Hikashop - USPS Plugin

I tried it and it seems to be working fine, your customers will just have to enter their information without creating any Hikashop account :

Also, can you download the last Hikashop version through our website, install it, and test it again ?

Hello,
I installed the latest version. I'm still getting the error. If I'm already logged into the front-end it works, I can see the calculated shipping price. However, when not logged in I still get the error.

Here is a screen shot... awesomescreenshot.com/08e1pcsad8

Thanks

I've done some modification through your checkout workflow, and it seems to be working fine now .

Ok thank you. Yes... it seems to be working ok. However, I had to add a "cart" to the first page of the checkout workflow otherwise users wouldn't know what's in their cart. And when I did that it still seems to work except I get this error message (I was using Chrome)...
Warning: in_array() expects parameter 2 to be array, null given in /home/content/41/8907641/html/components/com_hikashop/controllers/checkout.php on line 770

Hi,

I think that you'll find more information about this issue through this thread :

I think that you'll just have to edit the file "Your Website\components\com_hikashop\controllers\checkout.php", and change this line :
if(in_array($m->shipping_id.'@'.$key, $shipping_ids) && in_array($m->shipping_type.'@'.$key, $shipping_methods)) {
By :
if(is_array($shipping_ids) && is_array($shipping_methods) && in_array($m->shipping_id.'@'.$key, $shipping_ids) && in_array($m->shipping_type.'@'.$key, $shipping_methods)) {

I'm having a similar problem to other users in that I can't make the USPS shipping pugin appear.

Ive been through the helps, checklists and threads and tried everything, and after a number of days am trying this forum. Ive got Hikashop Business and do have a question about weights and dimensions - I am using 1 product item that I have set weight and dims for - is that sufficient or does every product in the database need to be set? I only add the 1 item over and over to the cart to test.

Also I am concerned about the USPS call - in other words I have a Web Tools ID and enter my zip code into the plugin and I have talked to the post office and had them put my account "LIve" but I have not tested it their servers with API calls, etc. It doesn't sound like other people using the plugin do this either - the plugin wants the username only and the shipping code ...

So Im pretty stuck. I use the default shipping workflow. If I login as a user and add the product to the cart it just hangs and never comes back (which seems like a bad call to USPS servers but I cant tell) when I press Proceed To Checkout ...

Thanks

Hi,
Firstly, Can you download the last Hikashop version through our website, install it and test it again ? Then if your USPS still doesn't show, can you follow each step of the shipping section of the FAQ ?
Thanks.

What is the purpose of reinstalling, since it was installed fairly recently (3 months ago)?

Also, I carefully went through all 10 items in the FAQ already. Im looking into a possible issue with my web hosting.

Question: Are you suggesting reinstall of Hikashop or usps shipping plugin or Both?

Other question: I have a test item that has good weights (12x12x1) that I use for testing - is that sufficient to get through the shipping filter or is the filter going to look at every single item in the database for valid weights?

Thanks

Hi,

What is the purpose of reinstalling, since it was installed fairly recently (3 months ago)?

The purpose is to have the modifications that we have made through Hikashop and the USPS shipping plugin between the last version that you have, and the version that will be available through the next realease, that's why I ask you to download the last Hikashop version through our website, to have the last Hikashop package.

1. Re-installing Hikashop will also update your USPS shipping plugin files, so re-installing will Hikashop will do the job .

2. I didn't fully understood your question, what do you exactly mean by :

is that sufficient to get through the shipping filter or is the filter going to look at every single item in the database for valid weights?

Hello. We did the following:

1- update JCE editor (the maineditor)
2 - update the web installer
3- update Joomla
4 - update Hikashop

After that we see the USPS plugin shipping options (yay!) - but they are not correct.

I'm focusing on making Media Mail work right now. I have an item (a vinyl record) that I'm selling. It is 12 in x 12 in x 1 in and weighs 1 lb. I have lb and in as the first items in my units. This should be a valid item that makes it through the plugin filter without round-off, etc.

In reality, Media mail for this kind of item is around $4 with the USPS within the US. The value returned from the plugin is like $35 - way too much.

I have the Force Shipping Without Weights set to YES. I am able to add items to my cart that do not have any weight or dimensions with this switch is set to YES. If I set this switch to NO I am unable to ever see the USPS shipping options for any item regardless of whether it has a weight or size.

One of the big questions I have is what are these 3 fields in the plugins for Price, Percentage and the Use Price Per Item switch. There is no documentation for these and they directly affect the values that are returned. What does 100% mean? 100% of what?

My expectation for this plugin is that I can give it an item with say 12x12x1 (inches) size and 1lb weight, select Media Mail and the value returned should be about what I would get if I used a scale and looked up the shipping cost with a USPS table. If this is not the case I need to figure out what this plugin actually does.

I would also like to add say a 3.00 handling charge on top of shipping to account for insurance and tracking - it seem like one can do this with the percentage field once I figure out what it does.

Finally, there is some flakiness going on with my testing. I take my test item that has weights and dims assigned correctly and it works the first time. Then I do it again and it stops working. The system lets me press Add To Cart. It says there are 3 items available. I press the button and it doesn't go to the cart as if the supply has run out - but my testing never finishes a purchase, the available counts are never decremented - so I'm thinking there is a joomla cache problem preventing me from re-using my test item over and over ...

The last thing is in the big list of plugins for hikashop I no longer see the USPS shipping plugin as a individual plugin; I see one overally shipping plugin for manual and so maybe you guys rolled the little plugins into one? I do see the USPS shipping plugin when I go to Plugins (where I have manual, USPS and FedEx enabled as plugins) ... Not sure if this is a problem at all but it appears to be a change to the packaging.

Thanks in advance, I've been trying to make this work for some time, and at this point am pretty stuck again but further along than last week.

I just tried something now that seems to help:

- the fields for percentage and price have little Xs in the top left corner and so I click these and it's as if they no longer have a valiue
- then I turn the Use Price For Item to NO

And the prices now look kind of accurate.

A little paragraph describing how the Generic Configuration block works would be very helpful to new users. The Help section skips all of those fields and the user has to guess.

Thanks. Kelly

Now my problem is that the plugin is giving me the same results for all of the items in my catalog - even though only one or two items has a weight and size set. How is it doing this for this? Maybe there is a minimum amount that the usps will return and that is being used everywhere?

However, this only happens if I keep the Force Shipping Without Weight to YES. When I turn that to NO I never see the usps options again no matter what item I choose (ie one with weights/dims or one with none).

I tried clearing the jooomla cache and this is not fixing the behavior. Basically I don't want to sell virtual goods so I want to turn that Force option to NO but then nothing works ... thanks kelly

Hi,
1.

One of the big questions I have is what are these 3 fields in the plugins for Price, Percentage and the Use Price Per Item switch. There is no documentation for these and they directly affect the values that are returned. What does 100% mean? 100% of what?

Note that you'll probably find your answer through that thread :

Price : The price set for the shipping method.

Percentage : Additionally to the price of the field above, you can also set here a percentage of the total of the order's products. The result amount will be added to the price so that you can have a fix minimum price and a percentage fee on top of it.

Use the prices per product: With that option, you can activate the price per product system for that shipping method. Two things will happen:
You will get a "Price per product" option on that same screen where you will be able to configure a fixed shipping price for each product added to the cart which will be summed up and added to the main price of the shipping method.
If you have activated the "HikaShop Shipping manual - Prices per product" plugin via the plugin manager of Joomla, you will be able to configure prices for that shipping method for each one of your products on their edition page

2.

I would also like to add say a 3.00 handling charge on top of shipping to account for insurance and tracking - it seem like one can do this with the percentage field once I figure out what it does.

To do that you'll just have to set a price of 3.00 so that you'll be able to add $3 to your total shipping price.

3.

Now my problem is that the plugin is giving me the same results for all of the items in my catalog - even though only one or two items has a weight and size set. How is it doing this for this? Maybe there is a minimum amount that the usps will return and that is being used everywhere?

The problem is probably coming from the fact that USPS only use the weight of your products to return a shipping price.

Thanks for the response. Just to recap:

So to just get the price from USPS I leave the Price field blank (since I don't know what it is - it's calculated and returned by the plugin). If I want to add 3$ to this calculated price I put 3 in the price field.

Now, why is the plugin calculating a value (it's always the same value) for some of my products that DO NOT have a weight assigned? Maybe it found just one weight for an item and is using this for all of them?

If I turn OFF the Force Checkout Without Weights then I never see the USPS shipping plugin again, even for the 1 item that I have weights defined for. So I'm still puzzled how to make this work.

Thanks again (especially for the thread doc which I don't see in my help on my actual site for some reason).

I believe my problems are solved at this point. Some of them related to being able to test whether the shipping plugin was correct or not. My last problem was not being able to repeatedly add to the cart the same item (a different thread, but I needed it to verify the plugin). There is a Configuration->Cart parameter called How Often to Check Cart - I'm still not sure what it does, but it was set to Months and I set it to Minutes and then I can test with a single item (that had weight assigned to it) over and over.

At that point I turned OFF Force Shipping Without Weights and indeed my one test item with a weight assigned would make it through the filter and all other items either did not cause the plugin to appear or added a zero value (for zero weight) when the test item was also in the cart - both correct behaviors.

Finally, I started testing specific weights against the actual USPS prices on their website (and on eBay) and they came up identical so I declared it working.

Thanks so much for the help. Kelly

Hi,

Now, why is the plugin calculating a value (it's always the same value) for some of my products that DO NOT have a weight assigned? Maybe it found just one weight for an item and is using this for all of them?

As I said : The problem is probably coming from the fact that USPS only use the weight of your products to return a shipping price.
So if all your product weight is 0, you'll always have the same prices.

If I turn OFF the Force Checkout Without Weights then I never see the USPS shipping plugin again, even for the 1 item that I have weights defined for. So I'm still puzzled how to make this work.

You should probably set a weight for each products and try it again .

Finally, I started testing specific weights against the actual USPS prices on their website (and on eBay) and they came up identical so I declared it working.

Thanks for your feedback .

Hi there!

I'm now having another issue with the USPS Plugin. It's something that seems to have just started recently...

I have first class and priority options set as possibilities. But, when the weight is too heavy for first class and priority is the only option that should be available...it's still showing the first class option. So, people are clicking on first class, since it's cheaper... But it HAS to go priority because of the weight. So, we're having to call them and explain to them and get them to approve us charging more for priority.

How can I make sure that ONLY the priority option appears when the weight is too heavy for first class?

Hello,

How can I make sure that ONLY the priority option appears when the weight is too heavy for first class?

A solution can just be to directly use 2 shipping methods :
- One for normal products
- One for heavy products

You'll just have to use the "Maximum/Minimum weight" option through your shipping configuration page.

I don't see a "Maximum/Minimum weight" option on the USPS plugin shipping configuration page...