Archives For ecommerce

When I was writing my [intlink id=”1578″ type=”page”]Effortless E-Commerce with PHP and MySQL[/intlink] book, I naturally did a bunch of research, particularly with regards to the various laws that apply. Understanding the programming behind an e-commerce site is relatively simple; understanding all the applicable laws and implications of doing e-commerce is complex. One of the sites I found to be quite useful was the U.S. Better Business Bureau (BBB).

I’m currently going through some items in my “to read” folder, and am reading, or perhaps re-reading, the Better Business Bureau’s PDF titled “Security & Privacy – Made Simpler“. If you do any e-commerce, or even just Web development, it’s worth reading. It’s a 22-page document that discusses almost every facet of e-commerce, such as:

  • Developing a security and privacy plan
  • Creating and communicating your security and privacy policies
  • Good employee screening and policies
  • Common hack/theft strategies
  • General Internet security
  • Proper handling of customer data
  • Payment processing
  • What to do in the event of a data breach
  • A preview of international e-commerce considerations

The document also has many resources listed in these and other categories. You can download the PDF from that page, but there are also related FAQs and more on the BBB’s site.

I’m very pleased to say that I just received my copies of the Effortless E-Commerce with PHP and MySQL book yesterday, which means it should be available in stores any day now. Thanks to everyone for their interest in the book!

For those of you interested in my forthcoming “Effortless E-commerce with PHP and MySQL” book, you can now look at the first example site at http://ecom1.dmcinsights.com. This project is covered in Part II of the book (four chapters total) and demonstrates:

  • Selling access to content (i.e., selling virtual products)
  • User management
  • Content management via administrative pages
  • Using PayPal’s Website Payments Standard system

There are instructions on the site for how you can access it and you can even download all the source code. There’s a form on every page through which you can ask questions or post comments. I welcome any and all feedback you may have!

I’m currently developing the second example site now, and will also make that publicly available when it’s ready. Thanks!