Effortless E-Commerce with PHP and MySQL (Voices That Matter)

In this comprehensive guide to creating an e-commerce Web site using PHP and MySQL, renowned author Larry Ullman walks you through every step--designing the visual interface, creating the database, presenting content, generating an online catalog, managing the shopping cart, handling the order and the payment process, and fulfilling the order--always with security and best practices emphasized along the way. Even if you're an experienced Web developer, you're guaranteed to learn something new. The book uses two e-commerce site examples--one based on selling physical products that require shipping and delayed payment, and another that sells non-physical products to be purchased and delivered instantly--so you see the widest possible range of e-commerce scenarios. In 11 engaging, easy-to-follow chapters, Effortless E-Commerce with PHP and MySQL teaches you how to:

- Think of the customer first, in order to maximize sales

- Create a safe server environment and database

- Use secure transactions and prevent common vulnerabilities

- Incorporate different payment gateways

- Design scalable sites that are easy to maintain

- Build administrative interfaces

- Extend both examples to match the needs of your own sites

Larry Ullman is the president of Digital Media and Communications Insights, Inc., a firm specializing in information technology (www.dmcinsights.com). He is the author of several bestselling programming and Web development books, including PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide. Larry also writes articles on these subjects and teaches them in small and large group settings. Despite working with computers, programming languages, databases, and such since the early 1980s, Larry still claims he's not a computer geek (but he admits he can speak their language).

Building E-Commerce Web Sites with PHP and MySQL walks a reader through setting up an e-commerce Web site. Everything is covered icluding:  designing the visual interface, creating the database, generating an online catalog, managing the shopping cart, handling the order and the payment process, and fulfilling the order. Because of the nature of the topic, security and best practices are emphasized repeatedly along the way.

The book uses two e-commerce site examples so that the reader gets the best possible grasp of the e-commerce model. One example is based on selling physical products that require shipping and delayed payment. The other example features a site that sells non-physical products that are purchased and delivered instantly; two different payment gateways are demonstrated (PayPal and an alternative).

Introduction

PART One: FUNDAMEN TALS

Chapter 1: Getting Started

Chapter 2: Security Fundamentals

PART Two: SELLING VIRTUAL PRODUCTS

Chapter 3: First Site: Structure and Design

Chapter 4: User Accounts

Chapter 5: Managing Site Content

Chapter 6: Using PayPal

PART Three: SELLING PHYSICAL PRODUCTS

Chapter 7: Second Site: Structure and Design

Chapter 8: Creating a Catalog

Chapter 9: Building a Shopping Cart

Chapter 10: Checking Out

Chapter 11: Site Administration

Index