Online registration question

  • Thread starter Thread starter JL Amerson
  • Start date Start date
J

JL Amerson

Hi folks -

I need a bit of help. The organization I belong to is asking me questions
about online registration for a seminar in 2006. I know it would have to be
some sort of a secure site because the attendees would be entering their
charge card numbers but beyond that - clueless.

What kind of things should I be looking for in a webhost? (I have one
inmind - I just need to know the kind of things to ask about.) I don't need
any special software, do I? Couldn't it be done with a form? Can data from a
form be saved in the server until the registrar extracted it? It doesn't
have to be sent as an email, does it?

I did warn you- I'm clueless but willing to learn. Where can I start?

JoAnn
 
"JL Amerson" wrote in message
I need a bit of help. The organization I belong to is asking me questions
about online registration for a seminar in 2006. I know it would have to be
some sort of a secure site because the attendees would be entering their
charge card numbers but beyond that - clueless.
Click to expand...

Does your organization have a merchant account so it can process the credit
cards?

For this you might want to consider some type of service like paypal or some
of the others transaction processing companies. Since you are new to this it
might make this part of your site easier to produce.
What kind of things should I be looking for in a webhost? (I have one
inmind - I just need to know the kind of things to ask about.) I don't need
any special software, do I?
Click to expand...

Web hosts are a plenty... and it is a matter of preference and experience.
If you are going to us Front Page... the host will need to have front page
extensions installed. I am a reseller for cihost.com so you might want look
at them. They have both windows and unix servers. The unix plans are
cheaper. There have been a couple of "best host" threads recently you might
want to give them a look.
Couldn't it be done with a form? Can data from a
form be saved in the server until the registrar extracted it? It doesn't
have to be sent as an email, does it?
Click to expand...

Yes...
Yes with a database.....
No
I did warn you- I'm clueless but willing to learn. Where can I start?
Click to expand...

FrontPage has some pretty neat database tools and you may just be able to do
this with those tools but you might also have to learn a little asp or php
scripting language.

Off hand I do not know of any Front page database tutorials... but I bet
there are plenty out there.... search around you should find them.

You might also check out

www.planet-source-code.com (the asp or php sections)

They just may have a similar program already written that you can get.

also look at www.hotscripts.com

You might also search at www.aspin.com for this type of program.

Best to you
Tom Gahagan
eThomaston.com
 
(snip)
Does your organization have a merchant account so it can process the credit
cards?

For this you might want to consider some type of service like paypal or some
of the others transaction processing companies. Since you are new to this it
might make this part of your site easier to produce.
Click to expand...

Yes they do have a merchants account. What words could I "Google" to find
out who offers this service? I don't think they'll want to use Paypal
because Paypal charges a fee and they are already paying fees to use charge
cards. Makes it tough for non-profit organizations.

(snip again)
Web hosts are a plenty... and it is a matter of preference and experience.
If you are going to us Front Page... the host will need to have front page
extensions installed. I am a reseller for cihost.com so you might want look
at them. They have both windows and unix servers. The unix plans are
cheaper. There have been a couple of "best host" threads recently you might
want to give them a look.
Click to expand...

We have a host in mind who uses FP2000 and 2002 extensions. And I know,
thanks to this group, that FP2003 uses 2002 extensions. They are local and
have a good customer service. Plus we can get a really great rate from them.

(snip again............)
Yes...
Yes with a database.....
No
Click to expand...

I've been playing with forms. They are pretty cool. I've been using the
Wizard and the only problem is that you can't go back into the Wizard to
edit what you've done. I have a little time to learn. The seminar is in
2006.

(one last snip)
FrontPage has some pretty neat database tools and you may just be able to do
this with those tools but you might also have to learn a little asp or php
scripting language.

Off hand I do not know of any Front page database tutorials... but I bet
there are plenty out there.... search around you should find them.

You might also check out

www.planet-source-code.com (the asp or php sections)

They just may have a similar program already written that you can get.

also look at www.hotscripts.com

You might also search at www.aspin.com for this type of program.
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to learn about databases! I think this might be the way to
go. I did take an online class on Access but that was two years ago and I've
never used it. Translation: I understand what a relational database is, I
just can't use it. But I am a willing student.
Best to you
Tom Gahagan
eThomaston.com
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for answering my questions! I love the MS newsgroups for
things like this. Most people are supportive and helpful for those of us who
are novices.

Happy Holidays...............................JoAnn
 
Yes they do have a merchants account. What words could I "Google" to find
out who offers this service? I don't think they'll want to use Paypal
because Paypal charges a fee and they are already paying fees to use charge
cards. Makes it tough for non-profit organizations.
Click to expand...
Then you really do not HAVE to use a service like paypal you can run the
cards yourselves. Your host should have info on how to connect to their
secure site services. (this is another thing to make sure your host does
provide)

You might want to take a look at some of the shopping cart programs that
have secure order pages. This might give you enough of a jump start so you
can adapt it for your registration program.
I'm going to have to learn about databases! I think this might be the way to
go. I did take an online class on Access but that was two years ago and I've
never used it. Translation: I understand what a relational database is, I
just can't use it. But I am a willing student.
Click to expand...

As I mentioned to Kelly in another thread....

Learning good database design is MUCH MORE important than learning a
particular database program. Good design can be applied to ANY system.
Also..... start learning sql..... again... it can be used by just about any
system.

Access is a good start and will be fine if your site does not have a lot of
traffic.... however... it does have it's limits on the web. Go ahead and
invest some time (in addition to Access) and learn MySql..... as it is very
popular (and growing) on the web and you can get into it for free. (best
price of all)

Thank you so much for answering my questions! I love the MS newsgroups for
things like this. Most people are supportive and helpful for those of us who
are novices.

Happy Holidays...............................JoAnn
Click to expand...

This is a great place and has helped me so much that I am trying to give a
little back. There are folks here with a lot more expertise than I have....
:) but I think I've given you some good.... "get started" advise. I've been
doing database work since 1989 so I have a lot more info on that topic than
the web..... only been in it for a couple of years and just in the last 6
months on a full time basis. You have a good attitude so you will do fine!

And have a great Christmas yourself........

Tom Gahagan
eThomaston.com


ps.... you should really look at some of those sites that I mentioned.....
you just might find a registration system that you can adapt....... and
studying the code and design is a good way to learn.
 
: Hi folks -
:
: I need a bit of help. The organization I belong to is
: asking me questions about online registration for a
: seminar in 2006. I know it would have to be some sort of
: a secure site because the attendees would be entering
: their charge card numbers but beyond that - clueless.
:
: What kind of things should I be looking for in a webhost?
: (I have one inmind - I just need to know the kind of
: things to ask about.) I don't need any special software,
: do I? Couldn't it be done with a form? Can data from a
: form be saved in the server until the registrar extracted
: it? It doesn't have to be sent as an email, does it?
:
: I did warn you- I'm clueless but willing to learn. Where
: can I start?
:
: JoAnn

The only real concerns in the host are Server Extensions and
their customer support. You really don't need any special
software, and all of your data can be stored in a database.

The only issues appearing to me are all related to the
credit card info. Are you processing the charges now or
later? The card issuers are now beginning to ask for
CID/CVV2/CVC2 for non POS sales- but they also state you can
not store the information for more than 10 minutes. The
rest of the card information they want triple-DES encrypted.

Mike
 
(snip)
The only real concerns in the host are Server Extensions and
their customer support. You really don't need any special
software, and all of your data can be stored in a database.
Click to expand...

Got that part covered already.
The only issues appearing to me are all related to the
credit card info. Are you processing the charges now or
later? The card issuers are now beginning to ask for
CID/CVV2/CVC2 for non POS sales- but they also state you can
not store the information for more than 10 minutes. The
rest of the card information they want triple-DES encrypted.
Click to expand...

Good point! I already know about CID numbers because my last employer used
them for phone orders. I will ask about when the charges are processed
because I honestly don't know. Who does the encrypting or where does that
occur? That sounds like something we need to ask about.

I love how y'all know this kind of stuff!
 
: (snip):
:: The only issues appearing to me are all related to the
:: credit card info. Are you processing the charges now or
:: later? The card issuers are now beginning to ask for
:: CID/CVV2/CVC2 for non POS sales- but they also state you
:: can
:: not store the information for more than 10 minutes. The
:: rest of the card information they want triple-DES
:: encrypted.
:
: Good point! I already know about CID numbers because my
: last employer used them for phone orders. I will ask
: about when the charges are processed because I honestly
: don't know. Who does the encrypting or where does that
: occur? That sounds like something we need to ask about.
:
: I love how y'all know this kind of stuff!

I believe that the encryption would be on the database that
is storing all of that information. I basically avoid all
of this by not storing any of the credit card information
electronically- we print 3 copies of the order ( 1 with CID,
2 without) and destroy the CID version after we receive
approval. The remaining 2 copies are split between our copy
and the one sent with the package.

Mike
 
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