ajax product selector

Question

Hello guys,

i want to create a product selector like the one found here

http://advisors.dell.com/advisorweb/Advisor.aspx?advisor=e539dfdf-439d-421c-8d4d-8a24a9ba314f&c=us&l=en&cs=19

i know i'll probably use ajax , jquery, php , mysql

but i dont know where to start.

please help me :(

Answer 1

What you're trying to do is at a relatively advanced level and should definitely not be something to attempt when you're just beginning to use these technologies, as I infer to be the case based on the level of vagueness in your question.

I recommend you visit this autocomplete tutorial, which is based on jQuery, which will help you develop an intuition about dynamically filtering information based on user input.

Then, I'd recommend you not worry about the AJAX and go through one of the millions of tutorials out there on building a PHP/MySQL catalogue of items, keeping in mind throughout how your AJAX experience should be integrated.

From there, your next step depends on which PHP approaches (dynamic/quasi-dynamic versus fixed categories, tags versus categories, fixed or intra-table join taxonomies) and AJAX approaches (preparing HTML server-side, XML, JSON) you come to prefer and which meet your requirements.

If I have underestimated your level of experience in preparing this sort of application, don't hesitate to let me know, and I would be glad to answer any specific questions or look at your code. Best of luck.

Answer 2

Hello, this type of Ajax Product Selector, Product finder or Product Guide is already available as a service from Jemms and iBlick. See the showcase here http://www.jemms.co.uk/showcase. We can produce off the shelf templates or more complex custom designs for a fraction of the cost that an in-house or external development project would take. Why not outsource your Database or Product Catalogue front end? Each Ajax product finder provided by Jemms and iBlick is fully cross browser and iPhone or iPad compatible, and we provide continuous updates to stay current. Save yourself hours of development time and focus on your core strengths instead. You can contact me via the Jemms website, Best Regards, Simon Kemp