Improvements to a price comparison script (php, javascript, ajax, xml)

We run a web application for comparing flight ticket prices. The price data comes from real time xml feeds. Your task is to make a new version of the app with new features. You can use parts of the old version if you want to.

## Deliverables

Current version includes:

* Flight search form with Ajax autocomplete field for airports, javascript calendar, basic search options

* Price data is received from travel agencies or airline webservers in the form of real time xml feeds, the xml is then parsed and stored into a mysql database

* Results are displayed on screen to the user (using Ajax they are refreshed every 2 seconds while the search is in progress)

* Data of the cheapest flight is stored to a mysql table - this data is used to display price statistics pages for each destination

* Admin panel for switching on/off travel agencies that are included in the search

* Simple php scripts to clean the database and update price stats pages

You will have access to a test server where this app is running. We will also provide a detailed description of how it works (php+mysql) and answer questions you have.

See [url removed, login to view] for a live site.

List of the new features:

* Note: the current software has been used for 3 years with no major problems or bugs. One of your tasks is to make sure that it can handle higher traffic numbers. We'd also like to see somekind of server load monitoring to see if we need new servers. The app should be easily installable to a new server.

* Sub-accounts: ability to set up user profiles for webmasters who want to include the search app in their website (using iframe). The users can edit search form and result page templates (css, colors, fonts, form width etc.) Basic functionality is similar. Url:s for xml feeds may be different for the sub-accounts.

* Search form includes three tabs on top: flights, flight+hotels and price stats.

* Price stats is similar to [url removed, login to view] - flight dates and prices are found in the mysql database. The current version has some bugs and modifying the layout is difficult - it should be fixed or redone so that it fits well to the search form and custom styles of each sub-account. Clicking the price stats tab should display it on top of the search form and keep the search results visible beneath it. The idea is to let users check the statistics easily.

* Flight+hotels is a new feature: it works in a similar way than flights but the user can get hotel deals. All data is received from an xml feed. Instructions are provided.

* Progress bar showing percentage completed when search is in progress.

* When search results are displayed, a new control panel will appear between the search form and results (see the zip for a sample screenshot). This has extra settings to refine the search results, mainly the number of stops and adjusting flight times. Using this form will update the results using Ajax, it should happen fast with NO server calls at this point. (see [url removed, login to view], do a search and adjust flight times using the sliders)

The coder will get insturctions for using the xml feeds.

Some issues or ideas for improvement can come up during the process. We hope you are ready to exceed our expectations and willing to make this a very good app. We hope you can work with us also in the future, improving and fixing it more. You will be paid better for private projects in the future.

This time we prefer coders in the European timezone.

Feel free to ask anything or discuss the project before making a bid.

JavaScript PHP XML

Nº del proyecto: #3876358

Sobre el proyecto