully booked'

can anyone help?

thanks in advance Geoff

aspdaddy

6:54 pm on Oct 27, 2006 (gmt 0)

You need to create a database and scripts for that. Or you could keep it simple though and just use a cart. Enter in the dates as products, each one with a qty of 1. That way you can only sell each date once.

This sounds an interesting online sale, have you a got a payment gateway to authorise online payments?

Geoffrey james

10:13 pm on Oct 27, 2006 (gmt 0)

(This sounds an interesting online sale, have you a got a payment gateway to authorise online payments?)

No-we have not got paymeny gateway set yet. The shopping cart is a great idea actually.

Although I have found a company the for Ł6 p/m will supply a booking program and payment recieving, they mainly use the application for hotel/BB reservations, but we can apply it to this too.

Ive done no database work or shopping cart facilities yet you see.

Where would you surgest a good place to start learning?

Geoff

physics

12:40 am on Oct 28, 2006 (gmt 0)

If you've never done a db or cart before it's best not to start from the bottom up if you are going to handle people's credit card numbers. You can write the script/db yourself and send them off to a payment processor though to keep yourself out of trouble there.
Or you can (and this is what I'd recommend) use one of the many open source shopping cart programs or a CMS that has a cart.
You can search here:
[cmsmatrix.org...]
(select the shopping cart box and other parameters you want)

aspdaddy

9:46 am on Oct 28, 2006 (gmt 0)

The cart should be very easy to impelment, they are aimed at web designers not programmers.

A few here that are free, very popular and easy to setup.

[google.co.uk...]

I would just look into the payment side a bit more first. Services an sales that occur in the future are notoriously tricky. Without having a large bond it difficult to take online CC payments for items delivered at a much later point in time. Alot depends on how far into the future you are booking consultancy.

Travel affiliates get around this by not actually processing the payments, passing to the real merchant who has ABTA or a cash bond. If they havent got this you have to pay after receiving the travel. I have done similar projects and needed large cash bonds or the payment provider holds your funds for up to 120 days.

HTH