United States Postal Service (USPS) Module

From reading another thread, it looks like the problem might be my paypal payment option? Is it possible to use paypal and the USPS pluging together in Hikashop?

I'm having this difficulty as well.

If I -only- enable the USPS plugin, -and- the shopper is not logged in, I get the "No Shipping Method Found" error.
If I -only- enable the USPS plugin, and the shopper -is- logged in, everything is fine.

If I enable the HikaShop manual shipping plugin, I also have to publish at least one shipping method. Then I do not get the error.

However, the manual shipping method is incapable of fetching the proper shipping rates. Part of that is probably due to the fact no address has been entered yet. If you don't have an address, you can't figure out rates. So this seems to be a workflow thing.

There needs to be a workflow that allows a shopper to select items, place them in the cart and view their cart. Then select a shipping address or just a zip code to see shipping rates. prior to any login. Actually there needs to be an entire workflow that allows a shopper to checkout and pay without the need for a login.

So this seems kind of tricky. I need to enable the manual shipping plugin and put at least one method in, but then I need to hide it until the person logs in (or creates and account) before I can accurately display shipping.

The must be a way to workaround this.

That's what I figured out last night. And by running the demo site (which includes additional options for the paid version), it still can't be configured without the manual shipping method.

This will probably be a deal breaker for me, since it makes absolutely no sense to have a "fixed" shipping rate display in addition to the USPS rates. When not logged in, only the manual method rate will display but there is nothing reasonable to set it to. Once logged in, it would display and be selectable along with the USPS rates.

Therefore if the fixed rate from the manual shipping method is set less than the USPS options, I lose money. If it's set too high, it looks bad to the customer.

It rally boils down to a workflow issue. Similar to other shopping carts seen on the Internet, an option needs to display for a user to enter an address to -get- shipping rates -before- displaying any information about shipping. The trouble with the HikaShop workflow is that it's not really a workflow; it displays -everything- on one page without stepping through options one page at a time...unless I've seriously missed something here, it should work like this:

- User goes to shopping cart to checkout, see items in cart, modifies if necessary then clicks on [Next]
- User is asked to login, register or opt-out of registration, click [Next]
- User enters billing address and shipping address (checkbox if same), click [Next]
- User is shown shipping options (based on shipping address data entered in previous screen) selects shipping method, clicks [Next]
- User is asked for any coupons, (this is final adjustment to the order total), click [Next]
- User is asked to confirm all order details, click [Place Order]

Unfortunately, HikaShop puts all of that on one page and since no address information has been entered, it chokes on the USPS shipping method. Even with all the options available in the fully registered and paid version, I can't seem to configure it any other way.

Have I missed something?

EDIT - I am mistaken. I just figured out how to ADD more pages/steps to the checkout workflow. However, two problems. I removed the Login part of the workflow and set registration to No Registration. The back end said I couldn't have address without login. However, the front end allowed me to see the cart only and then click next and then a lightbox opened and had me enter the address. Once the address was entered, I got the same "No Shipping Method Found" error message, because I had turned of the manual shipping method. So it's a little closer, but still not quite right. Does the login box really have to be displayed? Why. And why would the system take an address in the front end, and then not populate shipping info from the USPS plugin, or the UPS plugin for that matter on the demo system? (because there are no UPS server settings to fetch the rates, duh)

PS. The Forum software is either NOT sending me emails or they are coming from a domain that has been blacklisted on my spam firewall. I am unable to get username or password request emails, or email notifications that posts have been responded to. This is troublesome.

This is how I resolved the problem of "No Shipping Method Found"

I am using the non-purchased (i.e. free) version of HikaShop. This means I am limited to one registration type, requiring all purchasers to create an account. That's not a real problem.

From the back end, System > Configuration, I modified the Checkout workflow in the upper left. At the very bottom of the Checkout workflow section is a link to "Add Step." This allows the administrator to add another page. Therefore My checkout workflow now has five different pages and looks something like this:

[Cart]

---

[Address] [Login]

---

[Cart] [Shipping]

---

[Coupon]

---

[Cart] [Payment]


Now, when a customer goes to checkout, they first see a summary of what's in their cart, and a [Next] button.
When they click next, the page refreshes and asks them to login (if using the paid version and selecting No Registration option in back end, the user is given an address pop-up).
Once logged in (in my case) the address data is displayed for verification, along with a [Next] button.
On the next screen, the USPS shipping method is displayed as expected, with no errors along with the cart summary and a [Next] button.
Then ask for coupons
Then summarize the cart one more time and have the user submit payment.

So, I got what I needed for the version of the HikaShop product I'm using. No error message and the workflow operates as I would expect it to.

HikaShop for the WIN! (despite my earlier comment about the deal breaker... turns out HikaShop has a way to do what I wanted it to do).


Hopefully this procedure will help others.

Yes, emails are now arriving. Thank you.

Hello!

I've installed and configured the USPS plugin. It seems to be working correctly but the shipping options are doubled. Any ideas on how I can fix it? It's pretty weird.

Thanks,
Jeff

Hi,

1. Can you send me screenshots of how did you configured your shipping method ?

2. Can you test it with this last version of the USPS shipping method ?

Thanks

Thanks for your quick response Mohamed! I've attached the screenshot.

I installed the version you attached, but for some reason this morning my checkout page is broken and won't even load. It worked when I tested it right before I went to bed last night about 7 hours ago. I'm not sure what's wrong now. I'll have to check on it again after work tonight.

I am having an issue with the USPS shipping plugin. It is always giving me the same rates no matter what I have in the cart. The rates are normal for the smallest of orders. The website is selling lightweight items. They are stands of pearls that weigh 0.46 oz each. There is a minimum order of 3 stands, so the minimum weight for an order is 1.38 oz.

If I put in a quantity of 100 though, which should be 46 oz in weight, it will still give me a first class shipping rate of $2.07. Which is impossible because you can't ship an item of that weight first class.

It is almost like the shipping results are being cached someplace. Could that even be possible?

I am running Joomla 2.5.9 and HikaShop 2.1.0. The USPS shipping plugin is the latest one posted to this forum, which I believe was from 6 weeks ago.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Hi,

1. Can you test it with this last version of USPS ?

2. Can you show me a screenshot of how did you configured you USPS shipping method and your product ?

Thank you.

I just download and installed the latest version, and found that the problem with the shipping fees still exists.

Here is the screen shop of the USPS config:

Also, here is the shipping rates I am given, and they are always the same, regardless if I have 3 items or 300 items in the cart:


Any help or guidance would be appreciated.
Thank you.

Ok, it wasn't us who developed the USPS shipping method but, can you give me a back-end access by Private Message then I'll maybe be able to find out what the problem is ?

I just sent you a private message with the information to access the backend of the website.

I do realize that you folks didn't develop the USPS shipping plugin, but it appears that no one else is supporting it. Do you folks have plans to take it on officially? I know it will only benefit those of us in the US, but to us it is a major deal.

We already planned to completely change the USPS shipping plugin (It's on our TODO list).

Regarding your problem, here is the last version of the USPS shipping plugin. I've done some modification to USPS (improved the weight conversion).

Ps :I already uploaded this last version through your back-end.

I looks like the most recent version is working for us. Thank you!
I really do appreciate the assistance, and if you folks want a beta tester for an all new USPS shipping plugin just let me know. I would be happy to help.

Thank you, it'll be helpful when the USPS plugin will be changed .