HOWTO: Allow Visitors to Upload Files ?

[sk3pt1c]

hi peoples, i've recently started working with a print agency and they want me to re-do their website. one of the requests they had is for visitors to be able to upload files (eg. a design for their business cards) to their site along with details and place an order for business cards for example...
so the question is, how is that done (the file upload) and how would i link the file to the other data they might input, say like dimensions and so on...
and a sort of off topic question, do you think people are actually going to use this feature if implemented? are they gonna keep uploading version upon version of what they want or just not bother at all and drop by the agency?
bear in mind this is greece we're talking about, most people are not tech savvy at all...
thanks!

 

[angelwatt]

The HTML form part

<form method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
...
<input type="file" name="upfile" size="12" />
...

PHP Tutorial for file uploads.

You can tie the uploaded file to other data via a DB for long term, but you can also use the $_SESSION variable to store it short term while they are filling out a form. There's a number of ways to implement this.

I think some people would use the feature. They might have someone create designs then they would upload the file. It isn't tech-savvy to use use the feature really.

 

[sk3pt1c]

well, let me simply say that having a middle person creating designs doesn't really happen much, it's usually a graphic designer at the print agency that does that job... we have the "one person to do everything" mentality here...
thanks for the link, looks quite informative!
don't know about the tie in you suggested though... i'm guessing a DB is overkill but then again it would be more manageable...
i'm trying to figure out the workload so i know what to charge too...
what do you think is best?

 

[angelwatt]

You could use a flat file (plain text) DB. I don't know your setup and what all is involved on the site so I just gave a vague solution. I use flat files more than DB just because I find them a little easier to work with and to view.

As I'm just a hobbyist I can't speak too much toward what to charge to much. The workload on this doesn't sound overly high though.