Information Systems:Web Orders Feature Request

Overview

It has been 9 years since Web Orders was refreshed. There is thus a lot of room for functional/aesthetic improvement. This page discusses this potential project.

Wanted features

These are not in order of priority and they are not official requests. They're simply my musings. 

• AJAX notification banner for recently placed POS orders to reduce reliance on email order confirmations, which look like garbage. Stores are logged into Web Orders all day. It would be nice if, upon a page load (or upon some user activity), a check is done for any POS orders submitted for that store in the last 2-3 hours, and a banner is displayed if that order is processed successfully or has any exceptions. Preferably, clicking the banner would bring up an aesthetically-pleasing (read: comprehensible) order confirmation. Sheila implemented an area in Web Orders where you can already see the same order confirmation as what is emailed as a PDF, but user adoption has been very low. Unsurprising, as the user must consciously know and want to check for POS order status through Web Orders.

• AJAX notification post-login and on cart page for under-minimum POS orders. This would serve customers (non-shareholders), so it may be a lower priority, but the value in this is to curtail calls/hotlines Customer Service has to deal with regarding held orders.

• Bootstrap, modern CSS framework for a more responsive site. Currently, HTML tables are being used to implement design, which is soooo 1931.

• Clearer error messages and error message placement i.e. modal or notification banner
• Dialog boxes for confirmations and input (i.e. missing pharmacist number, or "Submit this order?")

• Change password and reset password self-service, using WebSmart mail function. Who calls to reset a password these days?

• Better self-service user administration (interface and functionality). Make user permissions/authorities clearer to the admin/user i.e. display list of allowed/not allowed functions.

• Dynamic display of order cut-offs. Place their cut-off time at the top of the page, depending on their account type (shareholder/non-shareholder) and time of day. It would just be another thing that can only provide value to shareholders. Sort of how Amazon has "Delivered by tomorrow if placed in 5:05 min". Our cut-offs are static and an SLA governs our contract with carriers. It's a chance to flaunt our level of service.

• Perhaps Apache mod_rewrite should be used for simpler and more meaningful URLs (https://orders.unipharm.com/cart rather than https://orders.unipharm.com/uw_cart.pgm+long_string_of_garbage). Not a big deal or priority, and needs to be explored for feasibility.