PHP shopping cart persistence problem

Ecom
1

I’m working on an e-commerce site and I’m facing a problem with the shopping cart. Right now, the cart keeps items even when different users visit the site or when the browser is closed. This isn’t what I want.

I need help making the cart empty for each new visitor and clearing it when they close their browser. I don’t want to use user accounts or logins. The products are stored in a database, but the cart should be temporary for each session.

Here’s a simple example of what I’m dealing with:

$newCart = [];

function addItemToCart($itemID) {
    global $newCart;
    $newCart[] = $itemID;
}

function showCart($cartItems) {
    foreach ($cartItems as $item) {
        echo "Item ID: $item\n";
    }
}

// The current issue is that the cart persists across sessions
addItemToCart(1);
addItemToCart(2);
showCart($newCart);

Can someone help me resolve this issue? Thanks in advance!

2

Hey Sophie26, that’s an interesting challenge you’re facing! Have you considered using PHP sessions to handle your shopping cart? They’re perfect for temporary data storage that clears when the browser closes.

Here’s a thought - you could start a session at the beginning of your script with session_start(), then store cart items in $_SESSION[‘cart’]. Something like:

session_start();

if (!isset($_SESSION['cart'])) {
    $_SESSION['cart'] = [];
}

function addItemToCart($itemID) {
    $_SESSION['cart'][] = $itemID;
}

This way, each visitor gets their own unique cart that disappears when they close their browser. What do you think about this approach? Have you tried anything similar before?

Also, I’m curious - what made you decide against user accounts for your e-commerce site? There are some interesting pros and cons to consider there. Would love to hear your thoughts!

3

hey sophie, i’ve dealt with similar issues. you could try using php sessions like liam suggested. another option is browser storage (localStorage or sessionStorage). with sessionStorage, data clears when the tab closes. it’s easy to implement:

// Store item
sessionStorage.setItem('cart', JSON.stringify(cartItems));

// Retrieve
let cart = JSON.parse(sessionStorage.getItem('cart'));

this might work for your needs. lemme know if you need more help!

4

I’ve encountered this issue before. One effective solution is to use PHP sessions combined with a timeout mechanism. Here’s a basic implementation:

session_start();
session_set_cookie_params(0); // Session cookie expires when browser closes

if (!isset($_SESSION['cart']) || !isset($_SESSION['last_activity'])) {
    $_SESSION['cart'] = [];
    $_SESSION['last_activity'] = time();
}

// Check for session timeout (e.g., 30 minutes)
if (time() - $_SESSION['last_activity'] > 1800) {
    session_unset();
    session_destroy();
    session_start();
    $_SESSION['cart'] = [];
}

$_SESSION['last_activity'] = time();

function addItemToCart($itemID) {
    $_SESSION['cart'][] = $itemID;
}

This approach ensures a new cart for each visitor and clears it on browser close or after inactivity. It’s robust and doesn’t require user accounts. Have you considered any potential drawbacks to this method for your specific use case?