PHP for Beginners: How to Build an Ecommerce Store

Download and organize assets for your e-commerce store, creating public and resources folders for the project. Define DS as DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR and use magic constants to manage file paths.

Define template paths using constants, create templates/front and templates/back folders, and concatenate the base directory with the chosen folder to route to front or back templates.

Define database constants for host, user, password, and name, then establish a mysqli connection for the ecommerce store. Enable output buffering and sessions, and include config and functions.

Create and test a MySQL database for your ecommerce store using phpMyAdmin, verify PHP file requirements, and connect to the database while leveraging a Bootstrap template for UI.

Learn how to modularize index.php by extracting the header and footer into separate template files, include them in the front-end, and validate the site still works.

Reuse header and navigation by creating top nav and slider snippets in PHP, include them in index, and organize components as separate files for reuse.

Create a categories table with cat_id as the primary key and autoincrement. Include cat_title as varchar and insert example rows for the side nav.

Display dynamic categories from a database by selecting all from categories, executing with mysql_query, looping with mysql_fetch_array, and rendering cat_title, including basic error handling.

Create custom PHP helper functions for MySQL queries, fetch results, escape values, and confirm errors, enabling safer, flexible ecommerce databases.

Learn to create a products table in the database with fields like product id, title, category id, price, description, and image, then insert sample data using phpMyAdmin.

Learn to build a get_products function in PHP that queries the products table, fetches results, and dynamically displays product thumbnails and prices on the home page.

Build a dynamic product list with a thumbnail and buy now button via the Get Products function, using heredoc for large strings and CSS to manage caption display.

Explore linking a product thumbnail to a single product page in a PHP ecommerce site by passing the product id via a get request to item.php?id={id}.

Learn to build a category page in a PHP ecommerce store by creating a get_categories function, linking categories to category.php with the category ID, and debugging delimiter issues.

Wire the single product page by connecting item.php to index and header, replace static navigation with dynamic categories, and prepare a single item display from the database.

Learn to fetch a product’s data from a database and display it on a single product page using PHP, handling get requests, escaping input, and rendering price dynamically.

Add a new product short description column in phpMyAdmin, update titles and descriptions, and implement responsive images while illustrating Bootstrap and jQuery-powered tabs for product detail.

Build a dynamic category page in PHP by fetching category-specific products from the database, using a custom escape function and a while loop to render thumbnails and product links.

Build and display all products on the shop page by reusing the get products in categories function, adjusting the query, and updating the top navigation to shop.

Build a simple login system for an ecommerce site by wiring a login page to a php backend and creating a users table with user_id, username, and email in phpMyAdmin.

Develops a login function that processes post data for username and password, escapes inputs to prevent SQL injection, verifies credentials with mysqli, and redirects on success or back to login.

learn how to validate user credentials with a PHP login function, set and display session messages for wrong password or username, and redirect successful logins to admin.

Create a dynamic contact page by turning the HTML into contact.php, wiring the top navigation link, and building a post form with name, email, subject, and message that sends emails.

Learn how to collect post data from a contact form, build mail headers, and send messages with PHP's mail function, including error handling and possible smtp considerations.

Set up cart and checkout navigation, attach product IDs to a session, and plan a quantity check in phpMyAdmin to show only in-stock items.

Remove or comment out the session_destroy function and ensure session_start is on the first line to safely test php sessions.

Create a dedicated cart page and implement add-to-cart using a get parameter ad. Use a session variable product_<id> to track each added item and increment on every add.

Edwin from the future warns students to comment out session_destroy for debugging to avoid destroying cart sessions as they build a PHP ecommerce store.

Build a PHP cart feature that limits increments by comparing the session quantity to the products table, using a get request, escape string, and confirm to fetch product data.

Learn how to limit cart quantities in a PHP ecommerce store by syncing session counts with database stock, validating availability at checkout, and displaying 'we only have three available' message.

Implement a dynamic shopping cart in PHP by adding, decreasing, and deleting items. Update quantities, totals, and session data, and redirect users to checkout or index as needed.

Test remove and delete functions in a php ecommerce cart by sending product IDs, updating sessions, and validating item removal on checkout and cart display.

Create a cart function that displays shopping cart items by querying the products database, looping through results, and rendering them in a table with session-based data.

Build the checkout cart by converting prices to dynamic values from the database, managing quantity with sessions, and adding remove, plus, and delete icons using bootstrap glyph icons.

Extract product IDs from the cart session with foreach and substring, then build a where id equals the extracted id query to fetch and display the matching products.

Clean and refine the cart display by filtering session data to show only items added to the cart, extract product IDs, and build secure queries for the ecommerce store.

Learn to create a dynamic cart in PHP using sessions to track item quantities and calculate the subtotal as price times quantity for an ecommerce store.

Learn to calculate the cart total in PHP by summing subtotals in a loop, store it in a session variable, and display the items total across checkout and site navigation.

Learn to manage cart item quantities in PHP sessions by assigning and updating quantities, preventing undefined values, and unsetting items and totals when removed or reduced to zero.

Learn how to test a PayPal checkout in a sandbox environment by creating buyer and business accounts, generating app credentials, and using PayPal's developer dashboard to simulate purchases.

Learn to enable PayPal auto return for website payments in the sandbox by updating website preferences and setting your thank you page URL.

Learn how to connect a PHP ecommerce checkout to PayPal by submitting a form with item name, item number, and amount, then process the response in your admin area.

Build a php form for the ecommerce checkout, configuring cart.php to checkout with PayPal sandbox inputs. Loop items to generate item name, amount, and quantity.

Learn to submit product data to PayPal using PHP by configuring checkout and cart pages, adding a proper upload button name, and testing in the sandbox with USD currency.

Fix erroneous PayPal totals by switching from database quantity to session-based values, ensuring the checkout reflects the correct item count and total before purchase.

Learn to handle PayPal redirect parameters such as amount, currency code, transaction id, and status in a PHP thank you page, tested on a non-live server, with order database insertion.

Create an orders table in phpMyAdmin with order id, amount, transaction, status, and currency. Insert data and validate the checkout flow, including PayPal and destroying the session.

Learn how to manage PHP sessions for an ecommerce cart, ensure session destruction works, and conditionally display a PayPal button only when items exist via a custom function.

Fix the checkout buy now button by validating item quantity, enable add to cart on item pages, and move cart logic to functions while implementing admin login checks for orders.

Refactor the admin index into reusable modular pieces with a header and footer. Load config via include and route admin pages using the get parameter inside a single page wrapper.

The lecture demonstrates using the PHP server superglobal to detect the current path and conditionally display admin content or the index page, enabling an orders page for the ecommerce store.

Create the orders page and dynamic admin navigation by extracting reusable top and side nav components, wiring the orders route via index with a get parameter.

Fix the orders page by removing duplicate wrappers and loading only the orders table, with index including everything. Move admin pages to templates and add product navigation via get requests.

learn to handle get requests in index.php, conditionally include pages, and streamline layout by removing header and container wrappers. In the next lecture, fetch user order data and PayPal status.

Implement a session-based login to secure the admin area and redirect unauthenticated users to the home page. Enable logout by destroying the session and hide the password input.

Move cart.php from public to resources and update redirect paths to the resources location, securing the cart and adjusting config, item, and checkout links for proper integration.

Learn to extend your ecommerce database by adding a product_id column to the orders table and pull product IDs from session data to populate orders, while fixing paths in cart.php.

Create a reports table with report id, product id, price, and quantity, and test the thank you page by displaying and retrieving the item quantity.

Learn to insert data into the reports table with product ID, price, and quantity in PHP, then link to an order ID using the last inserted ID.

Explore how to fetch the last inserted order with mysqli_insert_id, create a helper function, and insert the order id into the reports table, while managing sessions and avoiding duplicate inserts.

Enhance your php ecommerce store by adding a product title field and inserting it into reports, while using session handling to prevent duplicate orders.

Display orders on the admin page by building a PHP function that queries the orders table and echoes aligned fields: order id, amount, transaction, currency, status, using PayPal USD data.

Create a delete link on the orders page and process deletion by removing the record from orders table using the order_id from the get request, and redirect back to orders.