Google Checkout module for ZC 1.3.x (beta)

[TamyA]

Wow, it looks like Google gave up on this mod, lots of errors that has no answer to!! and when you think one error got fixed another one pops up or is it just me?

i desperately trying any thing since i wasted more than a day one it, i finally clicked on the demo in ropu's signature and that really did it for me, code all over the place which tells me one thing that this mod does not even work with a clean cart installation, imagine if you have a cart with 10 -20 mods installed. Good Luck, i think the paypal offer is very appealing to me now and it is free until 2/28/2008.

Sorry ropu, nothing personal but google demand quality sites and we demand something that at least work or someone to provide answers for these errors.

[tj1]

The module, with its current limitations, works without any errors if you follow instructions step by step. Unfortunately, instructions are not laid out properly and can be confusing sometimes.

When I first found out about this mod, I really gave it a lot of thought whether I should even try to install it because of the many issues people were reporting. However, I gave it a shot and to my surprise, it was very easy to install and got it working without any errors on the first try.

I have contacted Google a couple of times asking whether support or development on this module has stopped.
This is the reply:
"...While the Google Checkout team is actively working to improve this module,
please understand that we cannot configure or debug merchants' code on an
individual basis since each merchant has various configurations and add-on
modules installed on his website..."

I totally agree with that, but I told them it should support all of ZenCart's standard features and was told they'll incorporate my feedback as they continue to improve the product.

This mod works perfectly with a clean installation, as long as the sometimes confusing instructions are followed correctly. When you have additional add-ons, then there might be some issues.

Regarding the paypal offer, that sounds good, and should be another reason for Google to fix and improve current issues. But if they continue at this pace, they'll probably have to offer another year of free processing.
Check paypal terms though, I couldn't completely undestand them. You will also need to sign up for yahoo marketing.

[TamyA]

Thanks TJ,

I really want to have this as another option for my customers, i got as far as showing the button on my shopping cart and when you click on it it will take you to google and show the items in the shopping cart and ask you to sign in. I did not complete the process since i do not have a sandbox account set up yet.

The problems i am facing is when you delete the items from the shopping cart and have an empty cart, an error will display saying duplicate deceleration of the function strleft (i do not have the exact error now since i disabled the GC option),
i tried the if (!function_exists('strleft')) then another function gave an error and i did that to all the functions and then the xmlbuilder was givin me an error and that is when i throw the towel.

This mod works perfectly with a clean installation, as long as the sometimes confusing instructions are followed correctly. When you have additional add-ons, then there might be some issues.

I do not think so, have you seen the demo site in Ropu's Signature? you can see code (PHP code) in the shopping cart and other pages that use the GC.

Anyway, thanks for your reply and i am happy for you that you got it to work.

[tj1]

TamyA,

Yes, I've used the demo sites (there are two of them actually). Sometimes they work, sometimes they do not. Keep in mind those aren't clean installations and that several people can be using the demo at the same time and changing settings and configurations and you don't even realize that.
I once tried to test a new feature in his demo sites, but by the time I finished configuring it, someone else had changed it to something else.

[Woodymon]

Hey all,

Just wanted to relay a message from Ropu that he is hard at work further developing the Google Checkout mod for Zen Cart.

This last week I was able to assist Ropu in testing some patch code to make the 'freeshipper' and 'per item' (national/international) shipping mods behave well together with Google Checkout. And freeshipping works great for me now. (again the fixes are applicable to per item shipping, they do not necessarily apply to freeshipper compatibility with other shipping methods, but they could but I did not test). I will soon document the fixes Ropu provided so if you are having similar issues you can apply to your installation.

Also Ropu assisted me in altering how the order status change email messages are processed, so that I can now insert more than 255 characters within the comments when sending order status change emails.

This last week Ropu was on the verge of announcing a new beta of the mod update he has been developing. But he decided to step back and implement some code restructuring as the mod has become overly difficult to maintain and develop.

Specifically he is now in the middle of "refactoring" the mod code and is attempting to use as much of the "php sample code" as possible. Once he's done with the refactoring it will be much more straight forward to test and repair existing issues and to add new features and further develop the mod. And it will become easier for us merchants to customize, patch and upgrade the mod as the code will be much better documented.

When Ropu is ready for the next version to be beta tested it will be announced here. Ater that time main support for the mod will move to the new Google Groups support forum (but not yet... will report the URL when ready).

While Ropu does his work, we merchants can help him by indexing the current significant issues with the mod. If you have already posted an issue which is still not resolved, please repost the issue to this thread, and/or post the URL of the original problem post, and include any additional background info which may help Ropu and others understand and troubleshoot your issue. Will start tracking and prioritizing these issues in this thread, which then will help Ropu prioritize his development efforts.

Please be very detailed in your problem reports and observations, include any errors appearing in either the error or response logs, and state which shipping mods you have installed/enabled at the time you observe an issue. Eventually we'll provide a checklist of details you should submit with your initial problem reports.

And if you are reporting more than one issue, unless your problems are related to each other, please try to keep it to one issue per post . This will help tracking the issues.

To reiterate what chain_man has often posted, if you are having issues with a particular shipping method the best thing you can do to troubleshoot your issue is to temporarily disable all other shipping mods except for the ship mod you are having troubles with. Then if the issue goes away re-enable one shipping mod at a time but only re-enable the mods you are using. (keep any shipping mods you will not be using disabled). On a related not if you are having specific issues with merchant calculations (specific to USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc), edit googlecheckout.php payment mod to remove all other shipping methods from the mc_shipping_methods array. It is easiest to do this running the shipping generator provided with the mod. I'm not stating this will solve your issue, but it will help you narrow down the testing configuration which wuill help narrow down the source of the errors.

Finally a special thanks to tj1 for his continued assistance in this thread helping Zen Cart merchants with the Google Checkout mod.

Woody

[Lisk]

Hi - I just did the v1.3.7 update for paypal IPN/express checkout and it seems to have removed the google checkout contribution from my site. Is there a way that I can add checkout back in or are there plans to update the module so that we don't have to choose between paypal and checkout?

[tj1]

Lisk, the googlecheckout mod and paypal express touch some of the same files, so you will have to follow the instructions from the GC Installation file to edit and add the required code to the existing files. You don't have to choose between the two.

[tj1]

Woodymon, thanks for the update.

The only issues I see at the moment is that the GoogleCheckout mod doesn't support all the standard feature of ZenCart.

The ones that come to mind at the moment are:
- Low Order Fee- the mod has no support for this.
- Group Discounts- the mod has no support for this.
- Restrictions on Discounts Coupons- the mod supports most, but not all restrictions.
- USPS international calculated shipping- not working completely. For some reason the only option that shows up is priority mail international.

[Woodymon]

The only issues I see at the moment is that the GoogleCheckout mod doesn't support all the standard feature of ZenCart.

The ones that come to mind at the moment are:
- Low Order Fee- the mod has no support for this.
- Group Discounts- the mod has no support for this.
- Restrictions on Discounts Coupons- the mod supports most, but not all restrictions.

Can you give specific examples of "restrictions"? Please provide more details.

- USPS international calculated shipping- not working completely. For some reason the only option that shows up is priority mail international.

Yes Google Checkout does not process results of "Order Totals" mods. Definitely on the "known issues list. Thanks for reporting.

Would you know if Paypal Express Checkout (PPEC) supports most of Zen Cart's Order Totals mods?

Regarding shipping issues could you provide more specific details on how you are testing, your USPS mod configuration, if any other shipping mods enabled, the format of your shipping array code, and other specific observations. I know this is has been an ongoing issue for you so if you can (once again) post full details that will help.

When testing implement one at a time each of the USPS international mailing options in your GC MC array and then report back your observations. Be sure to quote your array code.

Woody

[Kokonutmama]

Well good, I'm about to turn GC off for now because it's problematic for me. Here are the issues... They may be "just me" but since you asked, I'll tell ya.

1. Charges too much for UPS ground. Orders processed through Zen and PayPal work out perfectly with shipping prices, through GC they come out about $10 too much.

2. On the Payment Options page along the 'regular' checkout route GC is listed, albeit with no radio button, and I think that looks sloppy and confusing, particularly since I only offer one other payment option, but the user must click it. I think this has been covered before but when the code to change was given, my files didn't match the ones given by the helpful folks here.