Having Problems getting USPS shipping option running on my website. Need help!!!

I am currently taking over the maintenance for our stores website. The website has not had any maintenance done in about a year. I do not have any previous knowledge in website building at all so I am very overwhelmed. My first and biggest issue is getting the USPS shipping option running on our website so customers can have a correct shipping price for their orders. I have received a USPS Web Tools User ID and have installed all the required information. I then called the USPS Web Tools customer service number and they said the account is live and should be working but it is not. When I try to do a test order, the USPS shipping option says it cannot calculate a price based on the provided zip code. I am going crazy!! :wacko: I would really appreciate any help! Thanks in advanced. I am running on version Zen Cart 1.3.7.1

Make sure that you are using the current USPS September 7, 2014 K5 shipping module ...
http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.php?214502-USPS-RateV4-Intl-RateV2-Sept-7-2014-Version-K5

You should also subscribe to the News & Announcements forum:
http://www.zen-cart.com/forumdisplay.php?2-Zen-Cart-Release-Announcements

so that you receive current updates that may affect you ...

I just installed the USPS option maybe about a week ago. I am fairly new to this whole website maintenance job I really do not understand how to download new versions and then implement them to the website. I would really appreciate it if someone could walk me step-by-step on how to properly integrate the USPS Web Tools shipping module and make sure it is working. I have attached to this thread what I have uploaded to the USPS shipping module. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

That doesn't look like the current USPS September 7, 2014 K5 shipping module ...

You can test which version that you have by:

Go to your Zen Cart Admin and go to Tools ... Developers Tool Kit ...

In the bottom input box enter:
usps.php

Then, select Catalog ... click SEARCH ...

What comes up on the paths to the files and the lines for:

• @version $Id: usps.php

NOTE: for installing, if you download the new version for the USPS September 7, 2014 K5 and then unzip the file into an empty directory, you will find that the files are in the order of your Zen Cart directories ...

In your FTP program, you can drag those files from:
\includes

to your
/includes

directory on your server ...

How do I unzip a file?

Something like WinZip from winzip.com can unzip files ...

OK I checked the version and it says:

@version $Id: usps.php

There wasn't a path to the files or more information on the lines that were found?

Below is what it says when I look up the version:

/home/carlan/public_html/includes/languages 3.6/english/modules/shipping/usps.php

Line #6 : * @version $Id: usps.php 4824 2006-10-23 21:01:28Z drbyte $

/home/carlan/public_html/includes/languages 3.8/english/modules/shipping/usps.php

Line #6 : * @version $Id: usps.php 4867 2006-10-31 09:59:01Z drbyte $

/home/carlan/public_html/includes/languages/english/modules/shipping/usps.php

Line #6 : * @version $Id: usps.php 4824 2006-10-23 21:01:28Z drbyte $

Warning: file(/home/carlan/public_html/includes/languages/english/tell_a_friend.php) [function.file]: failed to open stream: Permission denied in /home4/carlan/public_html/admin/developers_tool_kit.php on line 125

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home4/carlan/public_html/admin/developers_tool_kit.php on line 128
/home/carlan/public_html/includes/modules/shipping/usps.php

Line #6 : * @version $Id: usps.php 6529 2007-06-26 00:15:57Z drbyte $

If you unziped the files then you should see a directory called:
USPS_2014_0907_K5

If you open that directory, you will see:
/includes

and the file:
readme.txt

You might read the readme.txt file ...

Then, you can copy the directory:
\includes

to your server via FTP where you see the matching directory:
/includes

This will load the new files to the server and overwrite your old files ...

And all this is done through ZenCart, not my domain host correct?

I am not sure what you mean on through Zen Cart and not your domain host ...

Zen Cart should always be installed manually by you and not through any automated method on your Control Panel ...

The same holds true on updates to files and upgrades of Zen Cart ...

Sorry, I mean all the updates and information entered is done on ZenCart?

Yes that is correct.

I also replied to this thread with the information about the USPS version information. I don't know if there is anything wrong with that information?

What version of Zen Cart are you using? You can check in your Zen Cart Admin in the Tools ... Server Info ... if you could copy the lines you see from below the menu down to and including the line that says PHP some version that woyld be helpful ...

The usps info that you posted is showing an old and outdated version of USPS is installed so you do need that upgrade for USPS September 7, 2014 K5 loaded and installed to your server ...

Server Host: gator3148.hostgator.com (50.87.144.184) Database Host: localhost (127.0.0.1)
Server OS: Linux 3.12.22 Database: MySQL 5.5.38-35.2
Server Date: 09/25/2014 10:54:20 Database Date: 09/25/2014 10:54:20

Server Up Time: 10:54:20 up 97 days, 4:36, 2 users, load average: 0.07, 0.01, 0.00
PHP Version: 5.2.17 (Zend: 2.2.0)
HTTP Server: Apache

Zen Cart
Zen Cart 1.3.7.1
Database Patch Level: 1.3.7
v1.3.6 [2007-05-29 16:30:40] (Fresh Installation)

You have a very old Zen Cart and should seriously consider upgrading it to a a current Zen Cart version as that v1.3.7 is buggy and has numerous security issues ...

How do you upgrade ZenCart to a newer version?