Which USPS shipping moduel to use, package dimensions and other question

[petepdx]

There's two USPS add on modules

"USPS United States Postal Service"
Original Author: Ajeh
Last Updated by: DrByte - 28 Jul 2013

and

"MarcoB contributed USPS Shipping Module"
Original Author: Marco B
Last Updated by: RixStix - 3 Feb 2013

What I have installed has in it comments

* USPS Module for Zen Cart v1.3.x - v1.6
* RateV3 Updates to: January 27, 2013 Version G for CURL
* @version $Id: usps.php 18348G 2013-01-27 01:27:00Z ajeh $

Is "MarcoB..." being maintained ?

And if so when with the USPS Jul 28 changes be included ?

In "USPS ... " Is there ever going to be the ability to enter dimensions into "USPS .." ?

What do people do when a cart's shipping is calculated with a bunch of small (1x1x1 to say
(3x3x3) inch items are in a cart, and the total weight is only 5 lbs that all can fit in
flat rate box ?

My shipping costs just done seem to come out right, can some one suggest a consultant/contractor
to get it a working ?

Why cant the few people that are involved with both modules get together and produce a
new module with the best of both features ?

-pete

[RixStix]

Is "MarcoB..." being maintained ? NO. MarcoB hasn't been around since the addon was released several years ago.

And if so when with the USPS Jul 28 changes be included ? I've been able to cobble the previous 2 USPS updates into it with help from Ajeh. Not being a coder, the latest changes are miles above my paygrade.

In "USPS ... " Is there ever going to be the ability to enter dimensions into "USPS .." ?

What do people do when a cart's shipping is calculated with a bunch of small (1x1x1 to say
(3x3x3) inch items are in a cart, and the total weight is only 5 lbs that all can fit in
flat rate box ? Yes, that was nice to be able to use individual, small item volumes with Volume filtering enabled. Because of it not being supported, we've just made changes to our product entries so that we can utilize the well supported and documented USPS addon.



-pete

see comments in blue. Because of the lack of support, I was going to suggest that the MarcoB version of the USPS addon be mothballed so that people don't attempt to use it in its current state. I can see where it causes much confusion for support since there are 2 addons with very similar names.

[lindasdd]

"Because of it not being supported, we've just made changes to our product entries so that we can utilize the well supported and documented USPS addon. " - Such as? the only change I can think of is to stop offering flat rate or regional rate boxes. Only problem is that such a change will have a large impact on sales.

[RixStix]

"Because of it not being supported, we've just made changes to our product entries so that we can utilize the well supported and documented USPS addon. " - Such as? the only change I can think of is to stop offering flat rate or regional rate boxes. Only problem is that such a change will have a large impact on sales.

Such as:
Based on our particular needs, FR boxes are not dependent upon weight. We modified the weights of products that we know will not fit within a small FR box. We know which of our products and how many will fit within a small FR box and calculated a max weight that we will ship in a small FR box based upon those parameters. Then, we used that number to input in the Max Weight field for small FR boxes. Now, anything above that weight will require a choice larger than a Small FR box. The impact on sales, in our case, will be minimal. Also, those minor product weight modifications do not affect proper filtering for first class package applications.

Would I rather have the volume filtering that the Marco addon made available. Yes. I had been able to cobble the past 2 January edits to maintain functionality based upon the code modifications that Ajeh made to the core zencart module. When I looked at the number of lines that required edits on July 28, I knew instantly that any maintenance was well beyond my paygrade and made the decision to make the current, well supported addon work for me because the likelihood that someone with the skills necessary to fix the Marco addon was slim.

[lindasdd]

Thanks. That solution won't work for my situation.

If I wind up paying someone to add it back in I'll make it available.

[nighkidz2]

Hi,
I had installed the USPS v15 Ratev4 2013)0127_R29013_0729_J5 contributed by Ajeh couple days ago. I was using the contribution released by MarcoB before and it had been posted on the forum that that contribution no longer works after USPS released the new version on July 28 2013.

Now we get to the problem that we will not be able to add any custom weight on the usps module anymore. Can anyone advise how we can add the custom weight field back to the latest release OR is there any update for the J5 version, thanks.