I've been trying to get a new site off the ground that will focus on my books and my photography, and I need some help. I thought I had a developer lined up for this, but he just bowed out, so I'm putting out some feelers to see if anyone is interested.
What I need is a commerce solution for selling photographic prints through my site. I'm using Drupal to deliver my content (blog, travel stories, etc.) and Gallery 2 to handle the photos. Unfortunately, no complete solution exists for either to do what I need. (I've been over and over many other CMSs, galleries and open-source commerce packages, and no other does what I need, either. But overall, Drupal and Gallery 2 appear to suit me in all other aspects, so I've settled on those.)
Here's the situation as explained in an excerpt from my project outline:
quote:
Using an existing integration module written for Drupal, Gallery can be integrated visually into Drupal's layout, making it appear as part of the whole site. As I understand it, the only functional integration between the two is a synchronization of users, making it possible to sign up for and log in to the main site (Drupal) and have those actions reflected in Gallery, as well.
...
Gallery has a cart module that comes included as part of its standard installation, but it's only a very basic module intended to be used as the basis for further development. One can add photos to the cart, but there are no purchase options, nor any checkout functionality.
A third party has developed a module for Gallery called Checkout, which uses its own cart separate from Gallery's standard cart module. It allows for the selection of print sizes and paper finishes within the cart, but the checkout procedure does not handle sales tax, allows only one shipping price and can only be processed using PayPal. ...
Drupal has a third-party module available, as well, called E-Commerce. I have not personally tried the module, but it claims to offer tax calculation, payment options, shipping options, invoice generation and a host of other features. This could probably be used for selling books and other products directly from Drupal, but since Gallery's content is not integrated with Drupal's content, it cannot be used for selling photographs, at least not as-is.
...
I'm thinking it might be possible to develop a two-part solution utilizing Drupal's E-Commerce module for cart functionality and order processing, and a new module for Gallery that would handle the photo products and options. If a bridge could be developed between the two, photos could be selected for purchase within Gallery, then sent to the E-Commerce cart for ordering.
...
Relevant links:
The module that will handle the photo products and options is a whole other item I won't go into in this post, but if anyone thinks he might be interested in developing this, I can send him the project outline, which details everything.
I'm desperate to get this site working and I'm prepared to talk compensation. And on that note, there are quite a number of people looking for a better commerce solution for Gallery, as well, and it's entirely possible we could license the module once it's done.
Any PHP gurus interested in taking a look?
posted 09-09-2006 20:37
