Flash flip book that links to cart?
January 7, 2010 4:25 PM Subscribe
We need to convert a pdf catalog to a flash flip book (ie this. No problem. however, the client wants to have it set up so that when the viewer clicks on an item, that item gets added to a cart, and then when the viewer is done, the cart list gets emailed to a distributor for a price quote. I've spent the afternoon searching, but I'm not finding anything that looks like what we need. Any ideas?
It's really easy to call javascript functions on a web page from within an embedded Flash object.
posted by ecurtz at 5:31 PM on January 7, 2010
posted by ecurtz at 5:31 PM on January 7, 2010
flabdablet: "What are your chances of convincing the client that this is a totally broken, backassward, doomed or otherwise suboptimal way to do business online?"
That might be applicable in some/normal situations.. but since we don't know what the distributor in question is selling.. its entirely possible the products/items are custom/handmade/luxury or some combination of pieces/parts that require a human review.
posted by jmnugent at 5:45 PM on January 7, 2010
That might be applicable in some/normal situations.. but since we don't know what the distributor in question is selling.. its entirely possible the products/items are custom/handmade/luxury or some combination of pieces/parts that require a human review.
posted by jmnugent at 5:45 PM on January 7, 2010
Well, its unlikely you're going to find exactly what you need pre-built, especially when that thing operates in an unusual way.
You can use that page flipping thing, but from the looks of it, you can only embed images and pdfs, so unless they give you an API, you're not going to be able to make HTTP requests, or call Javascript on the page (which could make an Ajax call).
When you say "No Problem," what part are you referring to? Just getting it into the prebuilt plugin? Or are you able to add things to a cart and just having the problem with the email, etc?
You have a number of problems. You have to get the actual data from the catalogue in there some how, not just the pictures? And you have to define clicking targets and one would hope perform some sort of update to let the user know something was added. Then you have to make a remote call, sending that information to a script that sends an email.
jmnugent makes a good point when he says that this might be a situation where someone really does need to make a quote, but you're still trading a straightforward experience for some crap that's supposed to look like a paper catalog.
So, you ask for ideas...Here are two: Put this up with the page flippy thing and place a message on the screen for people to email a sales person with their item numbers, or put this in a proper database and build an front end for it.
posted by miniape at 6:46 PM on January 7, 2010
You can use that page flipping thing, but from the looks of it, you can only embed images and pdfs, so unless they give you an API, you're not going to be able to make HTTP requests, or call Javascript on the page (which could make an Ajax call).
When you say "No Problem," what part are you referring to? Just getting it into the prebuilt plugin? Or are you able to add things to a cart and just having the problem with the email, etc?
You have a number of problems. You have to get the actual data from the catalogue in there some how, not just the pictures? And you have to define clicking targets and one would hope perform some sort of update to let the user know something was added. Then you have to make a remote call, sending that information to a script that sends an email.
jmnugent makes a good point when he says that this might be a situation where someone really does need to make a quote, but you're still trading a straightforward experience for some crap that's supposed to look like a paper catalog.
So, you ask for ideas...Here are two: Put this up with the page flippy thing and place a message on the screen for people to email a sales person with their item numbers, or put this in a proper database and build an front end for it.
posted by miniape at 6:46 PM on January 7, 2010
Response by poster: @flabdablet - its a little odd, to be sure, but its for a market that tends to do business this way.
@ecurtz - that may be a good path for me to investigate, thanks.
@miniape - the no problem was about the conversion of a pdf to flip book - there's a number of different services I've found for that.
Thanks all for the input so far - I was starting to think in circles.
posted by korej at 8:24 PM on January 7, 2010
@ecurtz - that may be a good path for me to investigate, thanks.
@miniape - the no problem was about the conversion of a pdf to flip book - there's a number of different services I've found for that.
Thanks all for the input so far - I was starting to think in circles.
posted by korej at 8:24 PM on January 7, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
What are your chances of convincing the client that this is a totally broken, backassward, doomed or otherwise suboptimal way to do business online?
If I'm clicking "add to cart" online, my expectation is that I will be able to complete my transaction with a few more clicks. If I find that I'm going to need to wait for some overloaded human being somewhere to review my order and get back to me via email, my immediate reaction will be to cancel the whole thing and do my business somewhere else. I'm sure I'm not alone.
posted by flabdablet at 4:42 PM on January 7, 2010