Make an E-commerce Site in a Weekend : Using PHP

Learn to build e-commerce sites using PHP by installing a server using WAMP, configuring MySQL for your product database, creating your product database and tables, and writing the required PHP scripts for accessing and inserting data into the database. Make an E-commerce Site in a Weekend: Using PHP details how to create shopping carts for your customers and how to set up secure payment and processing options. Even if you are an absolute beginner and don't have much programming experience, you can build a responsive, powerful, and fully featured e-commerce site quickly using the information in this book. You will learn to: Create and maintain your e-commerce website using PHP scripts Create, edit, and update your product database using MySQL Manage visitors to your site, create custom forms, manage session handling, and more Manage shopping carts and shipping information Receive money through different payment modes on the sale of merchandise Who This Book is For: This book is for people who want to quickly set up their first e-commerce site. The book addresses beginners who don't have a deep experience in programming languages. It teaches how to build professional fully featured e-commerce websites using PHP. The book uses practical, step-by step examples to explain all of the topics required in designing, creating, and managing an interactive e-commerce web site. Contents at a Glance 5 Contents 6 About the Author 9 About the Technical Reviewer 10 Acknowledgments 11 Introduction 12 Chapter 1: Introduction 14 Why PHP? 15 How the E-Commerce Site Will Appear 16 Software Required for Developing the Site 25 Installing the WampServer 25 Installing the LAMP Server 30 Starting the Server 31 Configuring MySQL 33 Required Database Tables 36 Steps to Run the MySQL Script 42 Summary 44 Chapter 2: PHP and MySQL 45 Writing Your First PHP Script 46 Using Variables in PHP 49 The echo Statement 49 Concatenating Strings 50 HTTP Methods for Transferring Data 50 The GET Method 51 The POST Method 51 Passing Information from One Script to Another 51 Using $_GET Array 53 Using $_POST Array 54 Using the $_REQUEST Array 54 Creating the Sign-Up Form 55 Applying Validation Checks 57 Code for Connecting PHP with MySQL 62 Executing SQL Commands Through PHP 63 Storing Information in the Database Table 64 Accessing Information from the Database 65 mysqli_num_rows() 66 mysqli_affected_rows() 66 mysqli_fetch_array() 66 extract() 67 Implementing Authentication 67 Summary 71 Chapter 3: Accessing the Database Using PHP 72 Accessing Products and Displaying Them on Screen 72 Creating a Drop-Down Menu 74 Adding a Web Site Header 82 Implementing a Search Feature 84 Showing Product Details 86 Session Handling 88 Functions Used in Session Handling 89 session_start() 89 session_id( ) 90 isset( ) 90 Signing In and Out 95 Defining the Home Page of the Site 99 Summary 102 Chapter 4: Managing the Shopping Cart 103 Saving Selections in the Cart 103 Maintaining the Cart 107 Displaying the Cart Count in the Site Header Using AJAX 112 Proceeding to Check Out 117 Supplying Shipping Information 120 Understanding Different Payment Modes 122 Making Payments 124 Summary 130 Index 131 Make an E-commerce Site in a Weekend: Using PHP is a step by step practical guide that explains how to build e-commerce sites using PHP - a very popular server-side scripting language designed for web development. The book takes you through the steps of installing a server using WAMP, configuring MySQL for your product database, creating your product database and tables, and writing the required PHP scripts for accessing and inserting data into the database. It then details how to create shopping carts for your customers and how to set up secure payment and processing options. Even if you are an absolute beginner and don't have much programming experience, you can build a responsive, powerful, and fully featured e-commerce site quickly using the information in this book. What you will learn: Create and maintain your e-commerce website using PHP scripts. Create, edit, and update your product database using MySQL.