PC Services

"From Payroll to Body Scanners"

Some PHP Tips and 'Tricks'

Thinking beyond each page and DESIGNING your web site

Bad reporting

You may have a wonderful database, but if it is difficult for users to get meaningful results, then the reporting and database fields/selection methods are wrong.

This can cause more confusion to users and give a bad impression of the web site. For example -

• If you run an online ordering service report saleable quantities as in stock. Having seen several websites selling small value items, that are sold only in larger multiples, but show items as 'In Stock' when the actual stock transpires to be only TWO instead of the much larger minimum multiple.
• Mistakes by the user should be reported back reported by errors arrays to original form with comments, to assist the user.
• Non-trapping of erroneous data (whatever the source) causing reports to be wrong.
• Your classifications, may not make sense to your internal procedures, but they must make sense to the VISITORS to your web site.
• If confusions are highlighted by users/visitors, ACT ON THEM to improve the useability of the site.
• Use consistent methods for sorting for reports, too often it is difficult to sort when fields contain too many parts of the information, for example full address as one field so you cannot sort by town or street. Another classic is anything involving measurements, seeing measurements done in ways that are difficult to sort, split measurements into amount and multiplier, that is what the SI units scheme was made for. Consider the following -
  • 1000mg
  • 1g
  • 0.001kg
  These are all the SAME amount, so always consider saving the above example as

  Amount	1
  Multiplier	1
  Units	g (gram)

  The units should be implied by the field in the database, and what the report is for. This becomes easier to sort, by multiplier first and then amount. Remember to use multipliers in 1000's then you can easily use the SI unit methods.