Price calculator and order component in Joomla

We need a calculator as a Joomla component that can calculate the prices of our customers book printing orders in realtime.

In front end the customer should be able to enter the specifications of their book and the calculator should calculate the total cost in realtime. Then the customer should be able to order the book by uploading files and entering their contact information. The order with attached files should be sent as an email both to us and as a confirmation to the customer, and stored in component’s back end.

Backend specifications:

Categories

Here we should be able to enter different categories of jobs, like book printing, flyer printing etc.

Specifications

Here we should be able to add different specifications connected with the specific categories. We should be able to choose what kind of data the customer should enter: Textbox, textarea, drop-down, checkbox, radio, file upload, calendar, hidden. And we should be able to enter validations, like numeric, alphanumeric, alpha and required/not required.

Calculations

Here we should be able to add different calculations based on the specifications or other calculations. When we create a new calculation, we should choose category and by that what specifications or other calculations we want to use in the calculation. The specifications should be presented as tags and we should be able to write the calculation like “{spec1} * {spec2}” and in some kind of Excel logical manner, like “case ({spec1}=”blabla” ; {spec1}*{spec2};[…];{spec3})”. We should be able to use the most common mathematical: +-/*<>=.

Front end templates

When we create a category a simple standard html template should be created and filled with each specification and calculation we create as tags, like {amount_of_bw_pages}, {amount_of_books} etc. This is the html that will show the category at front end. This html template we should be able to change accordingly to our needs. New specifications should be saved as tags at bottom of existing template.

An example

We create a category “Book printing”. We create these specifications in that category: “Amount of black/white pages” (textbox), “Amount of color pages” (textbox), “Amount of books” (textbox), “File to upload” (file upload). We create these calculations:

“Price per book” : case (({s:bwpages} * 0,2)*(1-({s:amountofbooks}/100))) > {s:bwpages}*0,1 ; {s:bwpages}*0,1 ; ({s:bwpages} * 0,2)*(1-({s:amountofbooks}/100))

 “Total price” : {c:priceperbook} * {s:amountofbooks}

“Freight cost” : case (({s:bwpages}*0,01) * {s:amountofbooks} > 250 ; 25 ; ({s:bwpages}*0,01) * {s:amountofbooks} < 251 or ({s:bwpages}*0,01) * {s:amountofbooks} > 500 ; 50 ; ({s:bwpages}*0,01) * {s:amountofbooks} < 501 or ({s:bwpages}*0,01) * {s:amountofbooks} > 1000 ; 50 ; 100 ; ({s:bwpages}*0,01) * {s:amountofbooks} < 1001 or ({s:bwpages}*0,01) * {s:amountofbooks} > 5000 ; 150 ; ({s:bwpages}*0,01) * {s:amountofbooks} < 5001 ; 200)

“Total amount to pay”: {c:totalprice} + {c:freightcost}

Explanation of this example calculations:

“s:” and “c:” tells the system if it’s a specification or a calculation it should use (maybe not necessary?).

In “Price per book”-calculation it takes the number of specification “b/w pages” * 0,2 (for example 100 pages * 0,2 = $20) and calculates a discount depending on the specification “amount of books” to withdraw from that. If the price - discount is less than the b/w pages * 0,1, it will use b/w pages * 0,1 as it’s price (for example 100 pages * 0,1 = $10).

The “Total price”-calculation takes the calculation “price per book” * the specification “amount of books” to get the total price.

The “Freight cost”-calculation calculates the number of grams all books will weigh in the order and gives the freight cost, for example $25 for under 250 grams, $50 for 250-500 grams etc.

The “Total amount to pay”-calculation adds the calculations “total price” and “freightcost”.

Front end specifications

As all components in Joomla, we should be able to attach the component to a menu and choose which category it should link to. When the customer clicks on this menu link he/she should get to the template of that category and be able to fill out the form with the specifications we have created. As soon as the customer enters a data into a field, the calculation fields should adjust accordingly in realtime.

When the customer is satisfied he should be able add his/hers contact information and address below and then click on a link at the bottom: “Order this printing”. The files should be uploaded to the server and a “thank you”-screen should appear.

An email should be sent to both us and the customer with all data the customer entered and all data of the calculations as they were presented on the site. The files should be sent as attachments to the email.