AustPost Improved

hi there,

I wonder if it is possible to disable the austpost Improved module when the customer is not from Australia ? Because I'm planning to use Australia Post for domestic purchase and TNT for international purchase.

So, is there any quick option to automatically recognize the customer is from international country and disable the aust post module ?

Cheers, erik.

eangkasa:

hi there,

I wonder if it is possible to disable the austpost Improved module when the customer is not from Australia ? Because I'm planning to use Australia Post for domestic purchase and TNT for international purchase.

Yes. Just disable all of the overseas shipping methods.

eangkasa:

So, is there any quick option to automatically recognize the customer is from international country and disable the aust post module ?

Cheers, erik.

The module won't recognise the customer is from another country (although there is a zencart addon that does attempt to do this with pretty good accuracy), however, even without any addons, the module won't give a quote until either a valid country or an aussie postcode has been entered, so if you don't have any overseas options enabled then overseas buyers won't get a quote (from the AP module).

Cheers
Rod

hi RodG, thanks for the reply.

What do you mean by disabling all the overseas shipping methods?

Basically, I have disabled all methods except AustPost Improved & Zone Rates (needed for TNT international purchase).

The problem is if I logged in as an international customer and performed check out, the Zone Rates module will be displayed along with AustPost Improved module. But, as expected the AustPost module delivered an error such as :

ERROR:Unable to obtain a valid quote from the Australia Post Server.
You may still checkout using this method and we will contact you with postage costs as soon as possible.

I don't want this error statement to come up, so I want to disable AustPost module only for international customer. Does that make sense ?

eangkasa:

hi RodG, thanks for the reply.

What do you mean by disabling all the overseas shipping methods?

The Austpost module has over a dozen different shipping methods for you to select/deselect according to your needs and/or requirements. Many of these are for overseas methods. Uncheck them.

eangkasa:

The problem is if I logged in as an international customer and performed check out, the Zone Rates module will be displayed along with AustPost Improved module. But, as expected the AustPost module delivered an error such as :
ERROR:Unable to obtain a valid quote from the Australia Post Server.
You may still checkout using this method and we will contact you with postage costs as soon as possible.

I don't want this error statement to come up,

Oh, I see, it is the error message that you object to, not the fact that the module is doing what is to be expected?

I'm not trying to be pedantic, but there really is a big difference between the two.

eangkasa:

so I want to disable AustPost module only for international customer. Does that make sense ?

The problem, as mentioned elsewhere, is that there is no reliable method of determining where any given using is coming in from, especially for guest users. However there are a couple of 'acceptable' methods that exist.

To answer you question, there isn't any simple switch, command, or config option that will do what you require. However, disabling a shipping module (almost any shipping module) is a matter of modifying and/or inserting a line or two of code to indicate whether it is active or not. Other threads have more detail on this. How's your PHP coding skills?

If you simply don't like the error message, why not simply change it to something less alarming, such as "This shipping method is not available to your destination, please select another".

Cheers
Rod

Aha, yeah why I never thought of that ... changing the error statement would be suitable for my case, and the AustPost module does run as expected by delivering an error for international customer :D

Since, I have only used 2 shipping methods so far, the regular parcel post & express parcel post (Aust), so there isn't any overseas shipping method enabled.

Thanks for that Rod :D

Hi RodG,

I had spoken to you about a problem i had a few months ago and still have yet to get it resolved....

On my invoices, emails sent to customers and admin area i seem to be getting broken links....

Here are a few examples:

Email confirmation sent to customer after pruchase....

Products
------------------------------------------------------
1 x Amway Replacement Water Filter Cartridge Carbon Block (T2801)  = $60.00
------------------------------------------------------
Sub-Total: $60.00
[B] ( 1 ): $10.20[/B]
Total: $70.20

Notice that there is no shipping method mentioned (in this case it was express) and only the estimated days shipping is coming up.

Admin invoice of purchase....

See attached pic.
Notice that the days delivered image is broken.

Do you know how i can fix this?

Thanks,

geoff

Am I dumb or does it look exactly as the auspost module? Also where do I put the open files that aren't in folder????

Must be my dumb day....sorry:blink:

lakotasouix:

Am I dumb

I fear that you may be insulted if I answer this question.

lakotasouix:

or does it look exactly as the auspost module?

Does what look exactly as the auspost module?

In a manner of speaking, all the shipping modules look exactly the same on account of the fact they all do the same thing and they'll all use the same template files.

lakotasouix:

Also where do I put the open files that aren't in folder????

I must be dumb too.. what exactly do you mean by "the open files that aren't in folder",

lakotasouix:

Must be my dumb day....sorry:blink:

Mine too. I've no other explanation for replying to your rather cryptic query.

Rgds
RodG

RodG:

I fear that you may be insulted if I answer this question.

Cheeky

RodG:

Does what look exactly as the auspost module?

In a manner of speaking, all the shipping modules look exactly the same on account of the fact they all do the same thing and they'll all use the same template files.

The actual module itself is exactly like the auspost module, in the way it is laid out the colour, etc.

RodG:

I must be dumb too.. what exactly do you mean by "the open files that aren't in folder",

When I unarchive the zip file, it has two folder and all these files including install.txt etc. but there is weight.php etc, where do they go?

RodG:

Mine too. I've no other explanation for replying to your rather cryptic query.

Rgds
RodG

Sorry to be so crytic, it was late and I knew what I was talking about :frusty:

Now it just comes up with an error

ERROR:Unable to obtain a valid quote from the Australia Post Server.
You may still checkout using this method and we will contact you with postage costs as soon as possible.

Huh?????

lakotasouix:

Cheeky

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/images/smilies/yes.gif

lakotasouix:

The actual module itself is exactly like the auspost module, in the way it is laid out the colour, etc.

As I said, all the shipping modules will (should) have the same 'look' on account of the fact that this is controlled by the zencart template files. If they didn't work this way the store would look very strange and poorly designed, and that is not the zencart way.

In other words, if you change the background or font colours/sizes/styles for your store, the shipping modules, and all other aspects and 'addons' will automatically take on the same style.

lakotasouix:

When I unarchive the zip file, it has two folder and all these files including install.txt etc. but there is weight.php etc, where do they go?

Are we talking about the same module? (Austpost Improved). I ask because their isn't a 'weight.php' file. There IS however a 'weight.txt' file, and like any other .txt files they are there for your education. READ THEM.

lakotasouix:

Sorry to be so crytic, it was late and I knew what I was talking about :frusty:

That's all very well if we were all mind readers, but most of us aren't, so you do need to be pretty specific when asking questions.

lakotasouix:

Now it just comes up with an error

"Now" implies that you have had it working, so the real question is what did you change between the time it worked and the time the error started occurring? "nothing" is NOT an acceptable or valid response (or, if it really was 'nothing' then all you have to do is wait and it should fix itself in the same mysterious way that it broke.

lakotasouix:

ERROR:Unable to obtain a valid quote from the Australia Post Server.
You may still checkout using this method and we will contact you with postage costs as soon as possible.

Huh?????

This is a generic error that can be cause by MANY different things. Assuming it HAD been working then the cause of the problem depends very much on what it is that has changed.

The fact that you are receiving this error implies that you almost certainly have all the right files in the right places.

Cheers
Rod

I have to add an additional handling fee for shipments to WA only. Can I set the austpost__improved_2-1-3 module up to do this, or is there a different option within Zencart for doing this?

Hi everyone!

I am just hoping someone might be able to answer my questions in regards to this Mod. We currently offer our Aussie customers a flat rate and ship with Eparcel and would like that to stay. Is that something that the mod will allow? Basically I wanted to use the mod to cover my need to offer International postage now.

Would love to get some answers ASAP as we would be installing tonight if it is the right mod for us.

Thanks in advance,
Shell

loneranger:

I have to add an additional handling fee for shipments to WA only. Can I set the austpost__improved_2-1-3 module up to do this, or is there a different option within Zencart for doing this?

No and No. (well, not without custom coding).

Just out of curiosity, why do you wish to penalise WA customers with higher handling charges?

Cheers
Rod

cushietushies:

Hi everyone!

I am just hoping someone might be able to answer my questions in regards to this Mod. We currently offer our Aussie customers a flat rate and ship with Eparcel and would like that to stay. Is that something that the mod will allow?

No. Eparcel isn't charged the same way as Australia Post.

cushietushies:

Basically I wanted to use the mod to cover my need to offer International postage now.

Would love to get some answers ASAP as we would be installing tonight if it is the right mod for us.

Thanks in advance,
Shell

Shipping modules can be combined, so you can continue to use your existing flat rate shipping module for Australian customers, and use the AustPost improved module for overseas. :-)

Cheers
Rod

I honestly don't know why, but my client is shipping plants and aparently there are different regulations for shipments to WA which require higher handling fees. I can find out for you if you want to know.

As for code changes, I am no PHP programmer, but can hold my own in C. So I think that armed with a PHP manual and the source code, I could potentially make some changes to the code.
Can you point me in the right direction?

I guess I need to find out if the area code starts with 8 and if it does, add a constant to the handling fee.

loneranger:

I honestly don't know why, but my client is shipping plants and aparently there are different regulations for shipments to WA which require higher handling fees. I can find out for you if you want to know.

Nah. not really important.

loneranger:

As for code changes, I am no PHP programmer, but can hold my own in C.

If you can do C you can do php. The syntax is very similar.

loneranger:

So I think that armed with a PHP manual and the source code, I could potentially make some changes to the code.

Can you point me in the right direction?

Of all the files in the austpost distribution archive the one you'll be editing is
/includes/modules/shipping/austpost.php

loneranger:

I guess I need to find out if the area code starts with 8 and if it does, add a constant to the handling fee.

Yup. That about sums it up. I suggest you view the code mentioned above. You'll probably find it'll be easier than you think. Don't bother with a php manual until/unless you really need it.

Don't spend too much time with this though. I have a new update all complete and ready to be zipped up (then unzipped, final tested, etc). Should only take me a few hours, but it has been in this state for almost 2 weeks now due to lack of time. :-(.

Anyway, point is, any changes you make to the current module will need to be redone with the upgrade, which could be available as soon as next weekend (but current track record puts this about 2 or 3 weekends away).

Cheers
Rod

Rod,

Thank you for your prompt and concise feedback, especially about the upcoming update.

Knowing which file to edit is certainly a help and looking at the code, the syntax indeed looks very much like C.

I'll wait until the update has been released, then have a go at changing it.

Cheers,

Chris

Hi,

Can anyone please explain how to stop the various shipping option icons from showing on this mod ?

I would prefer to use plain text instead of the various images.

I tried simply commenting out the lines in .../includes/modules/shipping/austpost.

Thats kind of fine for Firefox, as it defaults to the alt text, but in IE I get the dreaded red x box .

I'd rather simply replace them and use my own text.

I've searched through the threads, but perhaps I missed the relevant one ?

Any help would be appreciated.
Mike

Mike_Dean:

Hi,

Can anyone please explain how to stop the various shipping option icons from showing on this mod ?

I would prefer to use plain text instead of the various images.

I tried simply commenting out the lines in .../includes/modules/shipping/austpost.

Thats kind of fine for Firefox, as it defaults to the alt text, but in IE I get the dreaded red x box .

I'd rather simply replace them and use my own text.

I've searched through the threads, but perhaps I missed the relevant one ?

Any help would be appreciated.
Mike

Sorry, no easy fix. This has been an embarrassment for me for a long time (bad code).

I've just uploaded my latest module 'ozpost', that has an option to toggle the icons on/off. It's a direct replacement for the 'Austpost Improved' module, and has many other improvements (and probably lots of bugs).

It should be made available in the downloads section as soon as the zencart admins have taken a look at and approved it.

Cheers
RodG

Cheers Rod,

FYI I used to live in Reynella... Grew up in Brodie Road.
Went to Stanvac Primary and Morphett Vale High..!