UK Counties zones update?

Hi,

I've just got zencart installed, and am in the process of configuring it.

Unfortunately, every UK zones module i've seen is missing some counties, or has the old counties (e.g. Glamorgan instead of Swansea being a county, or Cardiff being a county)

Is there a more up to date one anywhere? I've looked around but can't see anything.

The problem with the UK is that there are "official" counties, and "unofficial" counties.

There are (officially) 86 UK counties, but confusion arises when parochial interests come to the fore. There is no "county" called "West Yorkshire", but I've had irate calls from people in this region ask me why I do not have "their county" as a selectable option on the counties list.

You can add (as I have done) some of the "unofficial" ones to your list - (keep potential customers happy), or you can dogmatically stick to the official list.

schoolboy:

The problem with the UK is that there are "official" counties, and "unofficial" counties.

There are (officially) 86 UK counties, but confusion arises when parochial interests come to the fore. There is no "county" called "West Yorkshire", but I've had irate calls from people in this region ask me why I do not have "their county" as a selectable option on the counties list.

You can add (as I have done) some of the "unofficial" ones to your list - (keep potential customers happy), or you can dogmatically stick to the official list.

Thanks.

Yeah, I was a bit quick off the mark there, I guess. I looked it up a little later, and as it stands, that's the answer I got. I live in what was Mid Glamorgan, and I've never ever used Glamorgan as a county!

Hello there
Could you give me 'novice' instructions on adding the counties? is it a module, or do I just add them one by one??? hm.....

thanks in advance

If you are not a whizz with "insert into" SQL commands, then the safest way to add additional counties is to do this manually:

ADMIN>>>LOCATIONS/TAXES>>>ZONES

You'll see a (partial) list of current zones in the database, and at the bottom a button called "New Zone".

Before you add any zones (counties), make sure you know which are already there to avoid duplications.

Click "New Zone" button.

Three input fields appear:

• Zones Name (Text Input)
• Zones Code (Text Input)
• Country (dropdown - because the Countries are already in the dbase and you don't need to add it here...)
  If you do need to add a country, do this one level up... ADMIN>>>LOCATIONS/TAXES>>>COUNTRIES

Enter appropriate data into the NAME and CODE fields, and select the country to which this zone then applies.

For CODE, you should use the ISO designated code for a "zone", if there is indeed such a code available. (You should do a search on google for ISO country and Zone Codes.)

In a lot of instances, there is no designated ISO code for a zone, so just use the county name here as well... EG:

Zones Name: Norfolk
Zones Code: Norfolk
Country: United Kingdom

I've modified the UK Counties contribution to include the updated Scottish Regions [as of 1995] as the ones on there are really out of date. I'm not entirely sure what to do with the SQL file now that I've modified it!
Does a clever person want me to pass the sql file onto them?

I'd like to see an updated patch also.

Gah, didn't realise there was already a module here - http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=product_contrib_info&products_id=1165

Just wasted about half an hour putting my own script together :dontgetit:dontgetit

THANK you for pointing me (and others) to that updated UK Counties SQL patch! It worked a treat for the store I'm working on, not being able to change it from the dreaded Alabama was driving me nuts ;)

Anyone know what's happened to Kev Polley?

His BRILLIANT "UK-TEMPLATE" used to set up a ZC install with everything configured for UK... Counties. currency, taxes, shipping weights, spelling (cheque vs check)... etc.

Agree it was very good.

His site is still up but there's no activity on his forums. The last email I got from him was an update he sent out in December 2008.

Hi

I've had the counties imported for a while however and originally in my zone definition I just had 'UK' under which I just had it listed as 'all zones'

I recently split this into 'uk mainland' and 'uk non-mainland' so I can increase the shipping to addresses off mainland uk.

I have my counties set as a drop down so this forces them to pick one which is ok for customers going through the native site checkout from now on as it forces them. I've had a few emails off people saying if forgot their county so ive added them.

The problem is with those that try and pay with paypal or google checkout and and have either left the county field blank or put something stupid in. As when they arrive back to my site after logging in they get a 'we do not ship to your area' and with them being to thick in the first place to get the county right this screen is then too much for them and they promptly leave!

So basicly is there some form of wildcard for the county, say it matches non of those in either of the defined zones in and of the zone definitions it automatically uses 'uk mainland' to bypass the shipping screen?

I guess you put a blank county under united kingdom to get those that dont fill the county in but what about those that put 'onionshire' or something in?

Thanks

Gareth

You can keep struggling with this or you could install Ceon's Advanced Shipper. It IS a commercial module but allows you to completely bypass the default zones system and set up just about any shipping options you require.

To my mind, this is an essential shipping module for anyone in the UK who needs to differentiate between UK Mainland, Highlands & Islands (and the Channel Islands) because it allows you to define region by postcode if you wish.

It also comes with probably the best documentation for any ZC module.

You need to balance the value of your time/effort against the cost of the module, but if you are serious about your business, then you won't find a better solution for shipping when outside the default ZC capabilities.