dfnomad

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

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

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

I am new to Participants, but have managed to create a registration form and enter some records. I can list the records OK.

I have access to the standard WP tables via phpMyAdmin. But I cannot see the wp_participants_database. Could someone tell me how to set up so that I can see that database and its tables?