Order fulfillment form for outside sales - stuck with a portal?

[krt1]

Hi all - 

 

I can't seem to figure out a good option for this aside from a portal.  I'm building an order fulfillment database for our outside sales team that they will use to order sample products, marketing material, etc.  

 

Ideally, I picture something like a list view that lists all of the products (~40-50) by category, and then a box for the quantity.  They would scroll through the list, add their quantities, and hit "enter" to trigger a script.  But how would I do this with multiple users accessing the same records?  Would I duplicate all the product records and tag them to the user, so each user has their own product list, then filter the records according to the user?   Am I way off track?  A portal seems like the easy way to go, but there's just too many products…and ~10 different categories.  

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks!

 

 

[Wim Decorte]

One option is to change the workflow a little so that they would select items from the list (which creates Order items records that link to the product) and that they then enter values in those order item records.

[krt1]

Thanks Wim - So you're thinking a portal with a pop-up or drop-down list?  I just wish there was a way to organize the list better.  

 

Thinking about going with a form view, moving the list outside of the portal, having a separate list for each category, and then putting a quantity field and enter button next to each list - when enter is pressed, it adds the item to a portal that shows the current order.  The list view option seems like it would be much faster to place an order, but I think it will be a headache on my end...

[Wim Decorte]

No, no portals.  That could be expensive if your guys are going to be out there in the field with slow connections.

Just a list that they can pick from, each pick adds a order item.  When they are done going through the catalog you take them to their order list where they can set quantities.  Or you ask for it in a popup as soon as they select something from the catalog.  Any number of ways to do that, whatever is the most intuitive for them.

[krt1]

Ah - got confused on the list part. Thanks for the tip on the portal!

So if I use a list view, how would I give each user their own "view"? I'm thinking there needs to be some type of confirmation when they select an item (check box, color change, etc), but won't that confirm show up on everyone else's list as well?

[krt1]

Hi Wim -

You mind giving some more detail? How would I avoid every user seeing the same thing? I tried to duplicate all the records for each user but it creates a headache for all the joins.

Thank you!

[Wim Decorte]

No need to duplicate anything.  You use just the catalog list.

 

When a user clicks on an item in the catalog you take the ID of the product, the ID of the user, a unique "session key" and you go and create a new record in a "products ordered" table.  You can show a portal to that somewhere on the catalog layout (maybe in a header) so that each user can see what they have been selecting, and where they can type in a quantity.

[krt1]

Ah - I see! Thank you!