Thanks a lot for replying 
Those are all good points, I'll definitely keep them in mind! To your specific points:
-Are there are any specific tools you'd recommend for the purpose of tracking/blocking IP's/ranges?
-I'm only mildly familiar with Ajax. I assume your point was that if I construct my timer mechanisms sloppily or in a way that is visible or able to be manipulated, that would obviously be a vulnerability (especially if I WAS doing automatic payments, which I honestly think I'd be too scared to do, at least at first, as you said). If anyone feels like explaining this (I can just Google it, of course), what characteristics of Ajax in particular make it a concern? But, as I said I'm sure there are lots of sites explaining how to implement a secure timer.
Based on your recommendations I think I could construct it sooner than I thought...I've since learned that at least some of the functionality I was puzzled about before is accomplished through things like the blockchain API, etc. But I think I'm going to finish up with JQuery and go through some in-depth PHP courses before proceeding. Thanks again!
Those are all good points, I'll definitely keep them in mind! To your specific points:-Are there are any specific tools you'd recommend for the purpose of tracking/blocking IP's/ranges?
-I'm only mildly familiar with Ajax. I assume your point was that if I construct my timer mechanisms sloppily or in a way that is visible or able to be manipulated, that would obviously be a vulnerability (especially if I WAS doing automatic payments, which I honestly think I'd be too scared to do, at least at first, as you said). If anyone feels like explaining this (I can just Google it, of course), what characteristics of Ajax in particular make it a concern? But, as I said I'm sure there are lots of sites explaining how to implement a secure timer.
Based on your recommendations I think I could construct it sooner than I thought...I've since learned that at least some of the functionality I was puzzled about before is accomplished through things like the blockchain API, etc. But I think I'm going to finish up with JQuery and go through some in-depth PHP courses before proceeding. Thanks again!