Shop Project - Documentation

Project Roadmap

Roadmap by stage with recursive hierarchy.

🗺️ Stage 0 | 📚 Current | 📟 2026 06 15 | 📍 Management

Note

Translations stay in this page. Status comes separately from roadmap.data.php. An empty child[] node is allowed.

Project reality

The technical base (app/core, app/model, app/service, dev/tools) is far along. The real user flow in public/ is still much thinner.

Roadmap

Get the basic system up and running.
- Basic marketplace for the first functional MVP.
  - A user needs a stable and secure access to the website for interactions.
    The registration must be smooth, fast, and straightforward.
    Reliable receipt of the email confirmation code for registration with successful application.
    Login must work 100% reliably.
    Session clear.
  - The user profile must be clearly viewable and intuitively editable.
  - A simple menu to make the website usable.
  - Create main categories for the shop and the marketplace.
  - A registered user can easily create an article for the marketplace.
  - The marketplace shows the available articles.
  - An article can be selected in the marketplace and will then be displayed with all details.
  - If your own article is displayed in detail or in the marketplace, there is a delete icon and the article can be deleted with confirmation.
  - If your own article is displayed in detail or in the marketplace, there is an edit icon and the article can be edited with confirmation.
- Structure, layout and navigation flow.
  - Clear page hierarchy and meaningful grouping of menu entries.
  - Header fixed at top, footer visible at bottom, main area with independent scrolling.
  - Validate desktop/mobile sidebar behavior including independent scroll logic.
- Internal and external communication in the system.
  - Add a chat area in the profile menu. Create a basic chat page where recent chats are visible and selectable.
  - On every listing except own listings, show a chat bubble icon. Clicking it opens the chat window with listing name and other user name, and the text input is ready and focused.
  - The chat page is still opened manually. Unread messages use a different color tone.
- Product base with category and set model. Sellers can offer their goods more easily once a product has been introduced, and buyers get a very efficient overview of the available offers.
  - At the beginning, support or admin can create, edit, or delete categories. The overview in trading is public.
  - At the beginning, support or admin can create, edit, or delete sets. The overview in trading is public.
  - At the beginning, support or admin can create, edit, or delete products. The overview in trading is public.
  - At the beginning, a seller, merchant, support agent, or admin can create, edit, or delete their own articles. The overview in trading is public.
- Simple buying flow without expansion features.
- Improvements for overview and usability.
- Managing support cases and requests.
- Ratings for trade and trust.
- Simple shipping flow.
- Basic stock and storage logic.
- Admin access and protection.
  - For admin and support, users must be visible to a certain degree depending on permissions.
  - An admin can create a user, edit them to a certain degree, reset critical items like profile images, and require the user to change their password.
- Internal module interfaces.
- Technical optimization work.
- Final cleanup before launch.
- Close the gap: what exists technically must be usable end-to-end in public.
  - Done when a new user can register, confirm email, login, and open the article list without manual intervention.
  - Done when each product detail page provides one obvious next action for the buyer.
  - Done when a buyer can submit a binding request and the seller can track its state.
  - Done when logs/diagnostics expose step-level error rates and drop-off points.
  - Done when Intro/Quickstart/Request Flow describe the current runtime behavior without stale statements.
- System is ready for launch.
Expansion of the system with community and user features.
- Foundation for accessible usage.
  - Verify alt texts and useful image descriptions for screen readers.
  - Provide multiple display modes including a contrast mode.
  - Collect additional accessibility requirements and priorities.
- Profiles, social, and settings.
- Reputation and reward logic.
- Variants per product.
- Attributes like color, size, edition, condition.
- Handling of fees and cost models.
- Integration with shipping providers.
- Dynamic shipping costs.
- Feed and voting for community content.
- Communication and updates.
- Trust as a technical and functional base on top of real interactions.
Stable e-commerce features for daily use.
- Complete shop mode.
- Persistent searches.
- Wishlists and alerts.
- Comparison and watchlist.
- Search and filtering.
- Mobile integration.
- Returns and conflict cases.
- Seller reports.
- Dashboards for both roles.
- Rules and detection for problematic listings.
Advanced business logic for demanding workflows.
- Mature commerce features.
- Accounting and invoicing.
- Tax logic and automation.
- Financial summaries and reports.
- Pickup and appointment handling.
- Stripe, PayPal, and more.
- Subscriptions and professional accounts.
- Partner and merchant API.
- Fraud detection.
- Bulk upload and CSV import.
Multilingual support and international scaling.
- International launch.
- Multiple languages in the system.
- Multiple currencies.
- Shipping across the EU.
- Country-specific legal topics.
- Global platform model.
- Scalability and load.
- Integrate external partners.
- Growth data and analytics.
- Global payment routing.
Project-in-project: tooling is advanced, but still underrepresented in the official product roadmap.
- Unify diagnose.php, testDB.php, and renderSQL.php into one consistent diagnostic workflow.
- Standardize data-export for reproducible exports with defined formats and checks.
- Document setup-db and SQL structure so local and fresh instances are initialized the same way.
Fahrplan for knowledge building. Prevents deviation by linking documentation scopes to fixed stages.
- Entry and presentation of the project for helpers and developers.
  - Implementation: Stage 0.1 (Basic Setup) Documentation: Useful from Stage 0.2 (Basic), from Stage 1 (Solid Onboarding) Guide for local project setup (Git, config, DB setup in under 5 minutes).
  - Implementation: Permanent (Project Concept) Documentation: Pitch from Stage 0.1 (continuously refined), Laity from Stage 0.4, Pro from Stage 0.8 General and technical presentation of the marketplace for different target audiences.
  - Implementation: Continuous Documentation: Useful from Stage 0.1 (Continuously expandable) Definition of core terms (e.g., article vs. product vs. label) to prevent misunderstandings with helpers.
  - Implementation: Stage 0 (Fixed) Documentation: Useful from Stage 2 Listing of system requirements (PHP version, extensions, minimum DB requirements).
  - Implementation: Stage 0.16 (Pre-launch) Documentation: Useful from Stage 0.9 Legal frameworks and chosen open-source license for contributors.
  - Implementation: Stage 1 (Community Launch) Documentation: Useful from Stage 1 Guidelines on where to get help and how to submit bugs/feedback in the correct format.
  - Implementation: Stage 0.15 (MVP Live Operation) Documentation: Useful from Stage 2 (After first real operation) Practical examples and success stories to illustrate the marketplace.
- The IT core: tables, relations, and data streams.
  - Implementation: Stage 0 (Base) to Stage 2 (Stable E-Commerce) Documentation: LDM-Text IMMEDIATELY (Stage 0 - Your 12 pages!), LDM-Visual useful only from Stage 2 The logical text model must be kept up to date. The graphic remains locked until the DB structure freezes.
  - Implementation: Stage 0 (Already exists) Documentation: Useful from Stage 1 Explanation of how setup-db.php builds the structure and how future DB migrations are handled.
  - Implementation: Stage 0 (In Progress/Consolidation) Documentation: Useful from Stage 1 Standardization of export formats (CSV/JSON) and documentation of validation checks.
  - Implementation: Internal import from Stage 0.1, Images from Stage 0.1, APIs/Scraping from Stage 2 Documentation: Internal import/Images from Stage 1, external sources useful from Stage 2 Interfaces for data acquisition, internal data population, and product image processing.
  - Implementation: Stage 0.15 (Pre-live) Documentation: Useful from Stage 2 Disaster recovery plan: How automated backups are created and how the recovery scenario works.
  - Implementation: Stage 0.1 (Continuously expanded) Documentation: Useful from Stage 0.1 Description of the provided SQL test data (demo users, example items) for local developers.
  - Implementation: Stage 0.13 (Performance) Documentation: Useful from Stage 2 Caching architecture (Query cache, file cache, or Redis) to reduce DB load.
  - Implementation: Stage 0.1 (Images/Uploads) Documentation: Useful from Stage 1 File storage rules: Relative paths, folder permissions, and separation of temporary/permanent files.
  - Implementation: Stage 0.11 (Security/Admin) Documentation: Useful from Stage 1.15 (Garbage Collection) Concepts to prevent orphaned DB entries (data trash) and enforce foreign keys.
- The technical infrastructure of the framework (routing, sessions, rendering).
  - Implementation: Router/Session from Stage 0 (Core), Roles from Stage 0.11 Documentation: Router/Session IMMEDIATELY (Stage 0), Lifecycle from Stage 1, Role concept useful from Stage 0.11 The technical foundation: How requests are intercepted, authenticated, and authorized based on roles (Buyer/Seller/Admin).
  - Implementation: Stage 0.5 (Cart Expiry) & Stage 3 (Finance) Documentation: Useful from Stage 0.5 Overview of asynchronous background processes (e.g., releasing blocked items from expired shopping carts).
  - Implementation: Exists (Core expansion in Stage 0.2 & 0.6) Documentation: Can be documented later (Useful from Stage 1) How categories (labels) are managed and how the main menu dynamically reacts to user roles.
  - Implementation: Base i18n exists, switching from Stage 4 Documentation: Language arrays from Stage 1, dynamic switching useful from Stage 4 Handling multilingual text arrays (DE/EN) in code and subsequent internationalization of the marketplace.
  - Implementation: Layout/Views from Stage 0.2, Validation/Errors present in Core Documentation: Can be documented later (Useful from Stage 1) Separation of logic and HTML (Views), centralized form validation, and system error logging.
  - Implementation: Stage 0.12 (Internal API) Documentation: Should be documented soon (Useful from Stage 0.12) Specification of endpoints for internal AJAX requests (e.g., live validation in checkout or dynamic loading).
- Core trading operations: From shopping cart to shipping and payment.
  - Implementation: Article flow from 0.4, Cart/Checkout from 0.5, Returns from Stage 2 Documentation: Article flow from Stage 0.4, Cart/Checkout from Stage 0.5, Returns useful from Stage 2 The core thread of the marketplace: Lifecycle of an article and seamless execution of the order process.
  - Implementation: Shipping from 0.9, Finance/Payment from Stage 3 Documentation: Shipping from Stage 0.9, Finance/Payment useful from Stage 3 Complex logic for calculating shipping tiers, fee models, taxes, and payment reconciliations (webhooks).
  - Implementation: Chat from 0.3, Tickets from 0.7, Ratings from 0.8 Documentation: Useful directly in sync with the respective implementation stage Documentation of all cross-user interactions, the trust system, and conflict resolution.
- Quality assurance, code standards, and tools for ongoing operations.
  - Implementation: UI/Layout from 0.2, Security from 0.11, Guidelines from Stage 1 Documentation: UI/Security from Stage 0.11, Coding guidelines useful from Stage 1 The clean code guide: SQL injection protection, CSS layout components, and PSR formatting rules for external helpers.
  - Implementation: Diagnostics suite (actual), Deploy from 0.15, Libraries from Stage 1 Documentation: Diagnostics IMMEDIATELY (Stage 0), Deploy from Stage 0.15, Libraries useful from Stage 1 Guide on using diagnose.php/testDB.php for troubleshooting and documentation of the live deployment process.
  - Implementation: Permanently Actual (Project Governance Core) Documentation: To be kept permanently up to date IMMEDIATELY The link between code and progress. Helpers must be able to read the genuine, unfiltered live status here at all times.
Collection area for later experiments and extensions.
- Livestream selling
  Open
- Product auctions
  Open
- Automatic product recognition
  Open
- Serial numbers & device passport
  Open
- Integrated chatbot support
  Open
- Gamification
  Open
- Expand community helper feedback
  Open
- Product history / price trends
  Open
- Marketplace for services
  Open
- AI-based accounting assistant
  Open