Which way would be best?

[SmokingMan]

I'm putting up a site for my brother's restaurant and he would like to set up online ordering. What I'm wondering since this is my first "real" site, what would be the best way to go with this? I know I can set up the form with markup, but when formatting a confirmation page for the customer to look over, and to calculate the order total, would you want to use a client side language such as Javascript, or a server side language like php?I need to be able to have the user input their order using drop downs. Then display a confirmation page with their order and the purchase total for them to look at before they confirm and submit it via e-mail. I would also like to send them a confirmation that the order was received. I know I can set up an auto responder to confirm the e-mail receipt, but how would I also include their order in the e-mail?I know this is a lot, but I have lots of time to put this together and would like to do it right since this is my first foray outside of just coding for fun. So I'm looking for a little input as to how would be the best way to approach this. If I'm able to pull this off, and do it well..........who knows?

[Chocolate570]

You definitely want PHP or a server side script to do processing. It's a bit more secure, and easier to work with when using ordering forms. =)

[SmokingMan]

You definitely want PHP or a server side script to do processing. It's a bit more secure, and easier to work with when using ordering forms. =)

Okay I'm not going to pretend to know php, but would I use it to also design the ordering form instead of using XHTML? Or would I use php to access the data input into the form? Please excuse my ignorance on this one. I guess I got me some learnin' to do.

[Sniffy]

I believe you would use XHTML for the form, and PHP to process the form. Also if you want to enhance the form javascript can also come into the picture.

[Skemcin]

I have a couple concerns about this model - not being sure how much of your plan you have communicated.a.) is anything going to be databased?b.) are the financial transactions taking place offline?c.) are you collecting any payment information?d.) does the restaurant have dedicated internet access - is some shape or form?e.) do you have access to a shared or private SSL (secure socket license)?Any order/shopping systems should NEVER use client side scripting to anything other than form validation or page loading/navigation. If you left the calculations up to the browser, I'd just have to look at the source and assign my own prices (like zero) and place my order. Definitely use a server side scripting language.As for orders, I'd suggest this unless you have some more advance database capabilities:a.) send an order confirmation to the order placer (make sure you include information on how they will be contacted and how the order will be fulfilled, etc.)b.) since you are concerned about letting the orderer know that their order has been received - a simple auto-reply is not going to give them the confidence that a human has seen the order. So, I'd have each order CC'ed to a cell phone email - preferable of the owner or manager(s). Additionally, I'd suggest the restaurant put a policy in place that would have an employee phone the order placer to confirm the order and (obviously) confirming its receipt - even taking payment over the phone - (incentive for the restaurant to follow the policy).c.) come up with a plan to deal with spam - its inevitable, i.e. captcha (although that has been recently proven to be relatively ineffective).I could probably think of a few other things, but this should get you something to think about for now.