oz post shipping module help

Hello,
I have installed the ozpost shipping module and it is kind of working. I have the latest version of zen cart. I am setting the cart up on my computer at the moment ( for testing as it is suggested for newbies such as myself - don't know if this has an effect on whether the ozpost shipping module works correctly or not ). I was wandering what other things do i need to turn on or off in the shipping section ie : flat rate, free shipping option, per item, per unit, zone rates etc etc...
I did have the zone rate and free shipping ones turned on and had put all the country zone codes in etc and this seemed to kind of work but not really accurate. Do i need to tweak some things and if so what things. I am selling t-shirts and they don't way much. I have read alot of the threads but i am having trouble with implementing the advise successfully. Do i need to do something with table rates etc, weight rates etc, or do i just leave evrything turned off except the ozpost shipping module. ( tried this and it doesn't work though )
Anyway as you can see i am in need of assistance which will of course be greatly appreciated.
Hope i have made sense with this post ( apologise if it's jiberish )
Kindest regards, Ash.

Soulkreed:

Hello,
I have installed the ozpost shipping module and it is kind of working. I have the latest version of zen cart. I am setting the cart up on my computer at the moment ( for testing as it is suggested for newbies such as myself - don't know if this has an effect on whether the ozpost shipping module works correctly or not ). I was wandering what other things do i need to turn on or off in the shipping section ie : flat rate, free shipping option, per item, per unit, zone rates etc etc...
I did have the zone rate and free shipping ones turned on and had put all the country zone codes in etc and this seemed to kind of work but not really accurate. Do i need to tweak some things and if so what things. I am selling t-shirts and they don't way much. I have read alot of the threads but i am having trouble with implementing the advise successfully. Do i need to do something with table rates etc, weight rates etc, or do i just leave evrything turned off except the ozpost shipping module. ( tried this and it doesn't work though )
Anyway as you can see i am in need of assistance which will of course be greatly appreciated.
Hope i have made sense with this post ( apologise if it's jiberish )
Kindest regards, Ash.

All of the shipping modules are independent of each other, so you only need to enable or use the shipping methods that best suits your needs.

As for the ozpost module, exactly what do you mean by "it is kind of working"?

Cheers
RodG

Hi Rod,
when i installed the ozpost shipping module I had already had some of the other rate gizmos finished. I activated the sections in the ozpost shipping module i needed and tried it by itself with no other buttons ( ie : flat rate, weight table, zones etc etc from the zen cart module ) and it didn't work. I activated some of the zen cart buttons ie : weight rate and zone and then it worked but it gave inaccurate postage amounts ( tested against the actual Aussie Post shipping calculator on the Aussie Post website )
Do I only have the Oz Post shipping module activated with no other modules turned on ie : weight, zone, table rate etc etc.
As I believe you when you say that each module runs seperately of itself with no other modules required to be turned on then the oz post shipping module should work on it's own with no other modules needing to be activated with it?
I must be doing something wrong or i have set up the oz post module wrong or something?
Once again I apologise if I am not making alot of sense here.
Hope to hear back from you at your convenience.
Regards, Ash.

Soulkreed:

Do I only have the Oz Post shipping module activated with no other modules turned on ie : weight, zone, table rate etc etc.

Correct,
Although you may also want the "Free shipper" and "Store pickup" enabled if these are applicable.

Soulkreed:

As I believe you when you say that each module runs seperately of itself with no other modules required to be turned on then the oz post shipping module should work on it's own with no other modules needing to be activated with it?

Correct.

Soulkreed:

I must be doing something wrong or i have set up the oz post module wrong or something?

There isn't much that you can do 'wrong', so I'm guessing your problem is with the 'or something'. :smile:

The ozpost module does have a couple of yet to be documented requirements.

1. The web server you are using needs to have php5.1 or 5.2 installed (not php5.3, as this causes other problems).

2. You will probably need to enable the 'use cURL' option in the ozpost admin settings. (It appears a "recent" change of servers has caused a problem for some people when using the non cURL method).

If you still experience problems after satisfying the two requirements specified, it is probably caused by invalid input data, such as entering the weights of your products in Kgs, but specifying the weight setting in the ozpost module as 'gms'.

Anyway, if you do still have issues after confirming the php version and cURL setting, please supply the URL for your store so that I can help with further debugging.

Cheers
Rod

RodG:

Correct,
Although you may also want the "Free shipper" and "Store pickup" enabled if these are applicable.

Correct.

There isn't much that you can do 'wrong', so I'm guessing your problem is with the 'or something'. :smile:

The ozpost module does have a couple of yet to be documented requirements.

1. The web server you are using needs to have php5.1 or 5.2 installed (not php5.3, as this causes other problems).

2. You will probably need to enable the 'use cURL' option in the ozpost admin settings. (It appears a "recent" change of servers has caused a problem for some people when using the non cURL method).

If you still experience problems after satisfying the two requirements specified, it is probably caused by invalid input data, such as entering the weights of your products in Kgs, but specifying the weight setting in the ozpost module as 'gms'.

Anyway, if you do still have issues after confirming the php version and cURL setting, please supply the URL for your store so that I can help with further debugging.

Cheers
Rod

Hi Rod,
thanks for your prompt reply. I am creating the zen cart on my local computer ( not outside server/host yet ) and i am unsure what PHP settings I have. How do i find out what they are and if i need to change them what do i do ie : download from web? I have my domain name with ' Dot Easy ' and I have a website created with Blogger, i have the Dot easy pointing to Blogger and vise versa. I was hoping to be able to keep the blogger website as i am familiar with it as opposed to the zen cart store front which i am not real familiar with ( being lazy here ) I was using paypal cart until i realised i couldn't have Aussie/international shipping in the one cart, hence my search and finding of zen cart. My dot easy address is soulkreed.com where you will find the domain parked and my blogger address is https://www.soulkreed.com where you can click on the online store hyperlink which will take you to my zen cart store front ( hopefully ) so you can take a look. ( do you have any thoughts on whether i can keep the blogger site or or not, can i just continue to point it to my zen cart solely for the online store front and payment etc etc ? )
I have changed some info on the weight area's as you mentioned, I had kilo's selected in the Oz Post module but in the products section i had put in 0.235 for the weight ( it says in the manual it doesn't like decimal points ) I changed the Oz Post module to grams and changed 0.235 to 235 in the products weight section.
I am still having issues with the estimator. It comes up with unexpected error ( no valid methods ). Using AP flat rate. $25.00
I got curl enabled but aren't familiar with the PHP bits and pieces you have mentioned.
Thanks again for your assistance.
Ash.

Soulkreed:

i am unsure what PHP settings I have.

It isn't so much a matter of 'settings', it is more a matter of what version you have installed on your server.

Soulkreed:

How do i find out what they are

There are lots of ways to determine this. Possibly the easiest or most convenient will be to click on the 'version' link of your zencart admin panel.

Soulkreed:

and if i need to change them what do i do ie : download from web?

Basically, yes, but PHP is heavily tied in with Apache, so it often isn't an easy thing to install/modify/update.

It is also outside of the realm I'm prepared to cover in the name of ozpost support.

Soulkreed:

I have my domain name with ' Dot Easy ' and I have a website created
<snip>
any thoughts on whether i can keep the blogger site or or not, can i just continue to point it to my zen cart solely for the online store front and payment etc etc ? )

Again, this is really outside of the realm of support that I'm willing (or able) to give.

I went to your webpage and clicked on the storelink, but it comes up with a file not found error. Probably because the link is pointing to "example.com". Unless I can access a 'live' store there really isn't a lot I can do or suggest.

Have you tried enabling the 'debug' option? Does that provide any clues?

Also, since you are working on a 'local' machine, does this machine have network access? Do you have any firewall rules enabled that may be preventing access?

Cheers
Rod

Hi Rod,
in clicking on version link in zen cart i see ( PHP Version. 5.0.5 ) and the zen cart cart version is 1.3.8a. Hope this is what is needed if not please let me know , is there anything else you need to know from there?
I am looking for the debug option now and will enable it once i find it and see what happens.
My computer has network access and i possibly do have firewall settings activated that would impare things but i do not know what i need to do to disable tem.
Thanks mate.

Soulkreed:

Hi Rod,
in clicking on version link in zen cart i see ( PHP Version. 5.0.5 ) and the zen cart cart version is 1.3.8a. Hope this is what is needed if not please let me know , is there anything else you need to know from there?

To the best of my current knowledge this is a suitable configuration.

One other thing to check though (since it is quite an old version of PHP5 that you are using), is to check that "SimpleXML" is installed and operational. I know that it is installed and enabled by default with PHP5.1 and up, I'm not sure about V5.0 though.

To test/check this load the same page that you did before (click on 'version' from zencart admin panel), the search the page for something like:

SimpleXML
Simplexml support enabled
Revision $Revision: 1.151.2.22.2.46 $
Schema support enabled

The important part is "Simplexml support enabled"

Soulkreed:

I am looking for the debug option now and will enable it once i find it and see what happens.

Did it offer any clues?

Soulkreed:

My computer has network access and i possibly do have firewall settings activated that would impare things but i do not know what i need to do to disable tem.
Thanks mate.

Click on the following link.

http://ozpost.vcsweb.com/postage.php?fromcode=5000&destcode=6000&weight=10&height=1&width=2.5&length=2.9&value=200&flags=0&host=example&version=1.0

This should give you an example of the data that gets sent back to the server. If it produces any errors (such as timing out) then you have a network/connectivity problem. However, if it returns valid data we can eliminate this as a possible cause of your problem.

Cheers
Rod

Hi Rod,
i have simple xml support enabled, in regards to the enable bug gear you mentioned, i read some tutorials on it and wasn't able to quite grasp it ( loading it on etc ) - any clues here?
Thanks mate.

Soulkreed:

Hi Rod,
i have simple xml support enabled, in regards to the enable bug gear you mentioned, i read some tutorials on it and wasn't able to quite grasp it ( loading it on etc ) - any clues here?
Thanks mate.

You are looking at the wrong thing. The ozpost shipping module has it's own 'debug' option. It is a simple 'enable debug' option.

It'll come into play when you add something to a shopping cart and attempt to get a shipping quote... As well as the quote itself it will provide feedback on the items in the cart, the weights, sizes, server response times, and hopefully any other errors.

Cheers
Rod

Hi,
thanks, I have turned it on and when i do a test of the shipping estimator an info table box comes up the top view of the screen as well as the usual info of Country, State, Zip code.
The screen up the top lists the item, weight, qty, dimensions etc. I don't really know what I am supposed to be looking for but it appears to be ok from what i can see. ( wish i knew how to take a screen shot of it to show you )
I await your direction, thanks mate.

Soulkreed:

. ( wish i knew how to take a screen shot of it to show you )
I await your direction, thanks mate.

press your printscreen key. :-)

If that doesn't work for some reason, just highlight the debug text box, press cntrl-C , open a reply to this message and press ctrl-V

Hi,
here it is ( without the usual stuff of Country, state and zip - for some reason it didn't show up on this one ) Didn't mention in my last message that it was a shipping estimator screen I was looking at and having the problems with but I think you have worked that out at any rate.
Thanks for the tip on print screen and highlight and ctrnl c & ctrnl v ( i knew of the control c and v one but had forgotten bout it for some reason, not used to it i guess ) ( my heaviest t-shirt ways about 240 grams )
Thanks Rod.

Debugging information
Item 1 Dragon Heart
Attribute Item Parcel
Qty 3 Weight 235 Qty 3 Weight 775.5
Dimensions 29 x 25 x 2.5 29 x 25 x 7.5
Cube 5437.5 5437.5
CubicWeight 0.453125Kgs 1.359375Kgs
Server response time 2.258ms

Soulkreed:

Debugging information
Item 1 Dragon Heart
Attribute Item Parcel
Qty 3 Weight 235 Qty 3 Weight 775.5
Dimensions 29 x 25 x 2.5 29 x 25 x 7.5
Cube 5437.5 5437.5
CubicWeight 0.453125Kgs 1.359375Kgs
Server response time 2.258ms

This all looks good. You store is connecting to the server and retrieving valid data. It just isn't being processed correctly.

Please ensure that you have the "use cURL" option enabled. If this has no apparent effect leave it enabled, close your web browser then re-open and try another test purchase/quote.

If you still have no luck, download the file from the following link:

http://http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpost.php?p=794222&postcount=300

This is NOT a full release of the module, but it does contain some changes to the main code (ozpost.php). Replace your exiting files in
/includes/modules/shipping/ozpost.php with the one contained in the zip file from the link I just gave. Log onto your admin control panel. Click on the button to uninstall ozpost, then click the button to re-install it again.

Cheers
Rod.

Hi Rod,
have done as you said and it's still comin up with the same error ( no valid method ) flat rate shipping etc etc.
For this shipping estimator module to function properly does it work better if my site is live/uploaded onto server/host?
Or can it run autonomously with no host ( local computer only )?
These things are sent to test us...

Oh the pain.

Regards, Ash.

Soulkreed:

Hi Rod,
have done as you said and it's still comin up with the same error ( no valid method ) flat rate shipping etc etc.
For this shipping estimator module to function properly does it work better if my site is live/uploaded onto server/host?

No, it won't run any better, BUT, it will allow me the opportunity to access the site and do a few tests myself whilst looking at the server log files for any oddities/clues.

Soulkreed:

Or can it run autonomously with no host ( local computer only )?

Yes, it'll run from your local computer (that's how I do my development and testing before uploading to the server).

That said, it will probably be a good idea to upload to your live server anyway, but only if the server itself is using a later version of php than you have on you local computer, because I do still think that this may be the cause of your problem.

Cheers
Rod

Hi,
Ok no worries, I'll contact my server and get onto it, keep you posted when it's up.
Cheers.

Hi Rod,
it seems that Dot Easy are running php version 5.1.6-3.7
, Will it be better for me to finish the zen cart mods ie : colours, body, photo uploads and product attributes before i upgrade/upload/go live with dot easy? I am still trying to figure out how to have my t-shirt photo's side by side one another instead of underneath each other, the tut's that explain how to do this that i have read are above my expertise ( do you have any suggestions )
I just want to get evrything right before going live ( even though as you said it will give you entry to take a squiz and see for yourself what the issue with ship module is etc which will be awesome and much appreciated )
Can I go live/upgrade now even though the website and cart isn't quite finished and then change it later on or not so you can take a look, is this an easy enough thing to do?
Regards, Ash.

PS; Thanks so much for all your help, God Bless.

Soulkreed:

Hi Rod,
it seems that Dot Easy are running php version 5.1.6-3.7
, Will it be better for me to finish the zen cart mods ie : colours, body, photo uploads and product attributes before i upgrade/upload/go live with dot easy?

This is a bit of a difficult call to make. Ideally, all development work should be done locally rather than on a live site. However, you also need to be aware that because the paths to the zencart files, and possibly even the database details will almost certainly be different between your local setup and the live store setup there will out of necessity be some things you'll need to change when transferring from one to the other, so if you think you'll find this aspect difficult to deal with it may be better to use a live site from the outset.

As I say, it really is a difficult call for me to make

Soulkreed:

I am still trying to figure out how to have my t-shirt photo's side by side one another instead of underneath each other, the tut's that explain how to do this that i have read are above my expertise ( do you have any suggestions )

It's not something I've looked into, and even if it were I seriously doubt that I would be able to explain things any better in a few short emails than what the tutorial(s) have already given.

Soulkreed:

I just want to get evrything right before going live

It'll never happen. For 'everything' to be 'right' would imply thay the end product is going to be static. A webstore, by its very nature is rarely ever static.... you'll always find things that you can tweak and improve upon.

Soulkreed:

Can I go live/upgrade now even though the website and cart isn't quite finished

That depends on your definition of 'live'.

I would suggest that if you put the store on a live server before it is ready for public access, you place it into 'maintainance' mode - after all, you wouldn't want people trying to buy demo products that you don't have.

Cheers
Rod.

Hi,
thanks Rod, I am in the process of uploading to Dot Easy as we speak.
Keep ya posted.
Ash.