Glasgow Local Theatre
The Glasgow Local Theatre website is a comprehensive online platform designed to support the local theatre community. It enables users to browse upcoming events, purchase tickets securely, and participate in community-driven activities. The site features an intuitive interface for both theatre staff and patrons, streamlining event management, ticket sales, and communication. By integrating modern web technologies, the platform enhances user engagement and provides a seamless experience for discovering and attending local theatre productions.
# The Client Brief
For this college project, I developed a PHP-based website for a fictional local Glasgow theatre, focusing on ticket booking and event management functionality. The concept was to create a digital platform that could handle the typical challenges theatres face - moving from traditional phone and paper-based booking systems to an integrated online solution. I used PHP for backend processing, JavaScript for frontend interactivity, and MySQL for data management.
# Planning & Researching
I started by checking out other theatre websites (some were pretty slick, others looked like they hadn't been updated since 2005) and talked to both theatre staff and regular customers to figure out what they really needed. The main pain points were always the same: finding show times, booking tickets without calling during business hours, and getting updates about events. I mapped out the user journey from browsing shows to actually buying tickets, making sure every step made sense for both tech-savvy users and people who still prefer doing things the old-fashioned way.
# Design
The design had to capture the theatre's personality - it's this charming local venue with tons of character, so I didn't want something that looked corporate or sterile. I used Tailwind and Bootstrap to keep everything consistent and responsive, but customized the colors and styling to match their existing brand. The goal was to make it feel welcoming and artistic while still being super functional for booking tickets and finding information quickly.
# Development
# Testing
Testing a booking system requires careful attention to detail since you're simulating real-world scenarios. I ran through various test cases - what happens if two users try to book the same seat simultaneously? How does the system handle payment simulation failures? What occurs if the database connection is interrupted during a transaction? I also had peers and friends test the system to get feedback on usability. Their input was valuable for improving the mobile experience and simplifying the checkout flow. It highlighted how user expectations can differ from developer assumptions when designing booking interfaces.
# Deployment
# Challenges
- Integrating AJAX with PHP required careful handling of server responses to prevent data inconsistencies.
- Optimizing MySQL queries improved data retrieval speed, particularly for large event databases.
- User feedback emphasized the need for a mobile-responsive design, leading to layout adjustments for smaller screens.
- Ensuring cross-browser compatibility required extensive testing and adjustments to CSS styles.
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