Need help on our consumer portal

[zacheri]

Hi gurus, we will be discussing this week our proposed consumer portal with the Website Committee of our company. This portal which I developed must meet several issues:
1. Security issues for complaint forms submitted thru this consumer portal - is it still possible for our portal to have a secured server even if its just a link to our company's website. The problem is it is not a stand-alone site, it will be part of the company's website - as one of its links and I'm not quite sure whether our main site can provide a secured server for the complaints submitted.
2. Determination of bogus complaints - Sorry guys, but I am really not aware how spams are determined, however, I would still like to ask whether its possible to determine bogus complaints just by simply setting limits to fields, or something to that effect.

I do hope you can understand my questions, I am a newbie when it comes to web developing, although I have developed two websites, I am still reading the Dreamweaver CS3 with PHP, Ajax and CSS to improve the consumer portal.

Your inputs will be a lot of help! Thank you guys!

[freecrm]

I'm not sure I fully understand your requirements, which is probably why you haven't had many responses.

Firstly, I'm not clear about the relationship between the portal and the company website.

I assume from your comments that the "Portal" is just an extension of a larger hosted domain and you are querying how to make that part "secure" and leave the remainder open for public viewing.

This, in conjunction with your no 2. point points to a dynamic soluion, where you can secure data, control user input and detect bogus complaints or spamming.

I would recommend a php with MySQL back-end solution although I'm biased!

Does your server support php?

If you had php, it would be quite simple to create a "secure" area, purely by making each page that returns sensitive data with user permissions (i.e. a manager would have to login to view information.

The complaints system could also be managed using user login. Each entry would be personal, trackable and viewable/editable by designated managers.

Forms in php can also be customised with a bit of javascript to "validate" user inputted data. I have a few of these on my site.

Alternatively, you could use an open complaints system where browsers do not have to login to enter a complaint; however, you would need to incorporate a CAPTCHA system to deter spambots.

If I'm making any sense but have misunderstood your requirements, send me a personal message.

[leafypiggy]

yeah. if your company is large enough, just ask them to buy a https server. lol. or host one. w/e. i dont really understand you either.

[zacheri]

I'm not sure I fully understand your requirements, which is probably why you haven't had many responses.

Firstly, I'm not clear about the relationship between the portal and the company website.

I assume from your comments that the "Portal" is just an extension of a larger hosted domain and you are querying how to make that part "secure" and leave the remainder open for public viewing.

This, in conjunction with your no 2. point points to a dynamic soluion, where you can secure data, control user input and detect bogus complaints or spamming.

I would recommend a php with MySQL back-end solution although I'm biased!

Does your server support php?

If you had php, it would be quite simple to create a "secure" area, purely by making each page that returns sensitive data with user permissions (i.e. a manager would have to login to view information.

The complaints system could also be managed using user login. Each entry would be personal, trackable and viewable/editable by designated managers.

Forms in php can also be customised with a bit of javascript to "validate" user inputted data. I have a few of these on my site.

Alternatively, you could use an open complaints system where browsers do not have to login to enter a complaint; however, you would need to incorporate a CAPTCHA system to deter spambots.

If I'm making any sense but have misunderstood your requirements, send me a personal message.

Thanks, you understand what I mean, our company website supports PHP... Yes, the portal will be under a bigger domain. And the bigger domain does not have a secured server...Perhaps I'll try to finish reading this ebook first, Dreamweaver CS3 with PHP, Ajax and CSS...

Will the incorporation of a CAPTCHA system costs us? :dunno:
thanks
Edit:

yeah. if your company is large enough, just ask them to buy a https server. lol. or host one. w/e. i dont really understand you either.

Hi! I am working under the examination group of the Central Bank of our country. I'm not really a web developer, I'm a bank examiner... And I'm really a newbie in developing websites. Sure we can afford an https server, however, I'd love to recommend a cheaper alternative....I'll study the Dreamweaver CS3 with PHP, Ajax and CSS and update my question... Perhaps, you'll understand me by that time ;)
Edit:
I see, the reCAPTCHA can determine bots attempting to access restricted areas

[freecrm]

After your private message, it sounds as if the CAPTCHA system will be ideal for you then.

Firstly, it stands for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart".

Secondly, it is a simple graphic image with a text field, placed usually at the base of your form and embeds a series of characters which the user has to read and enter manually.

This eliminates spam bots as they cannot decipher characters from images.

Thirdly, there are lots of free CAPTCHA codes available on the net - just put CAPTCHA into google. (They do need php or asp to run)

you could try http://captchas.net/

Let me know how you get on.

[zacheri]

I will, thank you so much!!