Procedure for creating log in functionality with admin?

Looking through all the extensions is confusing me with how to get a working log-in system going with some extras tailored to my site. Where do I start?

I need registration, log-in area, profile (with address, billing, shipping, etc), and a few extras:

Quotes pending (submitted but not yet reviewed)
Quotes in Progress (reviewed and quoted)
Quotes Completed (completed)

So this is going to be for my embroidery business in which someone is going to be able to review all the information on the site, register, get a confirmation email, then have access to a profile area where information will be updated (name, address, phone, etc). There will be an area called quotes where the customer can enter through their account and click submit a quote. Information will be entered by the customer and they have to include an image to be quoted. Then it falls into their "Quotes Pending".

This is where the admin area comes in. All the quotes get sent to my account "quotes pending" where I get new options for customized message and price back to the customer who sent the original quote. When I do this, it goes into their "Quotes in Progress". They can review the information and if it seems correct, they can choose Payment for Quote, in which they pay the price I quoted them. It goes into their "quotes completed", and my "quotes in progress". When I finish it, I click quote completed and it moves it into my "quotes completed"

So there would also have to be a past orders area where they can download their file again if needed, and a "rate our service" (testimonial) area.

So there is a lot going on and I am confused on where to start. What should I do first? Hopefully we can keep this thread active and when I finish a step, we move on to a new one. No need to give detailed instructions, just be helpful with something like "create a website with a template and 3 editable regions, then use security assist to make a registration form." etc etc, General steps can be given, and I will figure out the nitty gritty stuff.

Thanks a bunch!

This isn't a small job by the sounds of it!

Essentially your tables will be as follows:

Users
Orders
Order Detail

When users login during the checkout process you store the unique ID for that user in a Session Variable, and when you write the order to the database you store that ID in a foreign key field. Therefore the orders relate to a user.

To update the status, simply have a field in the orders table called, for example, order status. You can then change this either via free text or a drop down in the admin area of your site and that will simply change the status of the order.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Ian

Thanks Ian! It gets me in the right mindset. Do you have a suggested workflow for me (extensions to use)?

I was thinking this:

"
First off create the website, save as a template so it stays consistant. I want to have a header, where the logo will go ; navigation menu ; sign in area ; and a footer...of course some content areas.

Here is the layout I am trying to get to work with my plans : attachment.php?attachmentid=2002&d=1265056790 (created in photoshop)

1. user registration -> Security Assist
2. Design Submission -> DataAssist, Digital File Pro, and Universal Email
3. In the Back end, you will use DataAssist to create the admin pages. So it will create a result page of all the designs submitted and an update page to make update and then you will use Universal Email to send out emails to users.
4. on the front pages, for the check out, you could use eCart to create your check out pages.
"

Is it proper to create the whole website layout and such before moving onto the log-in items? I just don't know how to "prepare" for the back end things...do I leave tables blank for the sign in area, and a blank content table on the content pages? Or do I create an editable region for these? ....

I would also use ecart for the order handling create update order and so on