Some Background on the Store Management Interface

 

Introduction.  Now we want to get started on developing the store management interface.  The truth is, much of this can be done from within the MySQL Admin on battcave.com.  But there are definite advantages to developing a store management interface such as the following.
  • The interface is designed more specifically for this purpose.
  • Some tasks such as
    • creating new attribute categories
    • adding/deleting attributes
    • adjusting availability of products

    will be much easier to do with an interface to coordinate the multiple actions involved in these sorts of actions

  • The truth is less complicated tasks such as
    • modifying/adding/deleting products
    • modifying/adding/deleting departments
    • modifying tax rates

    won't be much simpler than they would using the MySQL Admin interface.

  • Other tasks such as
    • monitoring orders
    • data mining

    will not likely be possible without a store management interface.  These sorts of activities can become quite frequent if the store starts to sell well.  You don't want to be paying high priced and highly trained computer related personnel to do these tasks!

  • Teaching someone to use the store management interface should be somewhat less involved than teaching database administration which is quite a bit more abstract.

The following lists/outlines relate to the sort of activities we envision having done through the store management interface.  We will start with the more obvious desirable features.

Products/Departments

  • Products
    • add
    • delete
    • modify
    • assign availability
  • Attribute Categories
    • add
    • delete
    • modify
    • assign availability
  • Attributes
    • add
    • delete
    • modify
    • assign availability
    • assign to products
  • Departments
    • add
    • delete
    • modify
    • assign/disassociate products with a department

 

Taxes

  • modify tax rates for states

 

Shipping

  • modify shipping rates for particular weights
  • modify rate interval cutoffs

 

Orders

  • verify orders
  • find orders based on things such as
    • date placed
    • ship to name
    • bill to name
    • credit card number

 

Profiles

  • update profiles
  • delete profiles

 

There are certainly other things that should or could be accomplished, but these should be the mopst frequently used features.