Z-Trade Direct Pricing Matrix Component

Posted on by James Rowe

For this small project I built a mysql database and PHP and AJAX front-end that enabled clients to get quotes directly from the website. The AJAX allowed you to select various dropdowns, with the following dropdowns being loaded dynamically and finally a quote is produced. The customer can then be taken to a simple contact form that writes contact information to the database, along with the clients quote and emails the details to a member of staff at Z-Trade Direct.

The component I built was designed to be loaded into an iframe within the current website, so I also dealt with styling the forms to match the site that was hosting it.

You can take a look at it in action here, or see the screenshots below.

  • Rob

    “This quoting tool is best viewed in Internet Explorer 7 or below, or Mozilla Firefox. If you are using IE8 please make sure compatibility mode is enabled.”

    Is it a joke, right?

    • http://www.jimcode.org Jim Rowe

      Hi Rob,

      I wish it was! I was only involved with the iframe that contains the quoting bit – the site was being built by another company, or possibly in-house developers. I would hope to always get full compatibility in the later versions of IE – and even if it had to render using compatibility mode then I see no reason not to just use the IE meta tags for that.

      It still amazes me how many developers out there do this kind of thing without seeming to realize why it is a very, very long way from ideal.