I am looking to recreate http://www.printwize.co.uk/items/ but with these specifics:
The site should be absolutely dynamic and driven from a MySQL database, either with a PHP or RoR engine powering it.
**IMPORTANT** The site should be re-deployable, so should have a single config file and an SQL dump that can be loaded onto any MySQL server. There should be an empty file system I can use as a package.
**IMPORTANT** I should be able to clone an empty site on another server within 5 minutes, just like setting up a new wordpress site.
The site should also use an engine that will parse templates, but NOT smarty or anything similar. It must be able to read pure .html files our designer creates that contain tags wrapped like this: %%TAG_NAME%% or ::TAG_NAME::
I have an example of the kind of template engine I will want here: http://www.devshed.com/c/a/PHP/Building-a-Template-Parser-Class-with-PHP-Part-II/
This would need to be checked for security flaws, and should be modular, I would like to be able to turn template caching on or off from the backend.
The working site should consist of these primary features:
**FRONTEND (CONTENT AREA)** Should be a lot like the structure of http://www.printwize.co.uk/corp-index.htm
This will need to be configurable from the backend, and any number of pages and categories should be added. **IMPORTANT** I do not want you to base the backend application on a prebuilt backend framework or CMS engine. The development needs to be unique and new code.
Modules such as News, Offers etc should be able to be called into a standard HTML page templates in the content system by using custom tags such as %%NEWS%%, %%NEW_PRODUCTS%%, %%SPECIAL_OFFERS%% etc.
**FRONTEND (CATALOGUE AREA)** Should be a lot like the structure of http://www.printwize.co.uk/items/
Each category (see left hand menu) should be able to be added from the backend and configured in a very simple manner. It should be able to contain products or be a direct link to an actual product – Compare “Business Stationary” with “Business Cards” for an example.
On the product page, see http://www.printwize.co.uk/items/folders/18/ and http://www.printwize.co.uk/items/businesscards/12/, a pricing matrix should be set up from the backend, in a very easy to configure method. You will notice quantity breaks and options vary from product to product so these should be configurable per axis, per product.
This should be editable on one screen, so we should see an editable table of each price where we can simply fill in each box with a price.
**BACKEND** This should be easy to use. Anybody should be able to log in and use it without extensive training. I would like it to more or less the same as the Interspire Shopping Cart backend, please go to http://www.interspire.com/shoppingcart/godemo.php and take a look at the control panel demo.
The file structure should be modular like WordPress, plugins, templates and system files should be seperate. The templates must be put into a flat directory structure and must have conventional, fixed names so that the template engine can read them. Our designer should just be able to FTP new files up to that directory with our own designs.
The backend should have SEO features for naming pages, and must have an option to enable .htaccess URL rewriting so URLS can have a similar structure to the Printwize site. This should work without .htaccess as default, using unclean URLS.
We then need these optional modules that are seperate from the main site, but can be installed by dropping packages into the Plugins folder.
Some of our sites will need ecommerce at various degrees.
**MODULE** Account based catalogue.
From the frontend, a module could be called into the template, %%LOGIN%%, calling a login/signup area. On signup, new users should be put in a guest holding group.
From the backend, we should be able to approve these new signups and assign them to groups. Based on groups, we should be able to configure custom pricing grids for each product. This will need the options “Fixed Price”, where a completely new grid is created for them on a product, “Percentage discount”, where the original grid is reduced or increased by a set %, or “Fixed ammount discount” where everything is reduced by X ammount. This needs to be configurable PER PRODUCT, i.e some may have a Percentage discount, some may be a fixed price, and others may have a flat rate reduction.
We should be able to create user groups and place multiple signups into this group which receives the set discount, to allow many users from one company to see the same discount.
We also may need to create custom categories and/or products that only CERTAIN groups can see once logged in.
Once approved and configured from the backend, we also need to give these users “View only” or “Ecommerce customer” options. This will be USER based, NOT GROUP BASED. Whether we see this option depends on whether we have the next module installed.
**MODULE** Ecommerce system
This will be split into sub modules.
Main module – AJAX shopping cart. When you look at a product matrix on the frontend, if ecommerce is switched on in the site, a user will be able to click the chosen price in the grid, and using AJAX methods, they will see an option screen appear which will let them see the chosen product/qty (remember the qty is chosen on the grid) and give them a choice to add to the basket or cancel and re-choose.
This screen will also have a file upload box that they must use to add a file. We should be able to set up what file extensions we will allow from the backend. There should be a progess bar that will display during upload, and it should handle large (up to 50mb) uploads without timing out.
The customer should be able to choose to upload at a later time, on the checkout screen.
This screen should also pull in an extra module should it be enabled:
**MODULE** Finishing options.
Each product should be able to have finishing options configured, e.g. trimming, folding, paper weight, etc. These should be reusable on all products but be able to include unique price identifiers.
**MODULES** Ecommerce options.
We need to independantly configure our sites to have one or more ecommerce options.
The most basic option will be Account based payment. We will receive orders; the customer will simply enter a purchase order number when they place them.
As a seperate module, we should be able to use instant payment. This system should give three payment options, and we should be able to choose one, two or all three options: Paypal, Google Checkout and SagePay (Formerly Protx).
Each should be able to be configured from the backend by entering appropriate account details. We should not have to change config files to make it work.
Again, each of these modules should be installable by adding a package to the plugins folder, and each module should be packaged so that we can use them independantly.
This project will start moving within 2 months of receiving a suitable quote.
We would expect you to provide clean, standards based code, completely commented so we can if necessary continue development.
We would expect a warranty and support on the product, and would need you to sign the code over to us, copyrighted to our company, with a guarantee that you will not resell it to another company.
Should the project be successful, we would like to start a working relationship with you to develop more modules.
We do not need frontend design, just some basic example files that contain the appropriate template names and tags.
