Thread

Hey Guys,

I am curious if any of you know of any good visuals or articles that talk about general flow for things like a user registration, event registration, or general php applications.

I have been learning what I can about the specifics of CI and PHP, but I would like to see some guidance on overall application flow.  For example, I am creating a registration application that people can use to sign for an event.  The questions I am running into are things like “When should I post the information to the DB?” or “How should I give them a page where they can correct any errors in their application?”. 

I am a visual learner, so I think that some general flowcharts for applications might be helpful.

Does any of this make sense? 😖

the best way - imo - is to chart it out yourself.  The easiest tools is pencil and paper.

the logic goes something basically like this:

get user data->test user data->if pass { start/update session, (if remember me check selected {create & save cookie}), register user event in log, display successful log in message} else {display error message, ask for user info again} rinse & repeat

OR: if you *really* need to see that “visually”:
http://www.bitmotion.com/products/LoginFlowchart.gif

Brian,

Thanks for the feedback.

I guess that I have the login/logout stuff ok, but it is the form submission procedure that is getting me a bit confused.

Here’s the scenario:  A person wants to register for “Junior Camp”.  They go to the registration page which asks for information such as Camper Name, address, phone, email, parent/guardian info, etc.  After they fill in all the pertinent info, they click the “Continue” button which loads the information they just submitted onto the screen.  At that point I would like them to have the opportunity to make changes if there are any problems by clicking an “Edit” button.  That would reload the details back into the original form.

Once they have inputted the correct information and verified it’s accuracy on the second page, they should be able to continue on to a payment method.  After the payment is completed, the PayPal server notifies my application via IPN.

Where in that process should I post to the db?  What I had been doing is posting the information prior to them going to PayPal, and then updating the record with a completed payment status upon receiving the confirmation.  The problem with that is I receive a number of submissions that the user never finishes paying for.  It doesn’t seem like I should store the information until the payment is completed.

Does that make sense?

Thanks - Jesse

yes, that makes complete sense. 

What you can do to keep your user table under control is inform the user that they have 72 hours to complete the payment process and set up a script that runs via a cron job to sanitize those abandoned user accounts.

Edit:  I used 72 hours is an arbitrary number feel free to make it 2,4, 24 or 3.1415927 etc

So you would say that the order of operations I have suggested would be within what is considered normal for this process?

I’m kind of shooting in the dark for this!

What you have above I wouldn’t alter at all with the exception of the x hour warning and creating the abandoned account removal script.

Great!  Thanks for the affirmation!

I am taking an interest in ConceptDraw PRO...

I’m not sure if this is what your looking for but in the past I have used Free Mind
http://freemind.en.softonic.com/

It’s a Free Mind Mapping Application that works great for putting together PHP/DB Flowcharts & general Site Maps.  You can export your mind maps to PDF’s as well.

I usually work with a front end developer and found this is a great way to communicate and use as a reference for project management.

And to take it just one step further… I have an iphone app. (iThoughts) that can read & write Free Mind documents : )