Car Hire Quote System Based On CPT and Custom Algorithm
Challenge
Our client was looking for a Car Hire Quote system for their hiring service for around 50 vehicles they had to offer. The idea was that they needed to have CPTs for each of their cars. A form was needed to be integrated into the CPTs so that they can calculate the Cost for hiring the car for a certain duration of time, date and locations for collection and drop offs.
Our task mainly was to:
- Work based on the CPT for cars with appropriate meta
- Implement a Hiring form for page and on the CPTs
- Implement a Custom algorithm for calculating Hiring Cost
- Implement the ability to handle 24 hour, weekdays, 4 day and a combination of them
- Email to user and sales team with order information
- Ensure that every design element is customizable in future
- Hiring requests to be saved in a CPT as Leads for future use
- CSV Export feature
Our Solution
This is a fairly simple project with many sweet and complex details. We had to approach the project as a whole when planning. We had to make sure that our plan covers all the aspects – frontend, backend and email delivery – when the project is finished.
Here’s how we solved the problem:
Cars and Location in CPT
One center-piece of the project was the Custom Post Type for cars, which holds car-specific meta data for the hiring cost to be calculated. The CPT was implemented with a CPT GUI plugin so that client can apply future changes to the structure of the CPT. We also implemented a CPT for locations to make it easier to manage the Locations available for hiring.
Form with CPT Integration
To make things easier, a form was implemented to the car CPTs for getting the quote. We made the form work in combination with another form in a quote page implemented with a shortcode. It was a form that can get the initial quote interests from the user – the car he wants to hire, the duration of the order etc. If user likes it, he can book the order with the form.
Custom Algorithm
A custom algorithm was implemented which can handle 24 hour, weekdays, 4 day and any combination of them. The algorithm has to consider the start time, end time, collection place, drop in place, car-related costs, special costs depending on order duration etc. With extensive testing, it was implemented quite firmly into the project.
Customized Email to Appropriate People
The project required that the email should be customizable. We have implemented a HTML based email with templating capabilities so that it can be customized according to needs. Order related information can be shown or left out or manipulated with PHP and shown appropriately when needed.
Quote Requests Saved as Leads and Exportable
Client wanted to save all the users who submit a request for quote as a potential customer for future. We implemented a special section with a list of these Leads with another CPT. We also implemented a CSV export feature to export the leads.
Putting it all together
And the end result was a great. A customizable car hiring system with automated calculations and emails. A feature that would let our client enjoy peace of mind when managing orders.
Are You Interested?
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