Looking for a Custom Module

[allclear]

Hello, I'd like a module that does the following:
When a new user creates an account on my site, I would like the "Submit" button to also create an order for that customer with a specific product code and $0.00 price point. I don't want the user to actually have to go through the checkout process. I want it to just automatically save the new order to the database.

If anyone can help me with this, please contact me.
Thanks!

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

Hello, I'd like a module that does the following:
When a new user creates an account on my site, I would like the "Submit" button to also create an order for that customer with a specific product code and $0.00 price point. I don't want the user to actually have to go through the checkout process. I want it to just automatically save the new order to the database.

If anyone can help me with this, please contact me.
Thanks!

We can certainly help (as can others) but you might want to explain WHY you are doing this, as THAT solution may be quite easier and more effective.

[allclear]

Hi Bruce,

Thanks for the reply. The "WHY" is because of our workflow which has been a thorn in my side for the past couple of years now.
So basically, here's our workflow:

• A customer signs up on our website.
• They place an order.
• The order is downloaded into our Order Manager Software (which is MS Access based).
• At this time, our Order Manager assigns the customer their customer ID (which we use to identify customers for both sales and support reasons).
• Next, I have built a form on our website that allows us to search for that customer and copy/paste their Customer ID, so that it's also stored in Miva (in a custom field). That form also assigns the customer to price/availability groups, to grant them access to protected parts of the website.
• When we submit that form, not only does it update Miva it also makes a number of API Calls and syncs that customer's data across several different web services (ie. CRM, Email Marketing, etc).
• At this point, everything is now synced with the customer's data and their customer ID.

It sounds a bit cumbersome, but this workflow works in order to sync data across all of our different services.

The problem lies here:
Because of the type of equipment we sell, it's very rare that a user signs up on our website and immediately makes a purchase.
However, we still immediately want all of that customer's data synced to our web services (CRM, Email Marketing, etc)
But in order to sync, we, first, need our Order Manager to assign them their customer ID.
Which means we need to create a "dummy" order in Miva, just so that we can download it to our Order Manager, and then assign their Customer ID.

That's the part that gets frustrating. Especially when you're speaking to a customer on the phone, who has just signed up and wants full access to the site, but I've got to log in to the back end of Miva and build a "dummy" order, just to get the whole process moving.

Unfortunately, I don't think there's anyway for us to get around needing to place that "dummy"order. So if an order was automatically generated when someone signs up on the site, at least that would be one less step we would have to do.

I'm familiar enough with PHP/SQL that I could manually create that order in to the Database. However their appears to be many areas of the database that are affected when you create an order (ie. Store Keys, as well as 'basket_id' and 'line_id' in the BasketItems table), and I'm nervous that if I don't take everything there in to account, it might break my shopping cart (either immediately or down the road).
Thanks!

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

Ah, yes...perfect explanation, and understandable why you'd look to create a dummy order. (Also, you are correct, you don't really want to be hard coding a direct to database order creation solution as it would most likely break the next time Miva has a point upgrade (adding datatables/fields).

One maybe obvious question is can you make a post directly into your Order Management system? Or, can you just use a Custom Export/Import routine to get the customer info into your system?

[allclear]

As far as I know, the only way to get the orders in to our Order Manager is to Import them through the software. The software uses another custom module that looks at the Miva Orders database and pulls down any new orders.

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

You should be able to do most of this from the template level with a little more effort on the customers part. Basically, create a 0 price product tied to an availability group. Make sure your store is setup to not require shipping/payment for 0 dollar orders. Then, on the ACAD page, test conditions as necessary, if met, add the customer to that availability group and add the product to the basket. You should be able to, at that point, make your own Complete Order post from the ACED page (where a customer ends up after creating an account).

Personally, I'd see if the Order Management system had any mechanisms to import data other than from Orders and import the customer directly.