This system was designed and implemented (in basic form) for my final undergraduate degree project. It is fully PHP and MySQL based and almost every part of the system can be customised via the administration panel. The system took just over three weeks to implement, although further work would be necessary to be able to use it as a working system. It is the first project I have completed which makes use of the AJAX platform to allow the shopping cart to be updated without additional browser refreshing. It is also the first project I have completed where I have used multiple authentication methods (with a password and security question) in order to make the system safer.

This management portal was produced to make managing my web hosting business as quick and efficient as possible, with the base development taking place over six months and then the system gradually improved. It relies on a MySQL database made up of over 100 tables and is almost entirely PHP based. The system has both a customer level and an administrator level which allowed tasks at the company to be automated and the customer given the controls to complete tasks such as update account information and view invoices and payments made.

The management portal is made up of several sections which include an account management area, a billing area and a customer support area. Each area has a number of different options and an employees access to each area can be set by an administrator.

The customer management portal provides facilities for customers to view their billing records, open a support ticket as well as manage any shared hosting or dedicated servers they have under their account.

The system also integrates with a number of external sources including payment processing providers, datacenter suppliers, shared hosting servers and SMS messaging services.

As part of my A Level course in Computing I was tasked to design and implement an application backed by a database. I chose a web-based PHP application based on a MySQL database having already worked with these tools in the past. Having recently ordered a computing from DELL Online, I wanted to attempt to produce a similar system, based on the selection, customisation and final purchasing of a new computer.

While other applications I have designed use separate systems for the customer and administrative functions, in this system they are integrated into the main website, simply presenting a different set of options upon logging into the website depending on the user status.

Administrators are able to add a base computer name and processor to the database and then add the available hardware options such as memory, hard drives and operating system to that particular computer system. They can also view customer orders and mark them as completed.

Customers are able to make an order, view their account information and also view any invoices which have been lodged on their account.