connecting PD to Woocommerce

You wouldn’t be able to do something like this without custom code. Getting a PDB record established automatically when an order is placed is relatively easy, but that’s probably only the beginning of all the modifications you’ll need to make to create the user interface.

I suggest you look into ways of adding to the storage capabilities of a WP user account so that you can do everything with just WooCommerce and WP.

thanks for this. Before I give up on my approach; let me clarify as follows:

I don’t think I need either a user account or a user interface. The public will just buy a sailing class without an account or login. It is a one way – one time transaction; no need for the user to go back in to see/edit/delete etc.

The user will use a PDB registration form to enter the additional student information. I want the registration information fields automatically filled in so the customer doesn’t make a mistake entering different values.

Beyond the registration form submission, the only user of PDB will be the School Manager signing in as Admin and using the PDB filters to see the data, shortcodes on pages to show things like:
– show me a list of all students registered, and the registrants phone number
– show me a list of all students in one class .. to give to the instructor
– show me the email address of all registrants who bought level 2 training
– show me all the students who are 10 yrs old and signed up for level 1.
– etc

To make that work, the registration data plus the additional student data needs to be in the PDB record.

Unless you still think I am still on the wrong track, could you give me a bit more direction about ” Getting a PDB record established automatically when an order is placed is relatively easy .. ”

thanks
Dave

Hi Dave

I run a few sailing websites and was interested in your thread.I am curious as to why you are using Woo Commerce and would be interested in seeing your site.

From what you describe in your last post, you will store the records of each user in a PDB database. This will allow your admin to check the records.

How many different sailing classes are you selling, as to me using Woo Commerce is a bit like using a sledge hammer to crush a nut…

Surely all you need to do is to offer different membership levels, by way of a drop-down menu, with each one set at whatever cost.

If using Woo Commerce and PDB you would have to use some (possibly complex) php to combine the data etc.

If it were me I would stick to just PDB and get that to work for you. I’m sure it can. You say you are new to WP and this is your first site so it might need just a little more thought.

Do you want members to be able to buy more than one sailing class. If so then that is where a relational database would be best. However, PDB is a flat file database and you just need to get it to work for you. Perhaps you just need to re-think the structure of your filing system.

Cheers

Hi supernova 42

our Club advertises around 60 different classes in 5 different categories. The customer starts by selecting a category of training (dinghy, keelboat, etc) then puts in the age of the student (5-19+) followed by the level of training (1-6). After that, the program shows the customer the classes that are “in stock” and suitable for the criteria entered.
Woocommerce handles that part quite nicely using the class as a “product” with a few custom attributes and variations to filter the classes available, as the criteria are entered, and show the short list to the customer. And of course Woocommerce handles the checkout / cart / payment. If there are less complex e-commerce plugins that still do what I’ve described .. I’d be happy to take advice.

As I mentioned to xnau .. after registration/data entry, PDB seems to nicely handle the other requirement: for the Manager to query/filter/display the data. There are only a total of about 10 fields.

To your other points .. there are no “members”. Just one time purchase, one student – one class. If that same parent want to buy a class for a second child, they just repeat the purchase and a second record goes into the database. Yes there will be some duplication of data (parents name, phone # etc.). But that is an easy cost for keeping the whole structure simple.

I just need to get those additional fields into the PDB record.

I have a working WP platform just to test out my ideas. I’ll be happy to share the site with you once it is not so embarrassing :))

Dave

This is a lot to take on if you’re new to WordPress, so that’s why I steered you to a simpler solution. If you want to tackle the learning curve, it is possible, but I can only offer limited help.

You will need to use an action that is triggered by WooCommerce when a purchase is made. I don’t know the action to use for that offhand. That action will call a custom function that you write to handle the new purchase. It will need to look at the data from the new purchase and determine what to do: if the new purchase is for a child, for instance, you will need to determine who the parent is and put that info into the record for the purchase. This means you will need to figure out how to establish a relationship between a parent’s record and their children’s records.

I hope that helps clarify your task. The best advice I can give is to start with the user experience: how do you want it to work for them as they interact with the site?

This reply is helpful, and points me towards a solution. Thanks for taking the time.

I had hoped that I would just be able to capture the values (maybe in GLOBAL variables) of the 4 variables entered during the purchase. And then, in the same session, when the parent moves to the PDB form to enter the student fields, those same global variables could be used to pre-populate the parents fields of the PDP form. Then I’d have everything in one db record. Yes .. there would be no relationship developed between the two tables, but I don’t see any other need for that.

Anyway, that was probably naivete based on inexperience. I’ll have to decide if I’m up for that learning curve or need to hire a pro.

thanks again .. cheers
Dave