Dashboard Pages

Documentation for Zone Based Shipping dashboard pages. This documentation is also built in to a dashboard page within Zone Based Shipping, ready for convenient use when setting up your eCommerce site.

Zone Based Shipping needs to be enabled in eCommerce at Dashboard > eCommerce > Shipping

Zones /dashboard/zone_based_shipping/zones

List and edit shipping zone names.

Add zones as geographical regions of equivalent shipping cost. For example, you could have zones for Local, Regional, National and International shipping. You can define as many zones as you need and drag them into order for convenience of selection later in Zone Based Shipping. It can sometimes also be useful to define a 'Not Deliverable' zone and then later on build rules that refuse to deliver to that zone.

Delivery Options /dashboard/zone_based_shipping/delivery_options

List and edit delivery option names.

Add delivery options for choices to offer customers depending on cart calculation. For example, you could have delivery options for Economy and Express Courier. For local customers you may also want to provide a 'Customer Collect' option. You can define as many delivery options as you need and drag them into order for convenience of selection later in Zone Based Shipping.

Address to Zone Map /dashboard/zone_based_shipping/zone_map

Map shipping addresses to shipping zones.

Define rules to map customers into zones according to their shipping address. Each group of rules must start by checking the country and provides the default zone for the matched country or countries. Once a country has been matched, further rules match locations within that country to more specific zones. An 'Any' comparison will match anything, so any following rules will never be tested.

An address is mapped to the first country rule that passes and then the last region rule within that country.

Rules can be dragged into sequence. Within a rule, a match can be made against any of a list of values by separating them with a pipe '|' symbol. For example, a country could be matched against 'US|United States|CA|Canada'.

Each match item and comprison is controlled by a dedicated plugin. Developers can integrate new match items or comparison plugins using a standardised plugin mechanism.

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Available for matching:

Address lines: Text from address lines 1 and 2.
All of address: Text for the entire address.
Country: The country from the address. All groups of zone map rules need to begin with a country.
Country from IP address [Sorcerer's Map]: The country from the user's IP address. Best used for eliminating unwanted countries, not for confirming shipping addresses.
First address line: Text from address line 1.
IP Address: The IP address of the user.
Postal Code: The postal code or zip code from the address.
Second address line: Text from address line 2.
State/Province: The state or province from the address.
Town/City: The town or city from the address.
User Group: If a user is logged in, a list of the user groups they are in. Can be used to assign groups of users to a zone, perghaps for preferential or prejudicial shipping treatment.

Comparisons:

Begins with: Tests for a string beginning with a string
Does not begin with: Tests for a string not beginning with a string
Match IP Address CIDR: Tests for an IP address match including CIDR address masks
Does not match IP Address CIDR: Tests for an IP address not matching, including CIDR address masks
Contains: Tests for a string containing a string
Does not contain: Tests for a string not containing a string
Any: Always passes, so anything matches
Never: Never passes, so nothing matches
Empty: Tests for an empty, false or zero value
Not empty: Tests for any non-empty, true or non-zero value
Ends with: Tests for a string ending with a string
Does not end with: Tests for a string not ending with a string
Equal to: Tests for equality of numbers or text
Not equal to: Tests for inequality of numbers or text
Less than: Tests if a number or text is less than a number or text
Greater than or equal to: Tests if a number or text is greater than or equal to a number or text
Less than or equal to: Tests if a number or text is less than or equal to a number or text
Greater than: Tests if a number or text is greater than a number or text
Range: Tests if a number is within a range
Not in number range: Tests if a number is not within a range
Regular expression: Tests for a string matching a regular expression
Not regular expression: Tests for a string not matching a regular expression

Cost Basis /dashboard/zone_based_shipping/cost_basis

Enable cost basis to be used in shipping cost rules.

A cost basis is the measure calculated from properties of the products in the cart and is then used to determine shipping costs. Each cost basis enabled is caclulated in the sequence listed on the dashbaord page. Drag them to change the order. Only enable those you you actually need to use!

A cost basis enabled for base cost caclulation can be used in cost rules for simple comparison tests to decide if a cost rule is applicable. A cost basis enabled for additional cost caclulation can be used in cost rules to calculate additional costs proportional to the cost basis.

The shipping modifier (xM) is product specific and can optionally be enabled to modify a calculated cost basis when it is used for shipping rule calculation.

Each cost basis and unit type is controlled by a dedicated plugin. Developers can integrate new cost basis plugins and unit types using a standardised plugin mechanism.

Cost Basis measures available for shipping calculation:

Area

Total cart area. Use a sum of all the product areas to calculate shipping cost.

This cost basis can be used when calculating both the base cost and additional costs. This cost basis supports the product shipping modifier. Apply product shipping modifier to each product area.

Area: mm2, cm2, m2, hectare, km2, in2, ft2, yard2, acre, mile2.

Items

Number of items in cart. Use the number of items in the cart to calculate shipping cost.

This cost basis can be used when calculating both the base cost and additional costs. This cost basis supports the product shipping modifier. Apply product shipping modifier to number of each product in cart.

Length

Total length of all items. Use the total length of all products to calculate shipping cost. Length is actually taken as the biggest single dimension of a product.

This cost basis can be used when calculating both the base cost and additional costs. This cost basis supports the product shipping modifier. Apply product shipping modifier to length of each product.

Dimension: mm, cm, m, km, in, ft, yard, fathom, mile, nautical mile.

Magic Data for each product [Magic Data Commerce]

Magic Data snippet provides product value. The Magic Data snippet is applied to each product in the cart, given the product as incoming data to provide a cost basis value for that product. For example, the snippet could return the value of any product attribute for use as a cost basis.

This cost basis can be used when calculating both the base cost and additional costs. This cost basis supports the product shipping modifier.

Magic Data Snippet: None.

Maximum dimension

Maximum single product dimension. Use the maximum of any of the product dimensions to calculate shipping cost.

This cost basis can be used when calculating both the base cost and additional costs. This cost basis supports the product shipping modifier. Apply product shipping modifier to maximum single dimension of any product in cart.

Dimension: mm, cm, m, km, in, ft, yard, fathom, mile, nautical mile.

Maximum shipping modifier

Maximum of product shipping modifiers. Use the maximum of the product shipping modifiers to calculate shipping cost.

This cost basis can be used when calculating both the base cost and additional costs.

Maximum sum of dimensions

Maximum sum of product dimensions. Use the maximum of the sum of individual product dimensions to calculate shipping cost.

This cost basis can be used when calculating both the base cost and additional costs. This cost basis supports the product shipping modifier. Apply product shipping modifier to the maximum sum of product dimensions.

Dimension: mm, cm, m, km, in, ft, yard, fathom, mile, nautical mile.

Maximum zone shipping measure

Maximum zone_shipping_measure (attribute). Use the maximum of the product attribute zone_shipping_measure to calculate shipping cost.

This cost basis can be used when calculating both the base cost and additional costs. This cost basis supports the product shipping modifier. Apply product shipping modifier to zone_shipping_measure of each product.

Overall value by Magic Data [Magic Data Commerce]

Magic Data snippet returns the overall value. The Magic Data snippet is evaluated once to return an overall value for the cart or part cart.

This cost basis can be used when calculating both the base cost and additional costs.

Product variants

Number of different products and variants in cart. Use the number of different products or producst variants in the cart to calculate shipping cost. This is equivalent to the number of rows in the cart.

This cost basis can be used when calculating both the base cost and additional costs.

Products

Number of different products in cart. Use the number of different products in the cart to calculate shipping cost. This ignores product variants.

This cost basis can be used when calculating both the base cost and additional costs.

Shipping Agent

Pass the calculation on to shipping agent. Use of additional shipping agents is entirely optional. In the cost rules, select a shipping agent (any installed eCommerce shipping method) to pass the cart details to and then use the cost returned by that shipping agent as an additional cost. This enables Zone Based Shipping to be configured as a preselector and dispatcher for any other shipping methods, even if they are not enabled in eCommerce!

This cost basis can only be used when calculating additional costs.

Shipping modifier

Sum of shipping modifiers. Use a sum of the product shipping modifiers to calculate shipping cost.

This cost basis can be used when calculating both the base cost and additional costs.

Value

Total value of cart. Use the value of the cart to calculate shipping cost.

This cost basis can be used when calculating both the base cost and additional costs. This cost basis supports the product shipping modifier. Apply product shipping modifier to each product value.

Currency: $.

Volume

Total cart volume. Use a sum of all the product volumes to calculate shipping cost.

This cost basis can be used when calculating both the base cost and additional costs. This cost basis supports the product shipping modifier. Apply product shipping modifier to each product volume.

Volume: mm3, cm3, mil, litre, m3, in3, ft3, yard3, fluid oz, pint US, quart US, gal US, pint imperial, quart imperial, gal imperial, barrel.

Weight

Total cart weight. Use a sum of all the product weights to calculate shipping cost.

This cost basis can be used when calculating both the base cost and additional costs. This cost basis supports the product shipping modifier. Apply product shipping modifier to weight of each product.

Weight: g, kg, tonne, oz, lb, ton US, ton imperial, stone, cwt US, cwt imperial.

Zone shipping measure

Total sum of zone_shipping_measure (attribute). Use a sum of the product attribute zone_shipping_measure to calculate shipping cost.

Shipping Cost Rules /dashboard/zone_based_shipping/cost_rules

Define shipping cost rules for Zones and Delivery Options.

Define cost basis Match Rules for each zone to map a cart and its contents to a shipping cost and delivery option. Drag rows into sequence and the first row where each match passes will be returned for the shipping cost. Further Additional Cost rules can be specified to modify the cost proportional to a cost basis.

This is the area of shipping configuration where most of the work will be done. Individual rules can be quite simple, such as providing a cost when overall cart weight is less than a limit, or considerably more complex taking into account multiple cost basis and then adding additional costs proportional to one or more cost basis, such as a cost per unit of weight. With multiple zones and delivery options, the list of cost rules can become fairly long.

Base Cost Conditions are a simple conditional test of a cost basis against a value. When more than one cost basis is used for base cost conditions, the rule only passes if all conditions pass. The relationship between base cost conditions is 'AND'. Additional Cost Calculations take a cost basis, adjust it by adding or subtracting a value, then provide an additional cost proportional to the resulting value. When there is more than one additional cost calculation in a rule the effect is cumulative. All the additional cost calculations are added to the base cost.

In general, keep your rules as simple as possible. For most eShops a simple sequence of comparisons of weight or items being less than a limit is all that is needed and easiest to maintain, perhaps with the last rule in a zone also providing an additional cost per weight unit. Only get complicated with other comparisons, multiple cost basis and additional cost calculations where you absolutely have to.

Each cost basis and comprison is controlled by a dedicated plugin. Developers can integrate cost basis plugins and comparisons using a standardised plugin mechanism.

Comparisons:

Any: Always passes, so anything matches
Never: Never passes, so nothing matches
Equal to: Tests for equality of numbers or text
Not equal to: Tests for inequality of numbers or text
Less than: Tests if a number or text is less than a number or text
Greater than or equal to: Tests if a number or text is greater than or equal to a number or text
Less than or equal to: Tests if a number or text is less than or equal to a number or text
Greater than: Tests if a number or text is greater than a number or text

Delivery Split /dashboard/zone_based_shipping/delivery_split

How the cart is split for delivery.

A cart can be split into groups for the purpose of calculating shipping and possibly for separate delivery. The enabled splits will be applied to the cart in sequence to break it into fragments, then shipping costs calculated for each subsequent fragment and summed to give an overall shipping cost.

Where a message is given, this could be used to replace the messages associated with the cost rules, depending on the message priority.

Take care over the splits you enable and the sequence they are applied in; sequence can be very important! Only enable splits you actually need. Unless you really need this functionality, leave none enabled and the default of 'Cart' will be applied.

Each delivery splitter is controlled by a dedicated plugin. Developers can integrate new delivery splitter plugins using a standardised plugin mechanism.

Delivery splitters available for shipping calculation:

Cart

Whole cart. The entire cart is a calculated as a single shipping cost. This is the same as no splitter at all, so if it is all you need, just don't select anything.

Group

Split by group. The cart is split into groups acording to the Zone Shipping Cart Group attribute and shipping is calculated as a separate shipping cost for each group. Products un-grouped or grouped "Any" will be grouped according to the general settings at Dashoard > Zone Based Shipping > General Settings.

Item

Split to individual items. The cart is split into individual items (quantity of 1) and each is calculated as a separate shipping cost.

Product

Split by product. The cart is split into types of product and each is calculated as a separate shipping cost.

Product Variation

Split by product variation. The cart is split into types of product and variation, as per rows in the shopping cart page, and each is calculated as a separate shipping cost.

Diagnostics /dashboard/zone_based_shipping/diagnostics

Diagnostics to help design and test Zone Based Shipping rules.

To help developers create complex sets of rules, these options enable tracing of rule logic through the checkout process. The trace is output to the Log at Dashboard > Reports > Logs. While learning to use Zone Based Shipping, regularly reading the diagnostic trace in the Log can be a great help in understanding how your rules are being interpreted and applied.

General Settings /dashboard/zone_based_shipping/general_settings

General settings for Zone Based Shipping.

These are a disparate group of settings that do not warrant dashboard pages of their own.

Import /dashboard/zone_based_shipping/import

Import rule sets to Zone Based Shipping.

Copy previously exported rules into the text area and click save to import then to Zone Based Shipping. WARNING - This will over-write and destroy any rules currently configured.

Saving an incomple Zone Based Shipping configuration will result in empty rules being saved that will not be processed during the checkout process. However, this may be usful when setting up a new site as long as you follow this by configuring the missing rules.

Export /dashboard/zone_based_shipping/export

Export rule sets from Zone Based Shipping.

Export Zone Based Shipping settings in JSON format. These can be used for backup and for copying shippiong settings between sites by pasting into the corresponding import at Dashboard > Zone Based Shipping > Import.

Attributes /dashboard/zone_based_shipping/attributes

Setup and configure Zone Based Shipping attributes.

Leave the attribute name fields empty if you do not use the associated attributes in your shipping. If you need to use an attriubute, provide a name and when you click 'Save' the respective product attribute will be created. Editing a name will change the attribute name. Cleraring a name will result in the attribute being deleted. You can also create and edit these attributes through Dashboard > eCommerce > Products > Attributes.

Zone Shipping Measure

If the predefined measures for the cost basis are not enough, you can add a custom measure! Enter whatever name you like for a product attribute. This will be assigned to the attribute handle "zone_shipping_measure" of type "Numeric". The attribute will then be available as a cost basis for sum and maximum.

Zone Shipping Never Calculate

Enter whatever name you like for a product attribute. This will be assigned to the attribute handle "zone_shipping_never_calculate" of type "boolean". When checked for a product, that product will never be included in the shipping calculation.

Zone Shipping Always Calculate

Enter whatever name you like for a product attribute. This will be assigned to the attribute handle "zone_shipping_always_calculate" of type "boolean". When checked for a product, that product will always be included in the shipping calculation. When set, this attribute takes precedence over Zone Shipping Never Calculate above, except when all items in the cart are marked Zone Shipping Never Calculate, in which case none are calculated.

Zone Shipping Cart Group

Enter whatever name you like for a product attribute. This will be assigned to the attribute handle "zone_shipping_cart_group" of type "select". This attribute may then be used to group cart calculations using Dashboard > Zone Based Shipping > Delivery Split . You will need to add select options to this attribute through Dashboard > eCommerce > Products > Attributes. The value "Any" is automatically added and, if assigned to a product, means there are no limitations on what other products a product can be shipped with. Products grouped "Any" will be grouped with another group in the cart as specified in Dashboard > Zone Based Shipping > General Settings.

Documentation /dashboard/zone_based_shipping/documentation

Built in documentation for Zone Based Shipping.

Zone Based Shipping provides built in documentation at Dashboard > Zone Based Shipping > Documentation. This includes documentation for dashboard pages and for many of the configurations within those pages.

Last updated: over a year ago