USPS Real Time Shipping >> Overview
USPS Real Time Shipping
by Allied Web Consultants Corporation -- Released on Sep 05, 2007
Features
- Offer real-time shipping calculations to your customers
- Remove all guesswork in terms of calculating costs
- Provides a list of available shipping amounts based on USPS services
- Editable service list of any methods offered by USPS
- Single handling charge for every order
Description
The USPS (United States Postal Service) Real Time Shipping calculator will remove the guess work. The plug-in integrates into the shopping cart module of Soholaunch and allows the customer to get a real-time calculated shipping cost directly from the USPS system. To the user, this is process is seamless and simply provides a pull-down list of available shipping amounts based on the list of available services from USPS. The service list is editable by the site admin to allow or disallow any method offered by USPS, including international options.
The plug-in also allows you to add a single handling charge to every order.
The shipping is calculated based on the weight of each product times the quantity of each product ordered. Then it adds the handling charge (which the customer never sees). The weight is entered into the Soholaunch shopping cart admin panel under User Defined (B). There is no accounting for the size of the packaging, thus the handling charge to make up for any difference in price.
Once you have installed the plug-in, simply go to your Shopping Cart module in your Soholaunch admin panel and click on the USPS Options button. Then follow the on-screen directions to begin offering your customers a choice in shipping.
Please Note: This plug-in requires that the site owner/admin have a USPS Webtools account. Setting up an account with USPS is free and easy. Please go to USPS.com to create your account. Once you have your account number, you must email the USPS (the address is provided in their welcome email message to you with your account number) and tell them you are ready to begin offering real-time shipping rates. Then, you can begin using this plug-in.
Installation/Set-Up Instructions
Installing this plug-in requires a few easy steps.
- First you must purchase the plug-in. Following the purchase process the plug-in will be emailed to you in the form of a zip file.
- Once you have the zip file, login to the backend of your site and click on plug-ins
- Here you can upload the zip file
- Once the plug-in has been uploaded, you are now ready to begin using the plug-in
- Follow the instructions included within the plug-in to configure the settings
FAQ
Q. I get a blank page or errors after entering my shipping address information and clicking "Continue". What's the problem?
A. There is a pretty good chance that your server does not have PHP's Curl Extension enabled, with support for secure requests. To test this, you can create a new file in a text editor called curl.php. Edit the file and add the following line to it. Then upload it using SohoLaunch's File Manager.
Next, go to your browser and enter http://your-web-site-domain-here/media/curl.php. If you get an error message, your server does not have it install. If you get a message with the version in it, you will need to contact our support center (above).
Q. I have enabled all the services in the list but only a couple show up for the customer to choose from. Why don't the others show up?
A. The plug-in will only display the services that USPS says are valid for the shipment. This is derived by the sender's address and the receiver's address. Some services won't be available on some shipments.
Q. I am getting a blank drop down list of shipping options. Why?
A. There are three possibilities:
- You have not specified the weight or one or more items in your shopping cart system that the customer has chosen. Remember to enter the weight in pounds.
- The weight of the total order must be at least 1/2 a pound for the shipping to calculate.
- In the Webmaster -> Business Information section of the Sohoadmin, you have entered a state incorrectly. The state MUST be entered as a valid two letter
Please check out the other Soholaunch plugins at http://www.alliedplugins.com.
Support Information
To contact our support services, please visit
http://www.alliedplugins.com/support and post your support issue.
| Minimum Compatible Version: |
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Pro Edition v4.9+
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| [?] How to make sure you're compatible |
User Comments
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