Drupal: Two-way communication between unregistered customer and admin

Question

I need to setup a system where customers can choose to Request a Quote for a specific holiday package, where they will enter their personal details as well as their holiday requirements (number of rooms, etc.) and will then allow them to view a page which will have a threaded conversation between them and the admin (so the admin can reply to their quote request on the website).

The problem is that most customers won't be registered when they want to request a quote, so I was thinking that the Request a Quote page could silently register the customer as a user (using their personal details) on the same page where it asks for their holiday requirements. The other option I can think of would be to not register them and just email them a unique URL where they can view their quote request and reply to the admin.

Could you point me in the right direction on how to do either of those?

Answer 1

To create a new user you can use the user_save. To create a random password you can use the use the user_password function. The all that is left is to send a mail. Either create your own or use the standard one when users are created.

Answer 2

I think the best way would be to have a content type they fill out that looks like a form, but actually creates the node that is only visible to them and the administrators, comment enabled. Probably the quickest way. Then you have security in place so people can't see other peoples quotes.

Answer 3

Check out the Inline Registration module: it allows anonymous users to create a node and register as user at the same time, using a single form.

Answer 4

Login Toboggan combined with Content Profile might work for this.