Merchant OrderForm v1.53 OrderForm Examples

This page has examples of how to set up OrderForm Pages(s) on your Web Site. Merchant OrderForm v1.53 now consolidates multiple OrderForm pages from around your site into one invoice. Consult the page on Single Input Examples if you want to collect single products from around your site, and won't be using the OrderForm modes.

You should have some basic skill with constructing Forms in HTML to make your OrderForm page(s). If you use a Web Page Editor like Front Page or Page Mill, then you should know how to use them to Construct Form Input.

You can follow the examples in the underlying HTML syntax on this page to get you started. When you View the Source or HTML for this example page you will also see many Comments embedded around the input syntax. If you need help on the basics of building Forms in Web Pages, there are many free tutorials around the internet.

There are two OrderForm Modes: postmode

Consult the examples further down on this page to see how the two different postmodes work. Here's a summary of what the two modes do.

1. postmode=CHECKBOXES
   Uses CheckBox input for each product. Checkboxes do not allow for User Input Options, but simply submit 6 Fields to be processed. Quantity is part of the 6 Field input.

2. postmode=QUANTITYBOXES
   This Form Type uses a Quantity User Input Option to identify if they want the product. A positive quantity instructs MOF to accept the item. A blank quantity instructs MOF to ignore the item. You can set up User Input Options with this postmode Type; however, there are some specific naming rules you must follow.

The examples on this page send the OrderForm Input Page of your products to the MOF System. There are two examples in this section: First, a simple OrderForm Page with No User Input for options; Second, an OrderForm Page that allows for various User Input options for each product. All examples for MOF will consolidate input from various OrderForm Pages.

1. The Classic OrderForm Page

The Classic Web World Ordering Form

This is the simplest use of Merchant OrderForm. In this example, you simply check the items you want to order. No User Input options are allowed. All necessary information on the product is sent as the value of the checkbox. You will sending 6 fields for the value of your checkbox input: You will be submitting 6 Fields of information under the name=order for each Check Box on This OrderForm Page.

• postmode=CHECKBOXES
• order=Quantity----Product----Description----Price----ShipCode----Tax

This example uses Pop Up windows to preview the products images. Click on the Product Name to see this. It's just an idea, and can certainly be taken out. Just remove the Hype Link reference to the Pop Up windows.

Select The Product(s) To Order

Item		Description		Price
Box Baseball Cards		24 Collectable Baseball Cards	$	10.00
Second Nature Books		Collection of 10 Children books	$	65.00
Each Day Poster # 1		Mountain scene inspiration poster	$	11.50
Each Day Poster # 34		Lake scene inspiration poster	$	11.50
Today In History v1.0		History archives web based software	$	21.65
New York Times		A monthly subscription to the NYT	$	19.25
Magic Box Gifts		A surprise gift box of potpourri	$	12.25
The Finish Line		An autobiography by Bill Waters	$	31.99
The Naked Kingdom		Hidden confessions by Monica L.	$	50.95

2. The OrderForm Page with User Input

The Web World Ordering Form with User Input

This Form Type Example allows for Quantity User Input to identify if they want the product. A positive quantity instructs MOF to accept the item. A blank quantity instructs MOF to ignore the item. You will be submitting 5 Hidden Fields of information under the name=orderN for each product, and submitting Quantity for that product under the name=quantityN, where N is a number matching order to quantity. Each product will have a sequential Number assigned to the orderN/quantityN pair, and that same orderN/quantityN pair Number will be assigned to any User Input for that particular product. You cannot submit quantityN as hidden, unless you really want that product to be ordered by default. When MOF sees quantityN whether hidden or as text box input by user, then we assume the product is added to the cart.

The Overall Form Input will have :

• postmode=QUANTITYBOXES

And each Product's Input will look like this:

• orderN=Product----Description----Price----ShipCode----Tax
• quantityN=User Input
• option_nameN=User Input

The World Famous Propeller Hat        $ 19.99
	Qty Hat Color Select Color Rainbow Purple Stripes Yellow Solid Sunburst Red Size Select Size Small Medium Large Extra Large Prop Color Propeller Color Bright Red Dull Green Metallic Purple Shinny Yellow 1
The Industrial Work Hat        $ 24.99
	Qty Hat Color Select Color Red Blue Yellow Black Size Select Size Small Medium Large Extra Large 2
The Hardy Caravan Hat        $ 32.50
	Qty Hat Color Select Color Red Blue Yellow Black Size Select Size Small Medium Large Extra Large 3
The Canadian Mountie Hat        $ 39.98
	Qty Hat Color Select Color Navy Blue Desert Brown Great Green Bear Black Size Select Size Size 10 Size 11 Size 12 Size 13 Size 14 Size 15 Size 16 Size 17 4
The Western Saddle Hat        $ 45.00
	Qty Hat Color Select Color Dark Brown Desert Brown Black Brown Bear Brown Size Select Size Size 10 Size 11 Size 12 Size 13 Size 14 Size 15 Size 16 Size 17 Band Select Band Squirrel Tail Rattle Snake Bear Tooth Garden Hose 15

On the Quantity Box postmode layout example above you can mix user_inputN boxes, and each of your products can have different selections from the use_inputN boxes. The last two products in this example layout use the same user_inputN boxes, but those input boxes have different values to select from. It's not important what selections are listed in the user_inputN. The important thing is that the user_input name is declared in your configuration file, and that user_inputN Number is matched to the correct orderN when you build this form. Whatever user_inputN boxes are used for each product, the user_input3 must match order3 and quantity3 lines. The documentation has more detail on this.

Note: You do not have to use sequential numbering, but do keep all your orderN, quantityN, and user_inputN numbers together. MOF will find your Numbers whether in sequence or not. This will allow you to edit your products, delete a number out of sequence, or add a number out of sequence, and MOF will still find them for you.

3. Customized OrderForm Input

Support for Custom Processing

A "CUSTOM" postmode has been built in. The custom routines will have to be coded in the MOF processes library file and the program flow will have to be built in the main program file.

A custom process can be from an HTML form input or you could develop a pre-front end script to process a product to a stage ready to be accepted by MOF.

In the first scenario, you would actually submit your form to postmode=CUSTOM and build in the unique process you needed: For example, a Mailing List Subscription Service where a main service type is selected as the main product with embedded pricing for that input. The Custom process would then take that input and do whatever was needed to put it into @NewOrder format. Then the progam flow script would probably process as normal to the cart.

In the second scenario, you might build a script that processed your products in some way and prepared a screen to input into postmode=SINGLEPOST mode, thereby, utilizing MOF to pick up your input in an already recognizible format with the standard input names it's looking for.

Happy Ordering
Copyright © Merchant OrderForm v1.53
All Rights Reserved, April 2000 by RGA
These programs may not be distributed without consent of owner.