Online Approvals System

[3guk]

Hey Guys,

 

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum, there are a mind boggling number of sub-forums on here !

 

Basically, I'm developing an events management system with a slight twist, in that events can be submitted into the database online - through a php interface.

 

I'm happy with the php side of things, however I'm wondering the best way to go about creating an approvals process.

 

As it stands I have a current_projects table, with around 60 different fields in, which is related to a few different tables (contacts, dates, etc), this table should only contain approved events with approved information (checked by a single member of staff).

 

I'd like to set up a system whereby information can be submitted online, through a one page php script, but for it to go into a quarantine, where a member of staff in the office can check through each individual field and approve information to go into the current_projects table and fields.

 

Ideally once a piece of information has been submitted and approved, that field could then be locked out online.

 

What is the best way of doing this ?

 

James

[doughemi]

I put all the incoming events in what I call a "penalty box" table.  When the user who has approval rights clicks an "Approve" button, the script copies the data in the record to the main table with a timestamp. Access to the layout where this can happen can be restricted by privilege set. If the input is rejected, the approver can select a reason from a checkbox list and perform the appropriate action (email the submitter for further information, delete the input, hold it for audit trail purposes, etc).

[MartieH]

I do a similar thing in an online entry system for horse shows. Users create entries - they are available to be edited until they are processed - at that point, a flag field gets populated with an X. On the webpage, the link to go to each entry is written in a php if statement - so that, if the flag field == 'x' the link is not printed otherwise, the link is printed.

 

hth,

Martie